Choose The Right Film Type

Publishers currently want transparencies, so that is what you have to use. That makes the choice easy, but transparency film demands correct exposure at all times which can be a problem. Correct exposure is a technicality, of course, and it might be that half a stop under or over is more aesthetically pleasing. It pays to bracket if you can, although in one-off situations that is impossible so learn to use your camera with total confidence and know what it is really doing. This means a lot testing in actual simulated conditions, as there really is no substitute for experience.

Film Speeds
I have a simple rule: use the slowest speed possible at all times, which for the last few years has meant Fuji Velvia 50 ISO. For an all-round film to use in good light, 100 ISO will cover most subjects. I use Kodak Elite II amateur film, but never the 200 ISO, as the 100 ISO can be pushed one stop easily. For shooting in low light I use Elite 400 ISO, which I often successfully push up to 2000 ISO. This means I travel with just three film types, giving me a speed range from 50 to 2000 ISO.

Film Quantities
However many film rolls you calculate are needed for a trip or project, double the figure, and it may be about right! Try not to "economise," as even a large film supply will probably be only a small percentage of your overall cost of a trip. Expect to have failures; it is part of the work. I am always apprehensive before my first look at a batch of slides from a trip, and have horrors in case of camera or human error, although that hasn't happened - yet!

So I over-shoot most things as an insurance, and have calculated that I throw away around 7-8% of everything. On a recent three-week trip in Japan I shot 5256 exposures (144 films) and junked 386 frames (10.72 films). If that seems wasteful or extravagant, just think of the problem a 'non result' would be.

I have this motto which I keep in my head when on location, "film is cheap; getting here wasn't!", so when in doubt I shoot first. I believe the Hollywood ratio principal works - the one blockbuster and the rest mostly okay, will make it all worthwhile!

Jeremy Hoare is a freelance travel photographer residing in London, England. Phone/Fax: +44 20 7722 2065. Email: jeremyhoare@hotmail.com. Web: www.travelwriters.com/jeremyhoare

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On the Go

Travel photography can be very tiring, especially in severe climates, hot or cold. You can end up doing a lot of walking, as it's the best way to see a place. I usually follow my own advice about not shooting during the middle of the day, but sometimes this is not possible, because of limited time.

Summer in Rome, Italy is stiflingly hot, and it's where I currently am, house-sitting for friends who escaped to a cooler climate. With my partner and a friend, I walked round the main visitor sites in a couple of days as the city is so compact. One day was very flat light and so offered little opportunity for scenic work, while the other had a brilliant azure sky that gave possibilities. On both days I carried the cameras and did shoot a little, but I used the opportunity mainly to work out what was the best time of day to shoot at various sites, and what lenses would make the angles look good.

Our wanderings also gave me ample time to see what other photographers had come up with, by looking at the numerous postcards for sale. Some were fine pictures which had been taken from vantage points not accessible without knowing the right people, so I discounted these, while many were good because they simply had been taken at the right time of day, something I could easily do.

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"Maybe those photographers are laughing all the way say to the bank..."
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There were also a large number of fairly mediocre pictures, but maybe those photographers are laughing all the way to the bank! Although it is very easy to be judgmental about quality, buyers have endorsed them by purchasing them, so maybe they are right.

Having made my plans on paper, I can now organize a schedule that will accommodate all that I want to shoot, at (most importantly) the right time of day. This will make it fairly easy with the right weather, brilliant sunshine for daylight and the 'magic hour' around twilight for others, my personal favorite.

I should end up with a good set of Rome pictures. They might look similar to the work of others already in the marketplace, but they will be mine and I know that new images are always in fashion however hackneyed the subject. I re-shoot Piccadilly Circus in London most years because I live in the city, because of changing fashions with clothing and cars, and the updated photos always find a home.

As I carried the cameras on my two days of just looking in Rome, I did actually shoot a number of pictures that seemed right at the time, in spite of it being in the middle of the day. One of the great rules about photography is that really there are no rules; if it works for you then it's right!

Jeremy Hoar is a freelance travel photographer residing in London, England. Phone/Fax: +44 20 7722 2065. E-mail: jeremyhoare@hotmail.com. Web: www.travelwriters.com/jeremyhoare.

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