I remember some time ago taking a plumber to task when he turned up at my house to fix my washing machine and charged AUD$150 for five minutes work. He simply reached in and plucked out a 20c coin that was blocking the system before handing me his invoice on the way out.
As he mentioned though, he knew where to look. The fact was I wasn’t paying him for his time as much for his experience which quickly directed him to the problem and provided the expertise needed to fix it.
Travel photography at a professional level is no different. Over time, we have learned from our mistakes (hopefully) and honed our craft. It’s not a matter of running around like a chook without a head from sun up to sun down and appearing productive by taking a stack of mediocre photographs. It’s about drawing on your experience to place yourself in the right place, at the right time, in the most favourable circumstance to capture the best photographs of the destination you’re shooting.
And to deliver a high standard of photography – consistently.
……(Still, I can’t help thinking life would be a lot simpler sometimes if I was a plumber).