• 
• 
• 

How-To

There And Back Again

Returning to your favorite places gives you the chance to push the boundaries of your own photographic exploration

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Charlotte Moats running on Taggart Lake Trail, Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole Valley, Wyoming.

Perhaps the most important day of a shoot is the scout day, figuring out where, when and what you’ll be photographing. In a single marathon day, we scouted a half-dozen locations around Grand Teton National Park. We were careful to choose locations that weren’t off-limits to visitors, stayed on trails and didn’t damage the environment. During the scout, we estimated where we’d find morning and evening light at each location and wrote notes that we could review later when making the final decision on each location’s merits and demerits. We also decided what gear, including lighting, would be needed for each location for the particular photo I had in mind. I enjoy scouting because this is the day I can let my mind run with the myriad of possibilities that a location can offer.

Because of time and light constraints, when the shoot day came, we’d only shoot for one to two hours in the morning and the same in the evening. Afternoons would be spent downloading flash cards, reviewing the previous shoot on laptops, cleaning gear for the evening shoot, making calls to check permits, talent and other details for the next shoot, taking a nap or enjoying an ice-cream break.

The objective in my Jackson Hole photos was to produce, in two days, several clean, graphic sports images. On the first day, we shot trail running and mountain biking. I made a bike photo of Jeff at the summit of Jackson’s Snow King ski area, a simple setup shot with the Nikon D3 and an 80-200mm ƒ/2.8 zoom lens. I shot the photo backlit to bring out the yellow of the flowers. The yellow was accentuated by using a shallow depth of field, and additional fill lighting was provided with a medium-sized silver California Sunbounce reflector that Stephanie held at camera left. I used the D3 because I was shooting this scene at 8 fps.

We started the day shooting Charlotte trail running, and the photo of Charlotte not touching the trail was possible when you blaze away at 8 fps. When Charlotte entered my composition, I shot a burst of 10 or 15 frames as she passed my position. For the running shot, there was no need for additional light other than the nice morning light, and I preferred the high contrast of shadow and light in this photo. My trick piece of gear I brought along for the runner shot was a four-foot aluminum ladder that I stood on for this unique angle.

I don’t always shoot with the big, fast Nikon D3 sports camera. If possible, I like using a smaller, lighter camera like the Nikon D300. A drift boat/fly-fishing photo on the Snake River’s Oxbow Bend was taken with the D300 and a 12-24mm lens manually prefocused, holding the camera at the water line and checking my framing of Mount Moran with the Live View feature on the D300.

The paraglider photo was shot the same day at Curtis Canyon to the east of the Teton Mountains. It was made in the magic hour of light just before sunset, and the lighting was the sun and a single wireless Hensel Porty 1200-watt/second battery pack connected to a Hensel ringflash with a 48-inch Octabank. This light was needed to illuminate the paraglider’s 30 feet of canopy material in the bright sun. The camera settings were 1⁄250 sec. at ƒ/14, and the lens was a 10.2mm fisheye. The Hensel ringflash has a spectacular 1½-1600 sec. flash sync at full power, which helped freeze the subject. Since the Hensel at full power had about a three-second recharge time, the 5½-frames-a-second Nikon D300 worked like a charm. I can’t say the same for Stephanie, who was in charge of running with the 18-pound Hensel battery to help me light the shot.

Jackson Hole remains one of my favorite photography locations, and I plan to return for more shoots. Jackson Hole has many lifetimes of photography potential, and I’ve been visiting the location for a mere 25 years.

Bill Hatcher travels the world in search of adventure and good stories. A regular contributor to National Geographic and Outside, his images have appeared on the cover of 40 magazines. Visit his website at www.billhatcher.com.

Add Comment