Have your
Mountain Vacation Pictures
create oooh's & aah's!

Most people who go on a family mountain vacation take lots of photographs. They also go hiking, do sightseeing, etc.

With today's lightweight digital cameras, there's no reason to come home without breathtaking photographs.

Bringing your camera with on a 2 hour hike is simple. Carrying it with while taking in the sites should become second nature.

So, what's stopping you from capturing mountain vacation photographs that you will be proud to hang on your walls?

For most people, it's just a little basic photographic knowledge. Like any "complicated" device (VCR, computer, bowling ball... it is for some people!), it's very easy to purchase it. It's much more difficult to become proficient with it.

Today, we'll cover some basic photography principles which will bring your mountain vacation photographs from Level 2 (THAT is a mountain?!?!) to Level 6 (WHO took these phenomenal pictures!?!).

Before You Leave Home
for Your Mountain Vacation...

• Camera, batteries, memory cards, camera case, battery chargers, external flash (if available), tripod, and portable digital storage device.
  
  
• Consider purchasing a circular polarizer filter for your lens. Strongly consider it! It will be one of the least expensive accessories you can purchase and you will LOVE the results. What can it do, you ask?
  • Make the blue in the sky of your mountain vacation photographs appear deeper and bluer

  • Allow you to reflect the image of a mountain off its mountain lake (or any other still body of water)

  • Makes colors under certain conditions "jump" off the page with vividness

• If you're also open to spending a little more on filters, it's an excellent insurance policy to place a UV filter over your lens for protection. If your lens becomes damaged, your camera is ruined.

• Last on the "Filters-to-buy" list is the Neutral Density family of filters. There's a good chance you'll see waterfalls in the mountains. As explained in the middle of nature photography tips, the only way to create "cotton candy" effects with water is to slow down the shutter speed.

  And the only way to do that on a sunny day, is by making the camera think it is darker outside than it is. That's what neutral density filters do.

  Note that you may want to buy a series with different strengths, i.e., a 2X, 4X, 8X filter. These can be used alone or in series with each other to produce the desired effect.

  Since you're taking a mountain vacation, chances are good that you will see at least one waterfall. Wouldn't it be great to capture a photograph of it that could blow you away?

If some of the following ideas seem familiar, consider yourself an official "photo-bug." If not, don't be embarrassed, most people are not aware of these mountain vacation photo tips.


Reflection Off Water

1. "What's that?"

2. "That's a mountain!"

3. "Quick - give me the camera. I have to take a photograph before it moves!"

However, if you want your mountain vacation photographs to have a lot more pizazz, then you need to incorporate some photography tips. As an example, what stands out in the mountain photo above?

The two primary factors that make this a "show-your-friends" photo rather than a "stick-it-in-the-back-of-the-album" picture, are the mirror effect and the color of the sky. Both are accomplished by using a circular polarizer filter over the camera lens.

Let's forget about the intensely blue sky for a minute. This mountain vacation photograph only uses the reflection of the water.

Here's the main point to remember when capturing these type of shots:

Before taking a mountain photograph, look for a body of water between you and the mountain.

That's it! It doesn't matter whether the water is near or far from the mountain as long as it is between you (the camera) and the mountain. Once located, then it becomes an exercise in COMPOSITION.

• Is the sky worthy of occupying a large sectionof the photograph?

  Typically, the sky comprises 5 - 40% of a mountain photo. The more colorful & interesting the sky, the closer it gets to 40%.

• Where do you want to position the line that defines the mirror effect? The top photo's line is approximately at the mid-point. The second photo's line is at the top third, allowing the trees to be included.

• How much of the real mountain do you want in the picture verses its reflection? Note that the second picture has more of the mountain showing in the reflection than the actual mountain.

• Finally, as demonstrated in the third mountain photograph, certain angles can produce a nice abstract look that hides the line where the mirror effect takes place.

To equalize the size discrepancy, keep the people in the foreground and the mountains in the background. Set your camera on the "infinity" or "landscape" setting, and focus on the people/person from at least 10 feet away.

You can vary how much of the frame is filled with the people by how close you are to them. Note that if you get too close to the people, the background will begin to lose sharpness, and suddenly your mountain vacation photographs turn into blurry mountain vacation photographs.

No two waterfalls or mountains are alike. In sizing up your shot, after you decide on the angle, telephoto vs. wide angle, and horizontal or vertical perspective; you still need to decide on the biggest choice...

Cotton candy look or natural look?

To capture a cotton candy effect as in this photograph, you need a tripod and the ability to set a very slow shutter speed on your camera. You will need to experiment between 1/4 second and 2 seconds for the effect you want.

To take a "natural look," use a normal shutter speed of 1/250 to 1/1000 second, depending on F-stop and lighting conditions. When in doubt, capture both effects.

If you want your mountain vacation photographs to stop the viewer dead in their tracks as they are flipping through your pictures, include a few surprises.

As stated before, be creative, look at every scene from numerous perspectives, have fun with it, and always ask yourself: "what if..."

Although the mountain vacation photograph above looks like the "flying hiker" was performing a death-defying leap, he was actually taking a very safe bound on a solid path.

By using a very fast shutter speed to freeze the action (1/1000 to 1/1500 of a second) and positioning the camera below the hiker, the resulting photograph is guaranteed to generate unique reactions.

Remember to cover all the bases! What does that mean?

• Capture the breathtaking scenery

• Capture the people on vacation

• Don't forget to include photos of you in your mountain vacation photographs

• If possible, do all of the above in the same picture!

As you're getting ready to snap a photo of your friends taking a breather, don't take the picture from the spot you just happen to be standing on!

YOU ARE IN THE MOUNTAINS! Include those magnificent specimens in the background, so move around until you find the perfect perspective. It's a lot easier to ask your friends to turn 90 degrees, than it is to move the mountains.

Now, let's build upon multiple elements to create remarkable mountain vacation photographs to show everyone.

What do we look for? The answer is simple... and complex. It's "everything."

Photographers typically begin their "optimization dance" by determining what the primary subject is for the picture. Then, they consider at least the following:

• Would the background add to the impact of the image, and if so, how much do we include?

• Are there other compositional elements in the area that could be included, if we moved (example: the trees in the photo above)?

• Which would produce the optimal perspective... holding the camera vertically or horizontally?

• Do I want to change my angle (either right/left or up/down) to change the perspective?

• Would this shot be better with people in it or not?

This mountain vacation photograph combines the reflection of a mountain in addition to a different perspective of a waterfall.

To have gotten more of a cotton-candy spray effect, a shutter speed between 1/2 and 1/4 of a second could have been used.

However, without the use of a tripod, the picture was taken at 1/15 of a second while the camera was securely positioned on a rock... still a very pleasing result.

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