24 Hours in the Forest for Only 1 Photo: A Lesson in Patience

With well over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, landscape photographer Thomas Heaton is popular for his behind-the-scenes window into life in the outdoors. On the recent shoot seen in the 11-minute video above, with incredible patience and dedication, Heaton spends 24 hours in the forest to capture just 1 image.

This video shows a number of setbacks due to the weather just not playing nice, and his perseverance is a lesson we can all benefit from when trying to capture images in the wilderness.

What’s interesting here is the way that Heaton plans compositions carefully and religiously, rather than just firing aimlessly with his shutter. His ability to visualize a scene before he takes the picture saves him time, and means he comes away with something special at the end of a shoot in poor conditions.

With the weather not adhering to his original plans for a dramatic sunset, the sight of a silver birch tree positioned among some burnt out forest provided him with an incredibly strong, simple composition with great contrast in the colors.

Sometimes the image you come away with isn’t the one you originally planned to take.