12 Adventure Landscape Photography Tips for Any Level of Photographer
Nothing compares to escaping the urban grind and road tripping for a dose of serenity in nature. The smell of fresh air, endless hiking trails, mind blowing glacier cut rocks, mountain peaks, river caves and canyons for miles are all ways of life for many adventure travel photographers. Grab a coffee while Gregg Jaden shares 12 tips for adventure and landscape photography. Follow @greggjaden_ on Instagram or YouTube or @greggjaden.
Capturing commercial photography beautiful landscapes is an art form. Some shots require a deep sense of scale and timing while others are easily captured. Here are some tips for any level of photographer that I always use.
1 - Go Wide or Go Home
For landscapes My go to camera is Sony A7RIII a 42.4 MP sensor built for high resolution. My go to lens is Sony 16-35mm GM. I usually try to place a subject within the scene to give a sense of adventure and scale. We see our everyday life around 35-50mm depending on your peripheral vision ability. Life can look incredible when scale is shown at 16mm or even 12mm. This formula leave lots to the imagination of the viewer.
12mm F8.0 1/125 sec ISO 200 Sony 12-24 4.0G
2 - Bring Compression
Many photographers think telephoto lenses are for portraits with epic bokeh. Yes, this is true, they are incredibly effective for portraiture but also a secret weapon for landscape photographers. Some days I only use this lens capturing cliffs and waterfalls from a distance when the spray won’t allow you to get close to shoot it. Another key use is shooting the moon on a horizon to compress it closer to my scene. A lens I never leave home without is my Sony 100-400mm GM gives me a range of F4.5-5.6. Additionally, perfect for wildlife, especially bears and cougars which you definitely want to keep your distance. Use this lens for effectively framing and compressing your background.
100mm F7.1 – 1/125 sec ISO 400 Sony 100-400GM lens
3 - How Sharp Can You Go
I usually start with this general rule of ISO 100 and go up from there for handheld shots. Sony cameras which are incredible at low light situations help with this strategy a ton. When blue hour comes I usually up my ISO to 400 or 800 as a general rule for max sharpness in hand held situations. If I need to go higher I use a tripod. The Sony a7RIII can handle a much higher ISO like a champ. For Astro I’ve even pushed the camera up to ISO 6400 and even ISO 10,000 with almost no noise and a very sharp image. With Sony’s proprietary technology, and the recent release of the a7SIII, these cameras are very powerful helping you shoot at ISO levels that are couldn’t be achieved until recent years, resulting in incredibly sharp images.
4 - Keep the Balance Right
My general starting point is ISO 100 then I adjust my aperture and shutter from there. If my ISO proves too low, I will bump it up incrementally to 320, 400, 640 and 800. For landscapes the aperture “sweet spot” for me is around F7.1 up to F11. I find this range will work excellent for keeping everything in focus. From there, I’ll use wide or area focus to capture all aspects of my landscape. If you want to grab sunbursts try F14 see what works best for your camera. Always, play around and find different ways to shoot a scene. Try moving the camera for a different composition and re-adjusting the settings to accommodate light changes. Try a handheld shot in lower light situations with higher ISO. Then try a tripod shot of the same scene with lower ISO and longer exposure to see what works best for your taste.
5 - The Need for Speed
If you have shaky hands and are shooting hand held try to use a minimum shutter speed of 1/125 and go up from there. I like to stay around 1/250 and 1/500 shutter speed for hand held shots whenever I can. For action shots, like a helicopter, I find 1/1600 is a sweet spot up to 1/2500 if the aircraft is moving faster.
16mm F3.5 - 1/1600sec ISO 200 Sony 16.35mm GM lens
6 - ND’s, Grads and Polarizers
I usually shoot with a circular polarizer almost all the time. Even though I can adjust this in post, I always try to get the original result in camera. The filters I use are HOYA SOLAS variable ND. The polarizer I use is HD3 CIR-PL. I use the largest size 82mm and use a step down for all over lenses to avoid vignetting. This allows me to get maximum sharpness and zero distortion. I use a polarizer to achieve in camera effects to filter out unwanted reflections on non-metallic surfaces like water, glass, moisture in the air and even pollution. Lastly, I always have a graduated ND filter with me at all times. I use this for situations to reduce light on bright sunny days. I will also use an ND when I want to get smooth waterfalls or block light for a longer exposures. Both are a must have and should always be in your bag.
7 - This Is Getting Deep
Using Depth is a compositional key element to epic landscapes. I always try to capture depth anytime I shoot any landscape. I like to show the scale of a kayak as the viewer’s eyes gaze into the distance of the photo. Sometimes the depth is the backdrop of a massive glacier mountain range or sometimes it is to show the vastness of a valley. Play with this and have fun. Try to hike around to shoot different compositions you will be surprised how many shots exist just from moving around a little safely within your landscape scene. To really add some sizzle look for foreground elements mixed with depth to give viewers the sense of being there.
8 - Time To Go Higher
Some of the best photographers for landscapes always get up high to get a bird’s eye view whenever possible. I always hike up a little to get something fresh you cannot see from ground level. What I mean by this is to hike up a little and shoot down on a climber or kayak, cabin or lake. It will enhance your storytelling getting some shots looking down on a subject. Hike up only based on your skill level and always be safe when doing so.
16mm F11 - 1/250sec ISO 100 Sony 16-35mm GM lens
9 - Manual Control
Always shoot manual for the most control over your settings unless the situation calls for aperture priority or shutter priority mode. Never use “auto”. This will force you to improve your setting adjustment skills. If you are a beginner don’t worry, the more you play in manual, the more it will just become habit. You want to make tons of mistakes and learn the limits of your camera. This will only make you a better photographer and storyteller while you discover styles that are unique to you.
10 - Aperture Can Be a Priority
If you are obsessed with bokeh, play with aperture priority setting. This enables you to easily control the aperture while the camera automatically adjusts the ISO and shutter for you. Shooting wide open at around F2.8 or F1.4 can also help you see what the camera chooses for settings and learn how it adjusts shutter and ISO for each aperture change. You will quickly learn the settings for different dept of field scenarios. This can help you master manual settings when you switch back to manual.
11 - Follow The Light
Sunrise to Sunset. These are the best times to shoot. The light is smoother and not as bright as mid-day. I rarely shoot mid-day unless I have cloud diffusion. Most of my favorite shots are sunset.
100mm F13 - 1/60 ISO 200 Sony 100-400mm GM lens
12 - Into The Wild
Wildlife can be very unpredictable. In your outdoor adventures it can be common to come across wildlife. Always keep a safe distance before trying to get any shot. From a safe distance, wildlife shots you want at least 300mm lens which is essential for catching wildlife. Sony’s Real-time Eye AF now supports animal-eye autofocus allowing constant tracking of the eye with fast precise focus. This feature will make you a master at photographing wildlife.
Rule of Safety for all wildlife photography. Before you hike anywhere, study the local wildlife behavior and habitat before embarking on any expedition to capture these beautiful friends. Knowing best time of the year to capture these animals is key. Some animals are dawn or dusk roamers but can be seen midday along the trails. Always be safe and research best practices for photographing wildlife.
Remember, practice, practice and more practice. Play with settings as much as you can and learn the boundaries of your camera. Whether you try shooting the milky way, practicing long exposures at night on a beach, or photographing light trails on a curvy urban road, this will help you master camera settings fast while eliminating much of the guesswork when it counts.