Hiking photography tips for rookies...that's me

[bubba]

Like a pro... he really knows

Great thread with great info.
Here are a few of my thoughts:

I’ve illustrated each point with a photo that can be found here.

Well, you just added some more great content. I've told this to you before - no doubt you know what to do when you have a camera in your hand!! You have an excellent eye for composition. I'm sure many can learn from you.

 

[David Metsky]

4000'er --- I like the "look for characters". Nice set of pics.

Hrmm, I'm not sure what to think about all this.

Love the people shots you took, especially the one of Kea. IMO, shots of vast scenery get boring very quickly unless you have some detail to capture the eye. It can be a hiker, strategically placed, or a line of cairns, or stream in the foreground, or something, but "Here is a mountain" shots rarely pop.

-dave-

 

[McRat]

Good point Dave. I took a series for a sunset panorama and in the first frame, a guy just walked into the picture .

I initially wanted to crop him out, but I've come to think he really makes it work.

Sometimes my favorite photos are more of a gift from the photo gods than any deliberate effort on my part.

 

[4000'er]

Hrmm, I'm not sure what to think about all this.
-dave-

I mean "Characters" in the best sense of the word

 

[Grumpy]

Enjoyed the photos that 4000’er offered as examples. Including people in the album is a winner, every time.

Over the years of sharing my photos (slides and albums and stacks of prints) I’ve noticed that my audiences (friends, victims, what-have-you) tend to nod off and lose interest fairly quickly as the landscapes roll by. But they perk back up when the people pix start coming. People do enjoy looking at other people, as has been known forever by photojournalists.

G.

 

[Waumbek]

I have the S2 IS and have been happy with it. My only reservation is that it does not shoot at a higher resolution, but for a smaller camera, it's great. (It's at the outer weight and size limits of what I want to carry in a backpack.) S3 may have improved; I haven't seen the specs.

I recommend the AC adapter for reviewing images at home, learning the camera, etc. I also use an SD picture card reader to connect to the computer, not the camera. I've been looking into the 1.5x teleconverter lens but wonder whether that will exceed the "image stabilization" capacity. Even though I never use the LCD to shoot, I never have time to mount the camera on a tripod when I shoot animal pictures. Still contemplating that issue.

You may already know this but here's two things I have learned the hard way; they probably pertain to all digital cameras:

1--remove the card from the card reader before connecting them to a different computer. I have corrupted cards by not doing so, well, not the cards themselves, but the images. I trashed my best moose image doing this and had not saved it anywhere yet.

2--when you delete all the images from your picture card, make sure to re-format the card each time. If you don't re-format the card, a small amount of data remains from each deletion and eventually the card fills up.

P.S. For a minority opinion, I kinda prefer pure landscapes, no people props, but focal interest on something else, an interesting rock, tree, or whatever.

 

[4000'er]

2--when you delete all the images from your picture card, make sure to re-format the card each time.

Format the card in the camera, not on the computer.

 

[forestgnome]

McRat's sunset picture from Mt. Monroe is beautiful. Nice image!

While Grumpy is correct about the average person being attracted to pictures of people, we should always consider the intended audience for our pictures.

I'm with Waumbeck on this one. I like to convey the beauty of the forest and the mountains. People in these images may convey emotions about the experience of hiking, and they do provide scale. But I like to convey the beauty of the place, and people in the image change the feel. It's like a fly in the ointment for me.

But, of corse, it's all good. It just depends on what you're trying to capture.

 

[grouseking]

McRat's sunset picture from Mt. Monroe is beautiful. Nice image!

While Grumpy is correct about the average person being attracted to pictures of people, we should always consider the intended audience for our pictures.

I'm with Waumbeck on this one. I like to convey the beauty of the forest and the mountains. People in these images may convey emotions about the experience of hiking, and they do provide scale. But I like to convey the beauty of the place, and people in the image change the feel. It's like a fly in the ointment for me.

But, of corse, it's all good. It just depends on what you're trying to capture.

I agree...which is probably why I take so many pics of mtns or ponds. I can't get enough of the scenery, even if I've seen it many times. Every trip has a new type of view in it, even if it is "another" shot of Franconia Ridge. Each day brings its own special brand of weather, making the pics unique, no matter what.

grouseking

 

[Grumpy]

... While Grumpy is correct about the average person being attracted to pictures of people, we should always consider the intended audience for our pictures.

I'm with Waumbeck on this one. I like to convey the beauty of the forest and the mountains. People in these images may convey emotions about the experience of hiking, and they do provide scale. But I like to convey the beauty of the place, and people in the image change the feel. It's like a fly in the ointment for me.

But, of corse, it's all good. It just depends on what you're trying to capture.

My comment only reflected personal experience. I love doing landscapes and nature studies. I do not love watching my audience (victims?) nod off as the landscapes and nature studies lull them to sleep.

I've been shooting pictures as a professional for 40 years and longer than that as an amateur. Many of my photos are from hiking trips -- many of those from long ago. I revel in seeing the wonderful natural scenes of past adventures; I revel even more in seeing people pictures and being reminded of past adventures with boon companions, too many of them now gone forever. Just call me "average or ordinary" and maybe a bit sentimental.

G.

 

[forestgnome]

Grumpy, I know what you mean. I realized that my favorite picture of Mrs. Forestgnome is one from Mt. Pierce with a grey jay in her hand. There is so much feel to that picture. Of all the shots from that day, that's the special one.

It's all good

 

[Periwinkle]

Lots of great thoughts and pics. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting points, too -- I've always thought that half of what was off with my hiking pictures was the lack of people perspective. Others viewing photos just don't get the magnitude of the scene without a human height meter somewhere. The self portraits of me on summits rarely capture the scale of things. Ah, the downside of solo hiking....

