[batwister]

The solid human qualities of a freed will and healthy deep feeling, such as what the outdoors provides) must be matched to clear thought.

Absolutely agree.

For the next walk coming up in this, the southern hermisphere spring, I'm leaving it all at home, taking just the beloved XA and pinhole camera with lightmeter.

That Ilford Titan is starting to look more appealing.

I don't believe I've ever taken "better" pictures any distance greater than right next to a well-traveled road.

I tend to agree, but as said above by Poisson, that sense of well-being and also perhaps the heightened state of awareness (clear thinking) that comes with spending prolonged periods outdoors is crucial for me. Maybe on a superficial level, images we make by the road can be as visually strong as those made in the 'heart' of it, but isn't it important for photographs to carry an insight and a deeper experience?

For Weston I believe that sense of detachment and objectivity was important, hence his quote. The way he made images didn't require tapping into a 'sense of place' - his images weren't mood driven - the impositions of modernism, formalism (the civilised world) were more important than an intimate knowledge of his subject I'd say. His quote goes through my head all the time, but I'm not quite ready to take it verbatim until I've explored my own process a little more. This might turn out to be something of a creative right of passage for me or just a waste of energy!