Just a quick thought. Next time you go to your favorite spot that you?ve been to before take the wrong lens or the wrong camera. About a year ago I went to Limekiln (my favorite close spot) with my step daughter. I had her use my 20d with the only wide angle lens I had at that point. I had my 35mm film slr and a 70-210mm lens to use. Because I wasn?t using my preferred setup I had to look at things differently. I was seeing the same landscape that I?ve seen many times before but with a new eye/restriction. I ended up with completely new compositions on some scenes that I?ve shot many times before. I saw shots in that area that I hadn?t seen before, which is tough with a total trail length of 1.5 miles in very narrow canyons. I was beginning to shoot the same thing the same way because I brought the same equipment and the same attitude. By changing the camera/lens I also brought a new attitude. Try it some time you?ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Paul,
This is a great post and something I try to do quite frequently. I think as landscape shooters we get caught up in getting that big sweeping shot with the big sky and clouds etc...

I took a workshop a few years ago with a fellow out of Los Angeles who has been shooting the sand dunes in my area for 20 years. One the things he told me that has stuck with me since, is to force yourself to look down find the tiny landscapes within the bigger landscape, it completely changed the way I shoot when I'm outdoors.

I think it's very easy to get caught up into throwing a 17-40 on the camera and going out shooting and I couldn't agree more that by putting a lens on especially a fixed focal length lens it will make you see the world around you in a completely different way.

My example of finding the landscape within a landscape. Let's see others examples of this as well.

Ok Phil now lets see the goods!

I agree with you, as I recall dropping my 4x5 field camera in the mud and ending up shooting the rest of the day with a 35mm and a fixed 35mm focal length, wow were those some diff imags....

What, I can't make ridiculous claims without backing them up? I was looking through my online Limekiln album (since I'm traveling as usual) and saw the only shot from that day online was this one

I'll have to dig through my film (wow film I've heard of that stuff) storage and find some more from that day. Its a good time to do that. Its been long enough since I was there I can evaluate the shots on their own merit as apposed to comparing them to my memory (where they always fall far short of what I remember seeing).
-Philip

I believe u now!

Great point, as it is so easy now days to just focus on equipment equipment equipment and not the vision! I remember Yvon Chainard (great climber) said to a crowd in his Patagonia store, "don't waist time fidgeting with all this crap, just go climb".

Cris, your sand composition is wonderful!

The perspective bounces back and forth from the top to the bottom, not an easy effect to accomplish.