"What Film Should I Use?" This has to be one of the most popular questions among photographers.  And one of the most frustrating things a photographer goes though - I know it was for me. The first thing I'll say is use whatever film you like best and whatever film pleases your end use.  I shoot 35mm color slide film, aka: transparencies or color-reversal film.  I use this film first because my competition uses it, and second because it pleases my indented end use - publications. More specifically, I use Fujichrome Velvia or Kodak Ektachrome E100S or E100SW.  Fujichrome Velvia is almost the "industry standard" for outstanding landscape/scenic photography. Why is this and why do I like Velvia so much?  Try it and you'll see why. It's a 50 ISO film that renders outstanding detail and sharpness.  It's colors are perfectly saturated to present brilliant colors and it's balanced more on the "cool" side which make your blues, greens and cyan's come alive. For me, setting exposures and hoping for a little exposure forgiveness, this film really works well.  I occasionally use Ektachrome for my landscapes.  I use this film because it has nice saturation and is balanced more on the "warm" side. The E100SW is more saturated to make those "warm" colors really pop.  I find this film a little less forgiving in its exposure range and too grainy due to it being 100 ISO. - still a great film. I shoot slides because most photographers that shoot for stock and publications shoot slide film.  This is because of today's publication processes require color reversal film due to the scanning and color separation process.  Also because slide film gives you precise feedback on your photography skills. If the industry changes, and my competition changes, I will change.  If your end use is primarily making prints, I highly recommend shooting negative film.  You'll have to find the film you like best, and a lab you like.  I started with color negative film and learned that my exposure success and frustrations were coming primarily from the printing process or the printer. - I was lacking in control since I couldn't print my own. Negative film also gives you about 1 or 2 more stops of exposure latitude verses slide film.  This allows for more creativity and forgiveness. That's all I'll say on negatives for now. I do a lot of printing from slide film and I am really pleased with the results from my current printer.  I will say that the prints don't, and will never, match the brilliance of the original slide.  With negative film, you can get a perfect match - in most cases. Printing from slides uses a type "R" or Type "C" printing process.  In either process you could end up with decreased color saturation, loss of image sharpness, increased contrast or loss of details in highlights or shadows. It can be frustrating printing from slides, but you really can obtain beautiful, quality prints if you have a good slide and you find the right printer - they just won't match the original slide.  So for "your" film choice, experiment, try them all, do the research, and find a lab that you are comfortable with. - Good luck! "Read All About It" Being a "self-taught" photographer, I had to bury myself in books to learn how the pros do it. After reading many GOOD books, the art of Photography became so much clearer and easier. Reading books allows you to go at your own pace and you're are able to re-read as many times as you like. I have re-read several books and more frequently, I jump to a specific chapter or subject and re-fresh myself. Photography books are packed full or great photographs by the author, which really help to understand the text better. And more that just reading, I study other photographers photographs. This is GREAT learning tool. Buy a picture book by a good, famous landscape photographer and study their photos. Ask these types of questions as you look at the photos: What time of day was it? What's the direction of light? What's the special moment being captured? What catches my eye first and what leads my eye? How's the balance and flow of the photo? What are the colors and contrast? Does the exposure look over, under, or right on? What is the perspective and depth? What type of forms and patterns are being captured? If any, what filters are being used? How's the composition or cropping? Can I make this same shot and can I do it better? If you continue to do this on other people's work, you will soon find it habit to do it on your own work. This is a tremendous help! Also, when I'm composing or editing, I also ask myself this big question: Would this photo be good enough for a magazine cover? - if not I usually don't shoot it or keep it. Here are the books that I've read and that I recommend. I have also rated them with the "5 star" system. 5 star is the best. I list the title, then the author and publisher, then the star rating. Photographing The Landscape - John Fielder/Westcliff ***** Landscape Photography - John Shaw/Amphoto ***** Closeups In Nature - John Shaw/Amphoto **** The Photographers Guide To Exposure - Jack Neubart/Amphoto *** Business of Nature Photography - John Shaw/Amphoto ***** The Negative - Ansel Adams/Little Brown **** The Camera - Ansel Adams/Little Brown **** 1998 Photographer's Market - Willins/Writer's Digest **** The Backpackers Handbook 2nd Edition - Chris Townsend/McGraw Hill ***** "Keep It Steady" Having expensive high quality camera and lenses doesn't guarantee quality landscape photographs, UNLESS you use a sturdy tripod.  