A JOURNAL CAN BE A PHOTOGRAPHER'S FAVORITE TOOL.
Driving back from a photo shoot on Kauai’s Nā Pali Coast, I recalled the details of my morning boat trip ripping across the waves in a Zodiac and picnicking at the base of monumental rock walls rising up from the electric blue Pacific. I tried to repeat my thoughts to myself a few times as I drove so I wouldn’t lose them. The trip had unexpectedly brought up some questions about my own place and purpose in the world, and I felt an urgency to record the experiences I had on that remotest of beaches. Later that day, with a journal finally in hand, I relaxed into filling the pages with my sensations and observations from the morning.
What I wrote about that day were the details of what was visible and what I experienced but wasn’t pictured in the photos I took—the sound of the boat as it hit the water, how the light reflected off the sea spray on my skin, the way the salt water felt when it cooled my arms, the Hawaiian names of our guides and their chosen na amakua (spiritual guardians) tattooed across their backs, the stories they told of the goddess Pele cutting the skyscraper-high igneous cliffs and the legends of the Hawaiian kings and queens buried near our feet.
The excitement and wonder of what we experience while traveling is often what we most want to take home with us and share with our friends and family. Photographs help capture the vastness of the landscapes we’ve seen, the uniqueness of the people we’ve met; the clothes, food, home interiors, cars, buses, and trains; and the moments of delight when we notice a color, texture, or architectural detail we’ve never seen before. But what takes place outside the view of our camera’s lens can sometimes be difficult to translate.
Taking great travel photographs requires planning and preparation, learning from experiences, and reflecting on mistakes and successes. It also takes a healthy dose of curiosity and a willingness to surrender to the serendipity of surprise, which can often create better opportunities. On Kauai the morning of my epic Nā Pali boat adventure, I was initially meant to shoot something not as interesting at a more reasonable hour until I reached out to a local who shared her must-see destinations and activities (weather, waves, and sunrise times accounted for). I ended up ditching my original plan for the day and heading off pre-dawn on that wild boat adventure to capture an early morning on one of the world’s most celebrated and wild coastlines. The updated plan was more complex and expensive, and it required waking up earlier and leaving my hotel in the dark, but it was more rewarding—personally and photographically.
Writing about the planning, the unexpected changes, the sights outside of camera view, and the sounds and feelings we experience can make our photography more gratifying. By taking the time to write, as well as photograph our experiences, we become more connected to and aware of our inner transformation.
This journal will be a writing tool and constant companion as you prepare and set out on photography adventures, whether near or far. In addition to providing images to inspire and instruct, throughout are tips for developing and understanding what makes you unique as a photographer, advice on choosing and packing a camera, guiding principles for image composition, and insight on sharing your story and pictures on social media. Most of the pages are blank, so you’ll have lots of space to map out your plans and record all the details of what you see, hear, and eat, whom you meet, and all of the successes, mistakes, surprises, and evolution you experience along the way.
Pick up this journal at any time for ideas on how to develop your perspective, your eye, and your skills in taking visually compelling, storytelling images no matter where you are in the world.
Copyright © 2020 by Emily Nathan. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
