Pentax-Specific Landscape Shooters Checklist

I'm doing a "packing gear for a holiday in Wales" check and already have thought of something I've missed, one of those cloths for cleaning the lcd. Expect to think of more by the time depart is minute away. Latest recent blunders forgot SD card no shops for miles. Remembered filters, forgot holders. Lessons learned.

Personally, I think such a checklist and the suggestion that we follow it every time we start to shoot is very OTT. It's over-complicated and would IMHO serve to confuse rather than help.

If you want a checklist I'd suggest less esoteric language and simpler headings, and certainly fewer of them.

Been there, Stan! Thankfully there was a little 2GB one in the SatNav

I did a shoot for someone recently, and forgot my flash controller. I had to use an optical slave unit with another flash on the camera. Didn't really work so I gave up on flash entirely. I was sweating buckets!

I should carry a pen and paper and, once on location, add to the list the item(s) I've forgotten to pack. I think "Oh S**t" as the title would be a simple enough heading for such a list and it should be referred to BEFORE leaving the house

I've never felt more dumb than when I've just got my shot all framed up, camera set, turned it on and there's the dreaded 'No Card in Camera' message...no card anywhere near in fact Must have forgotten the checklist that day

I'm really not trying to push all the detail and options onto people -I don't want to create a chore! Really, the purpose of this all was to stimulate ideas on the special features our brilliant cameras offer us to streamline and optimise our practical shooting experiences. I believe that if we take full advantage of this then we will be more free to focus on the image making.

I respect fully the right of people to emphasise the creative element, but I admit I do find it odd that there is a reluctance to delve into detail and discuss the technical controls and options we have at our disposal , and for which photographic subjects and conditions we would want to take this more detailed control.

Our Pentax DSLR menu and control system is unique - different to the rest, versatile and flexible. Should we not explore and shout louder to all about how this great resource can help us with our photography ?

I once agreed to takes some pictures of stained glass to help a friend with her PhD research. We arranged access to the building on a specific day when the building was closed to the public so we could get up close without being in anyones way, turned up, introduced ourselves, were shown to the windows in question and.....no card in camera.

Thankfully the man upstairs was smiling on me that day and two cards which I thought I'd lost turned up in the top pocket of my camera bag, otherwise it would have been deeply embarrassing .

Did you forget this! ........

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/oh-dopey-me------42502



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Algi, I'm flattered you noticed! Nobody is perfect, but such glitches are thankfully very rare and are soon revealed.

of course, all this gubbins is also why when I go somewhere where I will be really upset if I come back with no shots, I pick up my "emergency" camera bag.

It contains a K1000, SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 and 2 rolls of film.

Yes they will. The whole mindset of having such a meticulous and detailed checklist and then the process of meticulously following this list right up to, including and past pressing the shutter button to actually take the picture is the best way to kill any form of artistic freedom of photography.

I mean seriously ....

... that is the set of instructions you'd give to a machine. A robotic automaton image capturing device that interprets and acts upon each step of the code.


Are you a robotic automaton image capturing device? Or are you a human being with soul, flair and creativity?




[dalekvoice]
I am a robotic automaton image capturing device! All facets of fun and creativity in photography must be Exterminated! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!
[/dalekvoice]

You've got a point there Mongoose. Sometimes I give camera club talks exploring the menus of digital cameras, most of which are completely unknown and untried by the majority of the audience.

A few years back in Aberystwyth I was eating my pie and chips lunch and a couple at another table were opening their new camera box, dropping the contents everywhere and treading on their SD card. "I wonder what that is?" they asked. I wondered what the salesperson in Jessops thought they were doing selling it to them. They must have been in their late 70s and didn't have a clue what they had.

Cool Dalek picture Smeggy ! But of course, the reality is that the section of my list you quoted is really written with two mindsets. Yes, it itemises the manual 'robotic' steps of a procedure, but really its there to highlight the points where the machine functions interact with the human picture taking process. Its about laying out one definitive approach to allow others to bounce the alternatives around.

Remember, I have laid this down extremely narrowly so as to invite further exploration of the Pentax - specific alternatives and further options

Do send me an invite . There's clearly some need then for this type of exploration. I have always found the problem with camera manuals is that they detail items in isolation from their practical application. The checklist is a way of placing these preparation settings and shooting process into such a context.

Do you really expect a Camera manual to tell people how to take pictures ? It's their to explain to who operate the camera

What's all this nonsense about a 'checklist'? REALLY!

Learn how to use and operate the camera you have!
I can just see now landscape photographers arriving at the scene of a beautiful setting sun, setting up the tripod, attaching the camera, rummaging through the camera bag for the notepad and settling back to read their set of hand written instructions (checklist) while the light disappears and the moment is lost

I'm with you Smeggy.......what happened to spontaneity???