And, John says, you can learn from other people's photographs as long as you look with an open mind. "A lot of people look at pictures and their instant reaction is, I could have done that. They should be asking, how did he do that? They don't leave themselves open to learning from the photograph."

What John finds most interesting about photography is that it's two ways of looking at the world. "On one hand, you have to be the craftsman, the technician and deal with f/2.8 and 5.6 and all those other weird things. On the other hand, you have to be the poet, the artist and deal with the emotional, the impressionistic. One side without the other is total failure. We've all seen technically superb photos with no soul and many intense, personal photos that just don't communicate because there's no craftsmanship. To succeed you need both sides."

That's the essential John Shaw.

The Top Tips
The photo gospel according to John:

1. Use a tripod. Always. "If you want quality in your photographs," John has said, "buy a sturdy, heavy-duty tripod. There is no such thing as a lightweight sturdy tripod. Buy one that goes up to your level without extending the center post, because the minute you extend the center post you no longer have a tripod, you have a monopod with legs."

2. Avoid mid-day light. "It's the worst."

3. Go hungry. "More good photos are lost because people refuse to miss meals. They don't stay out for the gorgeous light because it's dinnertime. Rearrange your schedule, eat out of the cooler or stop for snacks before you get to the location."

4. Slower is better when it comes to film. Use the slowest film (hence the finest grain) you can possibly get away with.

5. Get closer to your subject. This holds true for everything, except wild animals.

6. The greater the glass, the better the photo. "Buy the best lens you can. If you have to skimp, skimp on the camera body, but not the lens—that's what takes the picture."

7. Line up your horizons. "Tilting horizons result in photographs where all the water in the lake should be running out the left side of the frame." Here's how to prevent that from happening: "Whichever eye you use to look through the camera, once you've set up and composed, use the other eye. It'll correct a lot of lean. Even better, take two steps back and look at the camera to make sure it's square with the world." (Skip this if your back is to a cliff edge.)

8. Always expect the next one to be the best one. "The way to think about photography is that the next frame you shoot will be the definitive one. Everybody takes one picture and says, 'Well, I've got it.' Take another one, and always believe that the one you haven't taken will be even better."

To see more of John's photography visit his website.

John Shaw has been an NPS member since 1976.