 

[HuiYeng]

Hi 4000-er, very nice pictures, I especially like the way you play with low and high angles. IMHO they provide a stronger and more interesting sense of perspective.

 

[sapblatt]

Grumpy, I know what you mean. I realized that my favorite picture of Mrs. Forestgnome is one from Mt. Pierce with a grey jay in her hand. There is so much feel to that picture. Of all the shots from that day, that's the special one.

It's all good

That is an awesome pic - all of the areas (the bird, trees, clouds, skies, the mrs) all came out real sharp!

 

[LivesToHike]

I have the S2 IS and have been happy with it. My only reservation is that it does not shoot at a higher resolution, but for a smaller camera, it's great. (It's at the outer weight and size limits of what I want to carry in a backpack.) S3 may have improved; I haven't seen the specs.

I also have a cannon S2. I agree. It's a good camera - I've taken over 15,000 images with it since buying it a year ago. I've taken it on 4 season hikes in the NorthEast & summer hikes in the AZ/NM. I've dropped, banged, and abused it (thankfully, not the lense) - to my surprise it's held up quite well. Although I would recommend carrying it a padded container in your pack when not in use, or around your neck with a strenum strap. During inclement weather or winter I keep my camera around my neck and just under my jacket. I've never had it freeze on me. The viewfinder will fog up alittle from personal mositure...

The new S3 is 1.1 Mpixel (S2: 5Mp, S3: 6.1Mp) more resolution, appears from a personal test at a retailer to have a better menu set and improved stabilization modes. I believe the S3's lowest ISO is 80, whereas the S2 was 50; dpreview.com might have more info. There are other camera mfg's with similar style cameras, though I don't have personal experience, other than show room tests with them.

I agree with Dave M's comments and will Echo - bring lots of memory flash cards and batteries. I have 8.5 Gbytes of flash cards and 4 sets of batteries for my camera (which thankfully takes 4 AA NiMd batteries). We used up all our flash memories in 2 weeks of travel recently in AZ/NM.

Keep clicking away - more is better - especially if you bracket and see other angles. Enjoy!

--LTH

 

[darren]

John Shaw has a series of nature photography books that I found very useful when I got into photography:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=br_ss_hs/002-6474467-4773644?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dstripbooks%3Arelevance-above&keywords=john+shaw&Go.x=9&Go.y=10

The field guide and close up books are very good. There is technical knowledge, but there is also a lot of practical easy to understand advice too.

- darren

 

[Grandaddy]

Great thread...

Something to consider regarding ISO setting before taking your digital camera out hiking for the first time:

Try some low-light shooting in your back yard or anyplace where you can simulate the conditions that you may experience. Even on a sunny day, you may run into a low-light situation, like underneath thick foliage. Try different ISO settings (e.g. 100->200->400->800) and view images at full-size to check for signs of degradation (noise.) You may find that your camera shoots well at ISO400, but starts to lose image quality at ISO800. You may find a compromise between maximum quality (Low ISO) and fastest shutter speed (High ISO) that will give you an acceptable image under low-light conditions. Images that look beautiful on a 2" LCD may look weak when displayed at full size because of excessive noise.

Also, don't forget to do dome experimentation with flash, yes FLASH! Flash can be useful in high contrast situations (i.e. high noon) to illuminate dark shadows cast under eyes, nose, hat, etc.

A bit of experimentation at home can go a long way towards capturing a "keeper" when it really counts, when you are in the mountains hours away from your car, which is hours away from home, which happens to be where I want to be right now!

 

[forestgnome]

Great thread...

Images that look beautiful on a 2" LCD may look weak when displayed at full size because of excessive noise.

So true!!! I took some shots of a bull moose that looked awesome as I quickly checked the screen. I was so excited to have a bull with full rack standing 10' away among autumn leaves that I forgot to remove the polarizer that was on there from taking shots from the top of Wildcat in full winter conditions ( what a day! ). On the screen it looked great, but later I realized that the images were dark and fuzzy.

Also, if you shoot the night sky beware that the images might be darker than they look on the screen. I think it's because the screen is lighted (like a slide projector), but not sure. I photographed Orion above Tuckerman Ravine in winter, lit by moonlight. I bracketed heavily, and the best images were ones that appeared over-exposed on the screen.

 

[DougPaul]

I photographed Orion above Tuckerman Ravine in winter, lit by moonlight. I bracketed heavily, and the best images were ones that appeared over-exposed on the screen.

Histograms can be very useful for judging exposure.

Doug

 

[Grandaddy]

Histograms can be very useful for judging exposure.

Doug

Very good point, DougPaul. I always have my LCD configured so that it will show the histogram of a new exposure. This is an important way to make sure that you have noise-free images. A well exposed "negative" will give better results than one that is underexposed. One thst is underexposed will likely show noise artifact when the image is edited. No noise reduction algorithm applied to an underexposure can substitute for a well-exposed image.

Here is a primer on interpreting the histogram for those unfamiliar:
http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_histogram.html

A histogram, in this context, is a graphic respresentation showing the number of pixels having brightness numbers from 0 to 255. Each channel is quantified and displayed on a bar graph. A well exposed image should contain shadow, midrange, and highlights. These elements will appear on the left, center, and right side of the histogram, respectively.

The histogram will help to indicate if you have nailed the exposure. You will be able to notice a broad graph in a typical good exposure. In poor lighting situations, You may notice spikes at the "dark" end of the spectrum or the "bright" side. There are several article about this, and also consult the camera manual for basic information.