I love this post by my friend Mason Marsh, “Risk Appetite.” Photographers take all sorts of risks when shooting, and sometimes it ends up with broken camera bodies and human bodies. What’s your risk appetite? Yes, I want to capture great photos, but I also like being in one piece. He writes:
I feel for these photographers who have lost their expensive cameras and lenses at Cape Kiwanda, but I also want to express my grumpy disdain for their choices. When you plant your tripod on bare rock on the Oregon Coast, you need to ask why it’s bare. The coast receives up to ten feet of rain each year, so if there’s any chance for green things to grow they will. When rock is bare near the ocean it’s usually because waves keep it that way. If intertidal life is living on the rock, that is a solid clue that the ground you are on will indeed get wet. If you are standing on grass and fluffy dunes, you are probably going to stay un-doused. Make choices with knowledge, not hubris. Anyone taking photographs in nature should take some time to get to know why things are the way they are. Our responsibility to ourselves as outdoor photographers is to manage our risks and enjoy our rewards. When things go sour and cameras die, that sucks but it’s the price we pay. It’s our risk tax.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 