Mountain Photography · Friday June 2, 2006
So there you are, beginning to wonder what makes great mountain photographs, and how you can find them. Maybe you’ve been tramping the hills for years, just a few times, or never: but you’ve realised, mountain images are one of the most rewarding areas of photography. Not only do you capture their beauty, one of the most interesting natural features on the planet, but you also get to record and memorise exhilarating and happy times. But then your film comes back from Boots, or you open your memory card in Photoshop, and you suddenly realise, what gives? Why aren’t my photos like you see in the magazines, the calendars, the guide books?
Mountain photography is both complicated and simple. There are many considerations about what equipment to use, and the techniques and subtleties of composition, lighting and weather. I can’t discuss all of those factors in detail, but here’s a few ideas.
1.Keep it simple
The overwhelming panorama from Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis or anywhere else is not necessarily the best photo. When we gaze with our eyes, we are naturally selective: we filter out details that don’t attract us and form relationships between left and right, near and far, lake and sky and rock and grass, that the camera doesn’t replicate. The old saying is ‘the camera doesn’t lie’, and it doesn’t edit out the details that you do in your mind, when you enjoy the scenery. So you have to learn to see like the camera does, and then one general tip is to simplify the visual information.
2.Appreciate the light
Sometimes, light is itself the reason to take a photograph. Nature does some exquisite things. The clear delicacy of the morning, or the golden warmth of the evening, can transform a landscape from mundane to unforgettable. Winter can be better than summer because there’s less haze, so be prepared to brave the cold and hope for some snow. And make a little effort to get out early in the morning, or stay out late in the summer evenings when the sun doesn’t set until about 10 pm. I’m frequently on the hills at dusk, and it surprises me how few people do this.
3.Gear
Let’s not start talking pixels, formats, and lenses. I’m not an ‘anorak’; I wear normal jackets in the city, and Goretex in the hills. There are a few technical details to know about, and you need to research what fits your needs and preferences. Very few people use medium or large format film cameras and the trend is away from film altogether, now that high quality digital images are easy to obtain. Balance your gear against your budget, and the overall weight of your rucksack. How important are your photographs? Do you need a heavy digital SLR, or will a compact camera be perfeclty adequate and far more convenient? These are questions only you can answer, but whatever choices you make be familiar with your equipment and how it works, before you go walking.
4.Study great photos
It’s easy to think there’s an ineffable magic to mountain photography, that some people understand and other people don’t. The professionals can do it, but you can’t. While it’s true that skilled photograhy is partly innate, and maybe can’t be taught, it’s also true that you get better at it. You learn to understand the relationships between colours, shapes and shadows, and what works and doesn’t work photographically. That wonderful outlook looks disappointingly boring when you see the image, so why was that? And that snatched moment after you’d finished lunch somehow encapsulates the entire day, and you want it framed on your wall. Why was that again? You eventually get a feeling for this, and one way of accelerating that process is to get inspiration and understanding from accomplished work: try Ansel Adams, Charlie Waite, Colin Prior, and Joe Cornish.
5. Look around the viewfinder
Imagine that you’re looking into a room in a house, when you would notice the floor, walls and ceiling. Apply the same principle, and you appreciate what the camera sees, not what the eye-brain perceives.
6.Walk to photograph
There’s a balance between taking photographs while you walk, and walking to take photographs. It’s slightly different, and this is worth remembering. Many times for example a walking day for me has been boring or depressing, under a blanket of grey sky. But I’ve had a particular location in mind, or a fondly remembered viewpoint, that made me persevere and benefit from the day regardless of the so-so walking.
I got two of my favourite images after a dismal climb up the Band in Cumbria’s Langdale, to reach Three Tarns at the top. I knew it had great views across to the Scafells and like old friends, I hadn’t seen them for months. And besides, I thought, maybe the sun would flash through the clouds as it sometimes does just before it sets. I had to wait a full hour for that to happen, it wasn’t so much a flash as a pleasant glimmer, and this was in freezing conditions I couldn’t cope with for very long. But it was worth it. I’d resigned myself to a disappointing walk, that was redeemed by these sombre but beautiful photos: