I was recently looking through the website of David Robinson and came across an interesting and amusing article he had written about hillwalking and landscape photography. Many thanks to David for allowing me to reprint his writing and if you would like to see Davids Photography visit his website here

Photography is my way of complicating life. It used to be so simple. For example, if I wanted to go hillwalking, the process went something like this:

1. Decide to go hillwalking
2. Decide on a hill
3. Pack rucksack
4. Drive to hill
5. Walk up it
6. Walk down it
7. Drive home

I dream of those long gone days. Hillwalking now goes something like this:

1. Decide to go hillwalking
2. Decide on a hill
3. Check weather forcast for photogenic suitability
4. Check sunrise and sunset times
5. Check sunrise and sunset angles
6. Decide chosen hill won't be photogenic with those angles
7. Scour maps for better hill
8. Realise that there's no way I can get there in time for sunrise
9. Decide to leave hill decision brewing and pack rucksack
10. Pack photo gear
11. Lift rucksack and topple over
12. Jettison first aid kit and survival bag
13. Jettison food
14. Bite bullet and decide on only two must have lenses
15. Worry that the as yet unknown hill will provide images that can only be captured by the lenses I'm not taking
16. Choose lenses again
17. Charge batteries
18. Unpack lenses and clean them
19. Repack the lenses
20. Decide on hill
21. Reconsider lens decision
22. Reconsider hill decision
23. Wonder if I'd be best just going for a drive and taking photos from the car rather than walk up anything
24. Go to bed in preparation for ultra early start
25. Stay awake all night in case I sleep through my alarm
26. Get up and wonder why I'm doing this
27. Wonder how the weather forecast managed to change so drastically in the last 4 hours
28. Decide to go anyway - just in case
29. Drive to hill
30. Stagger up it in dark
31. Realise that it's getting very light and I'm no where near where I wanted to be
32. Scramble round looking for a good scene
33. Find the perfect scene, but not for the lenses I brought
34. Curse silently because battery is still in charger which is still attached to my house
35. @#!&~@@%