There's a great post at Jim Richardson's blog on the importance of understanding where and when a shot is going to occur, and getting all the pieces in place ahead of time. I have been planning all week for a photograph of a single event, the inauguration of light rail service in Seattle, this Saturday. I have a generous budget, so I have resources for pre-production planning for the five cameras I'll have operating to cover that single moment.
At this point I've made four scouting trips to the station: to identify my remote spots, to find my distant viewpoint sites, to see what a train looks like under a cloudy sky, and under a sunny one. I had my perfect spot already nailed down, when this morning I found workers constructing a chain link fence in front of that perfect spot. Without this morning's visit I wouldn't have known to add another ladder to the equipment list. Last trip I learned I'll need to keep the camera on manual, as the exposure goes all wonky when a large white object crosses the frame. This morning I learned that I'll need to underexpose a full stop if the sun is out.
We have permits to mount remote cameras on the platform on the overhanging light fixtures. I hired an assistant who knows way more than I do about how to hang and trigger remote setups.
We start work late night Friday, get 5 hours of sleep if we're lucky, then turn on all the power switches before 6:30am Saturday. I'll see what I got when we retrieve the cameras Saturday night.
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