When reading the article how to reconcile the practice of hiking photography, which many of you have appreciated and shared, you asked me, Dave Spates, an hiking expert photographer to expand the part concerning the advice for photos in mountains by me. Explaining that it was quite tiring to scroll to the end of the article.
SOME SIMPLE PHOTO TIPS
The good thing about these tips is that they don’t just apply to hiking photography but to general photography practice In fact, what you will learn here, you can use it in everyday life.
Sometimes you just need to apply a few tips to quickly improve the rendering of your mountain photos. But for that, you have to open your eyes and not constantly fix your shoes.
USE THE RULE OF THIRDS:
They allow a more harmonious composition. This very simple rule of composition consists of dividing the image into 3 equal parts, both horizontally and vertically. Which gives us 9 boxes in the end. SLR users are familiar with this option (normally) which is available natively or by searching in the menu when performing a live view (real time view).
To use the rule of thirds properly, you have to place the elements along these different lines. The intersections, the strong points of the images, are natural guides towards which the eye turns.
Note that in the settings of your smartphone, you can precisely display the lines of the rules of third parties in order to facilitate your work. When shooting in landscape format.
USE THE VANISHING LINES:
They make it possible to reinforce the dynamism of the image. May it be a path, a stream losing itself in the distance?
USE THE LINES OF FORCE:
The slope of the ground, the massive presence of rock bars, a building breaking the line a horizontal line of force.
USE AN ELEMENT THAT WILL MAKE THE LANDSCAPE SCALE:
It could be a hiker (that of your group), an animal, a lone tree. Also, avoid cutting any part of this element as this eliminates the rendering of the scale.
ENJOY THE BEST LIGHT:
This is generally the time before and after sunrise and sunset. The shadows are softer, the light warm and grazing. The sums are touched by the first rays while the valley sleeps. Also take advantage of stormy atmospheres which reinforces the gravity of the image.
HIKING IS NOT JUST ABOUT LANDSCAPES:
It is also details: fauna, flora, portraits, food, moments of life … the more we are interested in the environment that surrounds us, the more we realize how rich it is. Transcribe this visual and human adventure as a whole.
ADVICE FOR THOSE WITH AN SLR.
In general (90% of cases), the semi-automatic mode will be used: opening priority.
SIMPLE RULE OF OPENING:
The larger the aperture (f small) the brighter the photo will be but less sharp around the focal point The smaller the aperture (f large) the darker the photo but sharper around the focal point In landscape format, from f 11, it is already good for the sharpness of the whole image . Do not go up to the maximum to avoid deformation.
OTHER USEFUL PHOTO TIPS:
Keep a sufficient trigger speed (above 1/50 in general) to remove motion blur Use a tripod: very useful for night photos and when the light conditions are difficult, Take your photos in raw format so that you can develop them and correct them in post-processing if necessary Do not go too high in the ISO to avoid noise Use what you can to stabilize your lens if needed: tripod, ground, railing, bag. For the protection and the quality of your image, take a cover with a rubber band hanging from the base of the lens. Because it protects the lens from impurities, shocks and we avoid losing it. (I speak from experience)
