Is studying geology helpful for photographers?

Some very wise advice from a truly great photographer.

Jay Maisel
https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=B8hekPi8WW4

I studied geography at school. It helps to know where I’m going. I’d rather take sociology course than geology for been helping in photography.
I do not photograph lava and variations of rocks, but people.

As a former geologist, with a fair amount of fieldwork under the belt in areas which are not all that accessible unless you really persist, I'd say knowing about photography and having the right gear with you may be more important than actually knowing about geology.

Geology was my main reason to get my first UWA lens (SMC Pentax 20 mm F/4), which cost me even it being an original Pentax demo lens almost a month worth of income. It did make images possible, however, which would never ever have been possible otherwise, in deep valleys and ravines I used to climd in etc. I've never looked back, however, because it was one of my better investments .

As to geology as a study: it helps to understand underlying strata and rock formations in areas you go to, and from that POV you may well be able to deduct what the best place is to go for unique shots. That in combination with lighting information - time of year, time of day, geographical coördinates - and knowledge/expectations of what types of lenses are required to take the shot.

So, does it help, then?

Yes, to a degree, just as biological/botanical knowledge helps for wildlife and plant photography. I think geology helps with landscapes, in that regard. However, it certainly is not the be all and end all. Photographic skills and all that goes with that is of much more importance.

HTH, kind regards, Wim

I am a geologist and I don't think that my education does anything to better my photography. I love geology and I love photography, but I shoot mostly birds and that has nothing to do with geology.

That being said, my biased opinion is that geology is a fascinating subject that you might enjoy. I recommend learning as much about it as you can.

Tim

https://www.amazon.com …ota&qid=1581713​436&sr=8-1

Roadside Geology of South Dakota

This book may be helpful to the OP. The series has books for a great many states. Highly recommended!

In general the more you know about your subject, the better photographer you will be. I’ve usually taken this to mean learning about wildlife behavior and ecology for the shots that interest me. I Suspect geology would have much more limited application, but if that study calls to you, go for it!

OP Try starting here:

https://www.fs.usda.go​v …s/learning/natu​re-science

Go to a local library or bookstore and find field guides for your area. Get out there are create images, then identify the unknown plants and animals. As you I.D. them, study them in a bit more detail to learn of their habitat and life cycles. Never a dull moment.

sapearl wrote in post #19009243
Is this something you plan to start now - I'm thinking of the interesting seasonal variations you'll begin encountering - or is the whole thing just an intellectual exercise for some point in the future?

I thought I had to study either chemistry or geology in order to graduate; I was trying to decide between them.

icor1031 wrote in post #19009754
I thought I had to study either chemistry or geology in order to graduate; I was trying to decide between them.

So you should study geochemistry

icor1031 wrote in post #19009754
I thought I had to study either chemistry or geology in order to graduate; I was trying to decide between them.

Well if THAT'S reason and it was me, I'd go for Geology.

Nothing against Chemistry but my higher math schools are poor and so much of Chemistry required advanced math when I was in college. My grades were terrible! Sure Geology involves math too but it would tend to get you outside more, among the different elements, the beautiful terrain in your area, instead of sitting in front of a PC speculating on which is the best choice.

When do you have to make the course decision?

I think geology is good for photography because it’s more of a qualitative application than quantitative, like 70% and 30%, respectively. In photography, we utilize our observations, a qualitative measurement, to produce images or art.

I have a bit of background in geotechnical, a subcategory of geology, that’s commonly utilized in civil engineering. It’s a subcategory because it has specific or detail use for the local civilization. Geology as a whole has a broad view of the layers of soil and how other disciplines can tap into to create something that’s manageable by individuals. E.g. finding oil is a first step, with millions of steps in between, to create the clothes (polyester) you’re wearing.

sapearl wrote in post #19009867
Well if THAT'S reason and it was me, I'd go for Geology.

Nothing against Chemistry but my higher math schools are poor and so much of Chemistry required advanced math when I was in college. My grades were terrible! Sure Geology involves math too but it would tend to get you outside more, among the different elements, the beautiful terrain in your area, instead of sitting in front of a PC speculating on which is the best choice.

When do you have to make the course decision?

I think that really depends on the direction you are choosing in geology. Over here you always have math and chemistry, including physical chemistry, as minors for a B.Sc., and physics or bilology as another minor, depending on the direction you choose. Considering petrology and minerology are majors too, it still is a fair amount of chemistry and physics too.

As to an M.Sc. over here, one of my minors was Seismics, which means advanced calculus, including Fourier Analysis and LaPlace transforms up to B.Sc. Maths level. For my majors I als did a lot of Statistics, including Kriging etc., amongst others for palaeontological population analysis and borehole data analysis.

In short, it is all rather relative.

However, what I really liked about geology, is that you really are a kind of detective, trying to solve the puzzele of missing parts in earth'history by deduction and analysis of experimental, laboratory and field data.

Kind regards, Wim

Mike B in OK wrote in post #19009501
https://www.amazon.com …ota&qid=1581713​436&sr=8-1

Roadside Geology of South Dakota

This book may be helpful to the OP. The series has books for a great many states. Highly recommended!

In general the more you know about your subject, the better photographer you will be. I’ve usually taken this to mean learning about wildlife behavior and ecology for the shots that interest me. I Suspect geology would have much more limited application, but if that study calls to you, go for it!

Either this is a really good book or Amazon's AI is "watching" what I'm doing here on POTN - an ad just popped into my inbox this morning

sapearl wrote in post #19016043
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Either this is a really good book or Amazon's AI is "watching" what I'm doing here on POTN - an ad just popped into my inbox this morning
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Amazon definitely watches. . Almost any time I view something that is for sale on Amazon or B&H, I will then see that item in pop-up ads all over the internet for the next week or three.

I once saw an ad for a woman's sweater, and thought the model wearing the sweater was unusually good looking, so I clicked on the ad in hopes of seeing a higher quality photo of her. . I then got a plethora of woman's clothing ads popping up on my computer for the next month!


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19016048
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Amazon definitely watches. . Almost any time I view something that is for sale on Amazon or B&H, I will then see that item in pop-up ads all over the internet for the next week or three.

I once saw an ad for a woman's sweater, and thought the model wearing the sweater was unusually good looking, so I clicked on the ad in hopes of seeing a higher quality photo of her. . I then got a plethora of woman's clothing ads popping up on my computer for the next month!

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Very interesting Tom.....so, do you look better in heels or flats?

Yes it is helpful for Photographers, Geology involves the use of photography or other imaging. As geology is broadly the study of the Earth and often entails the study of large-scale features as, returned with images that proved geologically valuable and emphasized the West as a hospitable place for settlers.