Stay put or move about in changing light?

[Liam O'Neill]

I went to Kimmeridge Bay on Saturday to take some sunset pictures. I'd not been there before so I did my usual habit of walking around to get the feel of the place - stopping to take a picture of the tower - before settling into a spot for the sunset shots. I then spent a few minutes checking exact positions and compositions to get it all just as I wanted. I set the filters up and then sat there...for an hour as the sun set and the light changed, taking a picture every few minutes.

There were two other photographers there too, taking the same sort of shots. I noticed they moved around more, changing positions and compositions.
My camera, once set up, wasn't touched. My thought was that I'd hate to get home and see that the best light in the sky wasn't in the same picture as the best composition as I'd gone and moved to somewhere else.
I can see if your composition is waves flowing around a rock in the foreground and 20 minutes later the tide has moved so that no longer works but otherwise I get almost frozen to the spot when the light is changing like that.

What do other people do in these situations. Does anyone else tie themselves down like this or have stories of how moving about was the best/silliest thing they did?

 

[DorsetDude]

Good question.
I suspect you'll get as many different replies as there are photographers to this one.

It probably boils a lot down to confidence. If you're confident you're already in the best spot and with the best composition you can achieve you are probably unlikely to move.

As for the rest of us, you probably sit there umming and ahhing and wondering if you've chosen wrong etc.

 

[markmullen]

I set up a composition and wait for the light to be right.

Once that shot is in the bag I'll move quickly to get extra shots which I see as a bonus to the "main event", if these bonus shots are good then great, if not I'm not concerned as I've got the one I set up for.

 

[AJQS]

Well on the TP Meet last year, Dave357 and Woodsy both setup and waited for light to hit one specific spot. I was dancing round pointing a camera at every hint of light and making pics that fitted the conditions. Neither way is right or wrong, but I came away with a lot of pics I still consider some of my best work. I never got the shot the others were waiting for though!