Even though you spent lots of money on your photo gear, don't scrimp on your tripod purchase. When shooting landscapes and close-ups, a GOOD tripod is priceless. I started out making the mistake of using a flimsy, cheap tripod and my resulting photographs were proof of this poor quality.  I made a step up to a more expensive, heavier and more functional tripod.  That tripod soon became too short, light, and during a shoot one of the legs broke off.  I finally spent the money on a "top of the line" tripod that is recommended by many professionals. Now my photography is a better experience and the results show this better quality. A good tripod should weight 6 to 10 pounds. The heavier the better. Imagine having a 10 pound camera with lens mounted on a 4 pound tripod in windy conditions on unstable ground. You'll end up with frustrations, poor photographs or your camera smashing on the ground.  The tripod should look and feel durable and well constructed. The metals should be a good quality and the warrantee should be supportive. Make sure you get a tripod that is suitable to your height. You shouldn't have to hunch over to use the tripod when it's at full height. The tripod should have 3 independent legs, no center support arms attached to the legs and the legs should be able to lock in different positions.  With the legs extended completely outward, the tripod should be able to sit very low to the ground. Finally, the tripod function controls should be easy, quick, and durable. Many tripod heads are available and are usually chosen based on personal preference. The heads should be durable, easy, quick, and have smooth movement in all direction. I prefer the "pan/tilt" heads vs. the "ball" heads primarily due to the 3 independent controls over my camera movement.  This is a big plus when doing close-ups. For reference I use the Bogen 3021 tripod with the Bogen 3030 pan/tilt head.  Total weight it 8.5 pounds. This is a wonderful tripod and head for all the uses I need and it should out last me, I highly recommend this tripod. "Relax & Pre-visualize" Probably the most important thing I learned, to increase my success rate of quality photographs, was to relax and pre-visualize. First you must relax, take your time and don't be hasty in your location finding, composing, and exposing. I found that when I'm by myself somewhere, not chasing scenes with a vehicle, I come home with much better photos. This is because I don't have someone waiting on me or I'm not trying to keep up with someone else. Plus, when you're alone you can think more clearly and precisely without trying to keep up a conversation. Shooting from scene to scene with your vehicle is OK, BUT it can really cause more frustrations than it's worth. If you're in your car and racing to the next location before the light goes bad, you EASILY get frustrated due to traffic, parking, closed roads, weather, lack of access roads, or mechanical problems. This kind of stress is not good when you're trying to make beautiful photographs. Second, I say that you MUST pre-visualize if you can. "Pre-visualize" means seeing the photograph before you actually compose it and push the shutter button. At a location, I will visualize what I want to record in my head, before picking up the camera. Then with the camera in hand, not on the tripod ready to shoot, I will visualize the scene within the viewfinder. Now I can really see how my earlier thoughts are going to look. This is also called "dry shooting". I will experiment with my distance, lens lengths, vertical vs. horizontal, filters, perspectives, and sometimes the exposures. Since the light is usually different during my pre-visualization, I work the exposures when I'm ready to record. Another key plus about doing this is the "numbers game". The more times you view and visualize a scene or composition, the better chance of getting the best one. During those fast, critical times (sunrise and sunset) being relaxed and having time to pre-visualize REALLY helps. Sunrise and sunset happen so fast that having prior knowledge of what you're going to shoot and being stress free makes these special moments really "happen" for you. Pre-visualize, relax, and remember "haste makes waste"! "Polarize It!" The circular polarizer filter can make several enhancements to your photographs. It can also have a negative impact on a photo. I would say that the primary reason for using a polarizing filter is to decrease glare and control reflections. It polarizes unpolarized sunlight, which causes glare. Try using a polarizer to make a sky more blue or to increase contrast between clouds and blue sky. When shooting on a sunny day and the sun is high in the sky, try using the polarizer to decrease the sun's glare and increase color saturation. Bright harsh sunlight causes the colors to be "washed out" and