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Think About Your Subject Before You Begin Shooting (cont.)

The Top Tips
"First, realize that technology is a tool," David says, "and better equipment doesn't equate with better pictures if you don't know what you want to do with the equipment. Have a reason for everything you do and for every piece of gear you add. Technology works best when your brain is working, too."

The one piece of gear you should add early on is a tripod. "A tripod is a pain in the neck, but it's vital. Everybody thinks about a tripod in terms of sharp pictures, and of course that's true, but I think the greatest importance of a tripod is that is slows you down. It makes you more deliberate, gives you a chance to consider things—the composition, the angle, the light. The slower you go, the more your craftsmanship will come to the surface.

"And don't put thousands of dollars worth of camera gear on top of a $39 tripod. Get a big, sturdy one. The more expensive tripod is easier to use; it's just made better, sets up easier and doesn't fight you. If you're wrestling with it and it hurts your fingers to set it up, you got the wrong tripod."

Finally, do some thinking before you do some shooting. "If you really want your creativity to blossom," David says, "give yourself focus, a project—like, 'my backyard' or 'seasons of Smith County' or 'lost and forgotten' or 'macro world.' Get away from a hodgepodge of images. Work with your mind before picking up your camera."

Out of the Box
"I shoot in the rain all the time," David says. "Not pouring rain, but mist to light drizzle. Why? Well, first thing, there's no one else out there, which is nice. And then contrast is so low that it allows colors to reach their greatest saturation... . A lot of people think rain means crummy light, but when you do long exposures, the shutter is open for so long it gathers so much light that often the picture you get actually looks better than what you saw when you were out there."

David's website is more than just a website, it's a resource. David offers shooting tips, field reports and The Nature Photographer's Year—his calendar of when to visit ideal sites for nature photography. There's information about David's workshops, tours and publications, and the site is the place to see a series of books by David: The Nature of Vermont, A Photographer’s Guide to Vermont, A Photographer’s Guide to the Maine Coast and A Photographers Guide to the Oregon Coast.