Joanna James
Mountainous landscapes appeal to many outdoor photographers as they offer endless opportunities for capturing the beauty of these unique creations of nature. Whether adorned by lush greenery, gushing waterfalls, or rocky layouts, discover the tricks, clicks, and captures that will make these peaks, plateaus and slopes convey volumes of meaning in the photographs.
Have the habit of doing a walk around the mountainous spot before you settle in to start capturing images. This gives an idea of how the setting is from different positions and angles, such as whether light is working on the elements important for your capture and whether the natural effects like a shadow of a silhouette enhance the image further.
When a spot attracts your attention, try to look at it through your camera lens as done by visitors climbing the Sigiriya Rock, one of the fascinating _things to do in Kandalama. _This helps to assess whether the spot is photo-worthy. Click a few shots to have as a reference for later. This way you are better prepared and equipped to do a good photoshoot. If it is a mountain that you have covered before, review the familiar spots and still look around for new features.
The foreground is an important aspect of creating the flow and depth in your image. Irrespective of the time of the year mountains provide great opportunities to create intriguing foreground samples such as a patch of colourful blooms, an unusual lone tree etc.
The foreground can also be used for contrasts in colour and repeating patterns that will add depth to the scene. The foreground detail may not be all that important if your focus is the mountain, however, for images that use the mountain or rock as the background the foreground details add flow and depth.
When photographing mountains consider that you are capturing images of people. Just like you would not have parts of the body like the head missing in the case of humans in a portrait, ensure the peak of the mountain is well within the frame as expertly done by visitors booked at hotels like Heritance Kandalama in capturing iconic images of Kandalama Rock which is the beautiful backdrop to the hotel.
Having said this, covering the clouds over the peak of the rock adds detail and contrast to the image which can be used well.
The scale of some mountains is so vast that conveying it in an image needs some features. The best way to do it is to incorporate a structure or a person within the frame. However, when doing it without just having a person plonked into the scene use creativity.
Place the person dressed in contrasting garb to the mountain (to attract the eye of the viewer) where he or she is visible and request to strike up a pose that looks natural and highlights the form such as whether the person is seated or standing. Finally, make sure your camera is at a distance from the person like a few hundred feet away so that the figure can be made out (yet quite small) that impresses on the scale of the mountain.
While most mountain photography can be done using wide-angle lenses you must still add spice to your photography by using the longer focal lengths.
These lenses open your eyes and your mind to varying compositions bringing out your creativity in capturing excellent mountain photography. With loads of compositions being possible using different focal lengths and picking varying scenes of a single mountain range, an expert mountain photographer becomes the curator of a beautiful collection of images of the same mountain range.
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
