Planning a Weekend Photo Trip
I live in the Washington, DC area of the US Mid-Atlantic region. We have the Shenandoah, some great regional lakes to hike around, and some rolling farmland hills, but I find it very difficult to take great landscape photographs in my area. My wife sometimes thinks I’m crazy for saying this, but the nature around me just has too many trees! The reduced visibility makes it difficult to capture an engaging foreground, or search for vignettes to capture. The very low, tree-covered mountains in the distance often appear a bit to homogenous to create much visual interest.
This desire for a quite literal change in scenery prompted me to test out the idea of a weekend photo trip. The idea is to find a destination that’s easy and quick to get to, so I can get in and get out in just a few days to do a surgical landscape photography strike. As a full-time employee, husband, and parent, a couple of days away from home is about as much as I feel comfortable doing.
A solo photography trip to Southern Utah. I flew in to Las Vegas and drove 2 hours to get there.
Here’s how to plan and pull off a successful whirlwind weekend photography trip.
Destination
Look for destinations that you can get to with direct, but cheap flights. The goal of this whole exercise is to minimize transit time so you can maximize photography time at your destination. On a long weekend, you only have 48-72 hours, so you want as few of those hours as possible to be in the air or on layovers.
Of course, also look for destinations that offer great photo opportunities close to the airport. As amazing as it would be to photograph Moab, it’s 4 hours from Salt Lake City, the nearest place you can likely fly to with a direct flight. It just doesn’t make sense for this trip to spend 2 hours at the airport, 5 hours in the air (from the east coast), an hour getting out of the airport with a rental car, and 4 hours driving to your destination. And then doing it all again on the trip back.
A great option that I’ve done twice is Las Vegas. From the Las Vegas airport, you can get to Red Canyon Conservation area in less than 40 minutes, Valley of Fire State Park in an hour, or even to St George Utah and its surroundings in just over 2 hours.
Accommodations
Choose a cheap hotel near where you want to take your first morning photos. On a solo trip, to get the best photos you can get, you’re going to want to get up early to get those pre-dawn hikes in so you can photograph your subject in the morning sunrise and golden hour. Again taking Las Vegas as an example, it could have been cool to stay in the city proper, but I wanted to get out to my sites by 5am. Do your research for where you want to photograph and just grab the cheapest, closest location you can to where you want to get your morning photos. You’re only there for a night or two, don’t worry about how nice the place is, either. Just make sure it doesn’t have roaches and that your life or wellbeing won’t be seriously in danger, and book it!
Transportation
Sorry, you’re going to have to rent a car. The types of places you want to get to won’t be reachable by Uber, and even if they are, you’re going to have a tough time getting an Uber to pick you up early enough to get you there on time. And do you want a stranger driving you to the middle of the desert or the mountains anyway?
Book a cheap rental that has enough ground clearance if you’re planning on driving on any dirt roads. I like to explore areas that are less likely to have other tourists that get into my shots, and that means I’m traveling on less traveled paths. You don’t want to get stuck or realize that your tiny rental can’t get through some deep potholes on a road that hasn’t been maintained in several years. Trust me, if you’re doing dirt roads, opt for a compact SUV.
I always spend a bit more to get a car with high clearance if I’m planning on doing any dirt roads.
Packing
I have an entire post on how to pack light for photography, whether traveling by yourself or with your family. Check out that blog post and keep in mind that the key is to pack light. I’m trying to save as much money as I can so I don’t pay for checked bags if I don’t have to. My goal is to save enough money to be able to do a second trip again soon!
Find a two-lens combo that works for you. Invest in a lightweight tripod that collapses small. For a trip like this, I’ll bring:
a tripod
a camera
two lenses (my 16-55mm and 70-350mm)
some filters
a spare battery and charger
That’s it for camera gear. That leaves me enough room in my bag to fit:
some power bars
a water bottle
a headlamp
a soft fabric, compactable hat (nothing hard billed)
a puffy jacket that you can stuff down, if needed
All of that fits into my backpack. In a small carry-on or personal bag, I pack whatever clothes I need and my hiking boots. If I’m struggling to keep volume down, I’ll just wear my boots on the plane but I’d rather wear something comfy.
Research
It’s important to have a plan for once you get to your site. In order to maximize your time with camera in hand, in great light, taking photos and fine tuning shots, make sure you know where you’re going to be, what time you want to be there, and roughly what you want to take photos of. Leave flexibility for those unexpected moments that just have to be captured, but have a well-thought out structure to your day.
I always start with Google Maps. Enabling Street View allows you to drop into areas of interest and just get a feel for what the surroundings are like. You may not find your compositions in Street View, but you can tell if an area has what it takes to make some truly great images. When dropping into Street View, here are some things to considerr:
Is there visibility? Landscape photography benefits from uninterrupted flow from foreground to midground to background, so look for areas that have fewer trees or other obstructions.
Is there something in the background? Mountains are the easy features that can add visual interest to your background, but also look for high vantage points with views of winding streams, roads, or coastal shots where islands are visible in the distance. Even if there’s not a great foreground in the area, interesting background elements can be prime targets for capturing vignettes.
What is covering the ground? Is it patterned rock? Low, tufty brush? Rock outcroppings in a meadow? Wide angle shots really want an interesting foreground, so look at what sort of “ground conditions” are at your potential destination.
For example, take a look at the images above. The one on the left is a snip from a 360 view I found on Streetview at Valley of Fire State Park on a particular trail. There’s no composition there, but looking ahead of time allowed me to see what the ground cover was going to be like. I knew before I arrived that the tufty brush and weathered rock was foreground worth exploring, and I’m very happy with how my image, on the right , turned out as a result.
After I’ve done some research on what features there are and what the conditions are like, I check out AllTrails to plan any hikes. Their estimates on how long it takes to hike a particular route are usually pretty accurate, and there can be warnings from users about what the terrain is like, how strenuous it is, if there are any scrambles, etc. The last thing you want is to think you’re going to be able to get to the end of a hike to take a photo of something amazing you saw online, only to get there and have to turn back because the hike was longer/harder/scarier than you thought.
I also pre-plan most of my meals so I’m not spending time making up my mind, or searching for something that’s still open after returning from a late evening/night hike.
It’s important to know how long everything takes. Plan your drives, plan your hikes, and leave to arrive early so you can set up and be there before the golden hour starts. You don’t want to feel rushed. Photography can be so meditative and relaxing, but not if you’ve arrived to your destination late and you’ve only got 15 minutes before your light disappears.
