Ansel Adams said, “You don’t take pictures, you do. ” You can see a beautiful mountain in front of you, take a photo and be as disappointed as a surfer without waves. However, you can have a very indefinable panorama, scene in front of you and get an amazing picture if you know how to do it.
That’s why today I leave you some tips for photographing the mountain, so that during your trips to the mountain, during your travels or during your photographic getaways you will know how to take a picture of these geographical accidents and not only will you stay on the more than probable-disappointing act of taking a photo or you will end up bothering the staff;).
- It is not a question of making a portrait with the mountain in the background as if it were a tourist.
- Claiming that it was there.
- The protagonist is the mountain.
- So the person you include will serve to create a scale of dimension.
- Which is to show the actual size of the great rock.
- Because if there is no reference.
- The public will not be able to understand its size.
- The inclusion of people also adds interest to the image.
- The viewer will feel more identified and therefore attracted.
If you don’t already know, the lines are an excellent compositional resource that you will find not only in architecture and the city, but also present in nature, help to order the composition, to guide the gaze, to create sensations. in your mountain photography and you will see how the image becomes more attractive to the viewer, you can take the test, photograph a mountain without further dilation and photograph it with lines that guide the viewer to a point of interest, or the rock itself.
And speaking of lines, I have to remember that there are different types of lines and that each one provokes different sensations, the most powerful lines in a mountain landscape are the diagonals and the “S” that I tell you below. Including a diagonal The line in a mountain photograph causes a tension and a force in the image that you will hardly get with other types of lines.
If you also include people moving up or down that diagonally, you can deal with the audience’s feelings as you wish. I’m telling you, it’s not the same emotion or the same tension that comes up when someone goes up. The effort, tiredness and the fact that it remains to reach the finish line, do not convey the same feeling as a descent, more relaxed and quiet.
The curved line or rather the double curved line, which forms an “S” is very attractive. It is widely used in landscape photography, using roads, roads, rivers or streams, marks on farm fields or even the same drawing of mountains. The “S” alone adds beauty to the image. Sometimes its presence will be very obvious, other times it will be more subtle, but somehow it works. Try it, you’ll see how this trick doesn’t disappoint.
If you have water nearby, a river, a lake, don’t miss the opportunity to photograph its reflections. The symmetry obtained is usually very attractive, even if it tries not to be a perfect symmetry, because then it can fall twice into the boredom of the viewer.
The reflections are best obtained when the water is not very bright and the subject reflects the east. If you want the reflection to be clear, photograph it when the water is calmer. A polarizing filter and wide-angle lens will help. Use small openings. (f/height) and change the angle if you cannot see the reflection.
Light is the most important element of a photograph, learning to handle light is like having the SUV, a magic wand.
In short, here are some keys
Fog-drenched photographs have an aura of mystery and even a certain dreamlike character. A misty mountain will almost always be more interesting than a clear rock. Don’t let the fog stop you, on the contrary, this should be your perfect excuse to go out with your camera.
If you have any questions about photographing misty landscapes, see this article.
One way to add drama to an image, that is, one that causes a greater impact, whether it is recorded on the retina and remains in the memory of the viewer, is in black and white. Always? Of course, no. Not all photos are beautiful in black and white, you have to know how to look at them, but don’t panic, here are 12 tips for capturing stunning black and white landscapes or tips for better black and white photography.
And if you want to delve into black and white, I recommend the complete black and white photography guide, published by the photographer’s blog.
Below is an example of a magnificent photograph of a mountain in gray levels.
If you plan to include much of the sky in the frame when photographing a mountain, try to do it one day with lots of clouds, the clear skies can be very tempting to stroll, but in a photo it’s too boring and boring. . Avoid them?
Notice that the examples above are all cloudy, see?
It is also known as atmospheric perspective and is enhanced by environmental conditions such as fog or rain, if you manage to capture it you will add a lot of depth to the scene and the viewer will have the feeling of being in the landscape. It is likely that a scene too flat, especially if it is a landscape (and mountainous), is very boring.
You can also gain depth by including foreground elements, so your photo consists of a close-up, elements in the background and third plane with your mountains.
Play with the color. This is not to say that you oversize the image, it will not be boring, but it will be so squeaky that it can hurt your eyesight, it is a mistake that we make a lot at first, try not to fall too much into it. Cleverly and elegantly, unsaturated bright colors, sunset or sunrise colors?The important thing is that you know how to handle the light well to achieve this goal.
I told you almost at the beginning of the article that you can provoke one kind of emotion or another just by changing a descent for a promotion. You can also convey feelings of calm and/or tranquility by including a person in a feeling of rest, nostalgia or melancholy with little contrast, or playing with colors. The ultimate goal of photography is to excite and, while it’s hard to believe, you have that power with your camera.
There are different ways to introduce contrast into an image, whether using light, color, contrasts from the landscape itself, the sky or, as in the example image, weather-related contrasts or weather. There is no doubt that such a contrast adds appeal to the image. If you get a good contrast, your image won’t go unnoticed, let alone boring staff.
This is the best advice I will give you, if you do not practice, if you do not go out with your camera to look for mountains, however much you read this article or another hundred, however much you learn them by heart, if you only go out one day to take a photo I assure you that the result will be very disappointing, these tips will help you, but what will really help you is to put them into practice.
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