you can make colors "pop" more with this filter. Try using the filter to decrease atmospheric haze when shooting distant subjects. Especially try using this filter when you're shooting water that is holding reflections, this is where you'll really see an impact with the polarizer and probably have the most fun using it. A polarizer filter usually decreases light coming into the lens by 1.5 stops, so I will sometimes use this filter if I am wanting slower shutter speeds (e.g. shooting waterfalls). Before I mount this filter to the lens, I ALWAYS view the results with my eyes. Using just one open eye, hold the filter to your eye, with the screw-in threads against your eye, view the scene your going to shoot and then rotate the filter to see what it's going to do. This filter has different effects in different directions related to the sun's position in the sky. To find where the filter is going to have the biggest effect, make a gun using your index finger and thumb, point your gun at the sun. Now rotate your hand, keeping your finger pointed at the sun and your thumb pointed outward. Your thumb will point in the directions that the filter will have the greatest effect (90 degree angle to the sun). Some of the negatives with this filter can be that it may cause too slow of a shutter speed, it could make the sky too blue (especially at high elevations), if you use it on a wide angle lens (e.g. 24mm) it could make only part of the sky more blue than the rest and it looks unrealistic, or it may cause vignetting with a wide lens. If you use this on a wide angle lens and your shot includes sky, it's better to shoot vertical, that way the sky will be a more even blue. I also use a step-up ring and a larger filter size when I want to use it on my 24mm lens to avoid the rounded black corners on the photograph (vignetting), that you can't see in the view finder. "Water Motion" How do you get rushing water to look soft, moving, blurry, and cotton like? The answer is very simple, slow shutter speed. Water motion is caused from the motion being recorded on film from reflected light. The same way you see motion from a race car. To accomplish good water motion, find a rushing creek or waterfall that is not in direct sunlight (overcast days are perfect). You'll need a sturdy tripod and a remote shutter release. I recommend using a slow film for better results (e.g. 25-100 ISO). Use your Aperture-Priority mode and set it to a small aperture, this give you slower shutter speeds and more depth-of-field. I will use an aperture setting of f11-f32, depending on the amount of depth-of-field I need. You can do an average meter reading but I recommend spot metering just a small area of color. Do not spot meter the water, water reflects more light and can fool your camera's meter, you'll end up with faster shutter speeds and darker results. I tend to look for a medium tone color that's in the same light, like green grass (or an 18% gray card), to meter from. I'll use that meter reading as my starting point and then bracket. Be sure to bracket because when you're shooting rushing waters, the bracketed results can be dramatically different. With 50 ISO film and an aperture setting of f11-f32, I'll end up with shutter speeds around 1/15 to 4 seconds. The slower the shutter speed the more motion recorded. CAUTION: with longer exposures you start to "burn out" the water on the film by turning it very bright white. Experiment with water motion and you'll learn how simple it can be, also experiment with using a polarizer filter. Water motion can create visually dramatic photographs due to the human eye not being able to see this in reality and the implications of motion and sound. "K.I.S.S. Composition" When it comes to composing a landscape photograph, the best advice for a strong photo is to "Keep It Simple Silly". It's very easy to get wrapped up in the awesome beauty of a location and to put on the wide angle lens and start soaking in as much scenery as possible. Using the wide angle lens is not a bad thing, just try keeping it simple, eliminate the distracting elements and try to create rhythm and balance in your composition. Ask yourself this...Why am I shooting this shot?...What am I wanting the viewer to see and feel? Study, and re-study your view finder before squeezing the trigger. Shoot that wide angle shot, then put on a telephoto lens (100-300mm) and pull out just striking elements or forms within the same scene. Remember that what the camera sees and records is much different that what the human 3D vision sees. View your scene with one eye, or in a 2D sense, it will be easier to find simple compositions. You'll be amazed by your work when you keep it simple and when you look deeper into a scene. It's like a book, the cover can be so beautiful that it's not even worth opening, BUT, if you open it, one simple page can be much more powerful, and worth a thousand more words. "Star Trails" Here's some tips on shooting "Star Trails". This is having the Earth's rotation recorded on film by using the stars. Many different results can be obtained by pointing your camera in different directions (e.g. North, South, West, straight