Home > Photography Tips

1. Study the area that you will be photographing – I do this in great detail! When I am traveling to any area that is new to me, I find it extremely helpful to study photographs and maps to prepare an itinerary or target for my trip. The Internet has made researching an area extremely easy compared to what was available thirty years ago. I am always on the lookout for interesting new subject matter that would be exciting to explore with my camera. Topographic maps are also extremely helpful in trying to “previsualize” how you anticipate an area will look. They show lakes, streams, meadows, cliffs and other land formations. Personally, topographic maps really spark that anticipation of exploring… not knowing for sure what you might find, but arousing your anticipation of what could be around that next bend in the trail, or on the other side of the next ridge. Maps are also essential for determining where the sun will be at certain times of the day and year, which is vital to most photographers.
2. “Previsualization” – Previsualization is the ability to compose or create an image in your mind prior to going out and capturing it with your camera. In other words, you can picture it in your mind prior to actually seeing it with your eyes. Obviously to do this you need to rely on past experience from your visits to a specific location, or from some other visual source such as an image you have seen. You can then begin to compose that incredible picture in your mind that you hope to capture when the conditions are just right. It takes practice to train your mind to accurately “visualize” or picture a specific location at different times of the day, season or year. It also involves doing your homework on each area’s seasonal characteristics (when are the wildflowers in bloom, when will the fall colors begin to peak, when will the mountains get their first snow, where will the sun be at a certain time of year, how will a certain waterfall look in the spring, summer, fall or winter). There is always risk in trying to time a season, or event, but you can increase your odds of capturing that previsualized image by doing your homework, and then positioning yourself for the best chance to be successful. This could be as simple as coming back to a specific area a few hours later in your hike to capture that nice backlight, or sidelight on your subject. It could mean coming back the next day, if that is possible, when there might be some cloud formations in the sky to add interest to the top of the image that you are “previsualizing.” Let me give you an example of one of my early experiences with “previsualization.” The first time I hiked to Punchbowl Falls, on Eagle Creek, in the Columbia River Gorge, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the aesthetic beauty of the creek and falls, and how the falls were so perfectly framed by the sheer cliffs that surrounded them. I could see that it had the potential to make a great picture, but there were numerous issues or problems that I had to consider. First, it was August and the amount of water coming over the falls was minimal. Second, there was a large fir tree that had drifted downstream and lodged itself right in the middle of the “bowl.” Third, the vegetation surrounding the falls was beginning to look a little tired and brown as happens in the late summer. Fourth, there were probably 10 people swimming below the falls (actually a lot of fun on a late summer afternoon). In this instance, it was quite easy to visualize the falls in a more ideal photographic setting (more water, no fir tree, fresh spring vegetation, and no people), but would it look the way that I had actually pictured it in my mind? Well, in this instance, it looked even better than I had imagined when I took this picture in early June of 1990, ten years and numerous trips later up Eagle Creek. The water flow over the falls was magnificent, the fir tree had been dislodged, the early spring vegetation was spectacular, and I had picked a weekday during the school year to avoid all the people traffic. I also chose a day with high white clouds which offered a very subtle, yet bright filtered light and I took the picture close to noon to get the greatest amount of light on the falls area. Not all “previsualization” exercises work out this well, but often times they do, and frequently you will be very richly rewarded.
3. Training Your Eyes – Simply stated, this means being able to differentiate between what you see with the naked eye and how the camera, lens, and film interpret the same setting. This, again, is basically a matter of practice and experience. The human eye is an incredibly remarkable tool which can compensate for changes in light intensity, color, focus and depth of field almost instantly. To a lesser degree, a camera can do most of these things, but rarely all of them at the same time. With our peripheral vision we can see close to 180 degrees. That is one heck of a wide angle lens (your typical wide angle lens is 76 degrees). It is also estimated that the human eye can see about 10 million colors, yet photographic film sees only in the 10 to 15,000 range. In a mountain scene, our eyes can adjust almost instantly to the difference in brightness of a dark green forest and a brilliant snow covered peak bathed in sunlight. Film can fairly accurately capture the color and exposure values of the forest, or the mountain, but due to its limitations, rarely can it capture both together like our eyes can. It is a very delicate balancing act to attempt to accurately capture everything that your eyes see. Often times you have to settle for a compromise due to the technical limitations of the camera and film. Another trap that people commonly fall into is trying to capture everything that they see in one picture. To do this, they stand as far back from their subject as they can and take the picture with a wide angle lens. The result is that everything appears much smaller and less impressive than the way they remember it. In most cases, the opposite (moving closer to your subject either physically or by using a telephoto lens) will produce a more pleasing image. If you find yourself overcome with the incredible beauty of a very special scene, you might try breaking it down into several shots with several different focal length lenses. The point here is to always keep in mind the limitations of your camera and film and to try and compose your picture within those limits. Soon you will find that you have developed the skill of being able to zoom in and compose subjects with your eyes that are also within the limits of your camera, or learning to see as the camera sees.
4. The Four Corners – I always check all four corners of my viewfinder before I take a picture. I do this to check and make sure that only what I want is in the picture. We’ve all had pictures developed only to find that unwanted phone pole, person, or car hiding in one of our corners. In scenic photography it could be something as small as a bush or tree that just doesn’t look right, or a bare spot of ground in a beautiful flower covered meadow. Most of the time you can solve this problem by adjusting your position, changing lenses, or by changing the camera’s angle, and then composing your picture again to eliminate the problem area. When we are so focused on that incredibly beautiful subject in front of us, it is very easy to miss something hiding in one of those corners, which could ruin your once in a lifetime picture. While you are checking your four corners, it is also a very good idea to check your horizon to make sure it is straight.
5. Keep Your Mind and Eyes Open – As I said earlier, I always have an itinerary, or target in mind, but it is very important to keep your eyes and mind open to new, unexpected opportunities. It is very easy to have “tunnel vision” when you are rushing to get to a certain spot at a certain time for that “perfect image.” I honestly think that some of the images that have given me the most satisfaction are the ones that I just happened to discover unexpectedly. My “Echo Canyon” image is a perfect example of an image that was not “previsualized.” My brother, Patrick, and I decided to take an afternoon hike up “Echo Canyon,” and came around a bend in the trail to find this spectacular view of Zion canyon. The backlight was perfect, the bright yellow bush, the solitary pine tree in the upper right hand corner and the two white clouds all added to an already beautiful setting. You don’t want to be so focused on your target that you end up hiking right past an exceptional opportunity. I always try to give myself several extra hours when I’m hiking to a specific target. This takes all the pressure off, which allows you to relax and to truly see and experience nature which is essential to being creative with your photography. It’s also a lot more fun!
6. Bracketing – This simply means taking more than one exposure of the same image, using different exposure settings, to insure that you have the correct exposure for your image. I usually bracket each image three times: once according to the reading of my light meter, once at plus ½ stop, and once at minus ½ stop. Occasionally I will bracket each image five times, adding plus one stop and minus one stop if the image is truly spectacular. I will also take the same basic picture with several different lenses. This allows you to make a number of different interpretations of the same subject. Both of these techniques will increase your film costs, but when you weigh that against traveling hundreds of miles back to an area to try and recapture an image, it becomes a no-brainer.

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