up, etc.). To effectively accomplish this you will need a sturdy tripod, locking remote cable release, and water protection for your camera. For better results, do this on a completely clear night, with no moon or city lights. I made the mistake once of using my automatic camera with no water protection, I discovered that I drained my new batteries, and my camera was soaking wet from the dew, even the front of the lens was wet. I recommend using a manual, non-automatic, camera with a large plastic bag to protect it from getting wet, also use a lens hood to keep moisture off of the lens. During that clear night, decide which direction you want to shoot and compose a shot. (I like to shoot North for a half circle of star trails and I use objects like trees or mountains as a stationary foreground.) With the camera on the tripod, compose the shot and tighten your tripod controls, set the aperture to f/5.6 and the shutter speed to "bulb", with the locking cable release attached, trip the shutter and lock it open. If it's windy make sure that everything on the camera and tripod are secured to avoid shaking and vibration. Leave the shutter open for approx. 5-6 hours. You can experiment with different times for different effects. You can also set the aperture wide open to shorted the exposure time. During the exposure, you can use a flash to cast a little light on the foreground subject, this really adds to the dramatic effect of the photo. Seeing the results of these photo's is quite exciting and it encourages you to experiment more. Experiment with exposure times, shooting directions, composition, films, and flash. "Shooting blanks?" A friend, who just returned from a photo trip, told a funny, and not so funny story about shooting a beautiful scene with no film loaded in his camera. Would you call that shooting blanks or what? He shot 8 frames with bracketing, before he realized there was no film in the camera. So the tip is to MAKE SURE there is film in your camera before you shoot. This could be extremely tragic if you're in a rush attempting to shoot one of those awesome moments during sunrise or sunset or in a fabulous location! If you use an automatic camera, you should know when there's no film because all you hear is the shutter opening and closing but there's no film advance motor noise. Be in tune with your camera. Don't end up "shooting blanks", unless you're playing with or learning more about your camera - load it. "Only 40¢? - Bracket!!" At today's cost for 35mm film and processing, bracketing is a cost effective way of successfully bringing home that perfect photograph. With the cost being at about $14 for professional slide film (mail-order) and processing, it equates to approx. 40 cents per frame. Think of all the money that you've spent on photo gear, or on the traveling to get to that special location. 40 cents is nothing compared to those expenses. So why take the risk of coming home to learn that the fabulous moment you were shooting during sunrise, came out underexposed. Bracketing is taking multiple shots of the same subject and composition at different exposures. I go about this by doing my manual metering methods to determine the starting exposure values. I then shoot at that exposure, then I shoot at X stop(s) less (underexposed), then again I shoot at X stop(s) above (overexposed). This now means that I will have 3 slides, of the exact same composition, on my editing table to choose from. I choose the exposure I like best or what I consider accurate. Bracketing is also handy when you're very limited on time, like during sunrise. You MUST get to know your camera and film before you can feel comfortable about metering and bracketing limits!! I also strongly feel that as a Photographer, you should practice precise manual metering methods, that work for you, to be creative. Don't let that "automatic camera" create your art. That's way too risky in my opinion. If you shoot medium or large format cameras, you may want to consider your metering precision and bracketing amount due to the higher cost of film and processing. When I'm in doubt, in the "moment", or pressed for time - I bracket, bracket, bracket! "Dead again?" The tip here is to SHUT YOUR CAMERA OFF. Always carry spare batteries with you if you use a fully electronic camera like I do. The Canon EOS Elan II does not have an "auto off" feature and I have spent more frustrations and money on batteries because I put the camera back in the bag with it left on. These batteries are not cheap. Carrying spares is a good habit because when you're in the field you can rest assured that you have a back-up, and IF you forget to shut off your camera, you can still finish your shooting successfully. Another good tip is if the weather is extremely cold it's a good idea to keep your spare batteries in a pocket or somewhere close to your body. The cold will greatly cut down the life of your batteries. In the cold I will also put used batteries in a pocket and then re-use them after they warm up. So, if you're going on a trip, especially if it's for some time and away from good stores, don't risk it. Take spares, and even spares for the spare!