Photography FAQ

© 2002 Jason

For many people, taking a camera along on a hike or climb is a necessity - to others it is just extra weight. What you ultimately carry is up to the importance you place on your photography over the space in your pack and weight on your back. Below are some tips aimed mainly at the enthusiast with an SLR (look through the lens) type camera, but also for owners of compact cameras. Some explanations have been simplified and generalised for the wider audience.

Camera

Body - I once had a plastic bodied camera which I dropped once, and that was enough to crack it, expose the film and render the camera body useless. You can't beat a (heavy) metal-bodied camera that can handle a fair few drops and scrapes. Some compact cameras have a die cast body, but most are plastic, so you need to pack these carefully and not sit on them!

Camera strap - Generally the factory provided straps are pretty poor, but this can be easily replaced with some thin climbing accessory cord. 3mm cord is sufficient and will only cost a few dollars from most outdoor stores. Tie your knots well! Maybe bowline, or you can even double one end back, create a slipknot to make it an adjustable length.

Batteries - SLR cameras that only use batteries for the inbuilt light meter and have a mechanical shutter are the most reliable for outdoor use. If your batteries die and you don't carry a spare set, then you can still take shots if you can guesstimate the exposure. Other SLRs which have an electronic shutter, will often become fixed to one shutter speed (such as 1/250s) with no battery, or not be operable at all.

Another huge drawback of electronic shuttered cameras is that they use power to keep the shutter open - hence if you are doing a long time exposure, there is a good chance that you will fully drain the batteries. Almost all compact cameras are useless without batteries, so always carry a spare set. Lithium batteries are the most resistant to cold, but if you are in the snow, you'll want to keep your camera close to your body to keep the batteries active. Even in moderate temperatures, you can squeeze a bit of life out of spent batteries by warming them between your fingers and replacing.

Khumbu region, Nepal. Lhotse centre 8516m, Island Peak 6179m right. 30 minute exposure with moonlight, torch light used on near rock for warmth and to lift shadows. Camera on ground, with cable release. Nikon FM2, 50mm lens.

Lens

Again what you carry is dependent on you, but you can get by with only a standard (50mm) lens for much of your photography. Many people may prefer a 35mm wide angle instead. If you are happy to compromise a little on quality, a zoom lens is handy, but will generally have a smaller maximum aperture than a similar fixed lens. This means a slower shutter speed in low light and may make some scenes impossible to shoot without a tripod or other support. A close focussing lens is very useful and worth considering if you are about to purchase new equipment.

Shooting with the aperture wide open allows a great deal of light to bounce around inside the lens, reducing contrast and creating a slight haze. With the aperture fully closed, there is a problem with light diffracting around the edges of the aperture blades, creating soft images and a star effect with point light sources. For the best quality images from your lens, two to three stops down from maximum is recommended. Sometimes the creative need for a different aperture is more important, but it is something to keep in mind

For wildlife enthusiasts, something like a 200m lens is mandatory, but quite weighty. There are 28-200m zoom lenses around with plastic internal lenses that are quite light, but image quality and light loss are a big problem, often with very soft corners at the wide angle end of the spectrum. If that doesn't bother you, they can be handy. If looking to buy a compact camera, I would definitely pay the extra to get a 28-80mm zoom over a 35-70mm zoom - the difference at the wide angle end is quite large and will make in-tent and in-hut shots more practical.

View of Mt Feathertop 1922m from Mt Hotham. Star effect on sun purely from diffraction caused by using small aperture (f22). Exposure taken off snow, then overexposed two stops. Nikon FM2, 28mm lens.

Film

Everyone has their favourites, but shoot colour negative film if you want cheap access to prints, shoot transparency (slide) film for your home slide nights or to submit to a magazine. The faster the film, the lower the contrast and the more graininess you will see with enlargements. If you rarely enlarge shots and usually only get 10x15cm prints, a correctly exposed ISO 400 film will have barely noticeable grain, but allow you to shoot hand held and in low light more often, with a higher shutter speed or smaller aperture (more depth of field, more in focus).

Kodak 100 and 200 Gold/Max films are the same, except the 100 film has a neutral density filter incorporated. What this means is that there is no grain difference between the two, so go for the 200 over the 100, it will give you more flexibility. For colour saturation and a good range of tones, I like Fuji Reala (100) for neg and Fuji Velvia (50) for transparency. Both these handle Kodak processing chemicals well if you can't find a Fuji place. I have had purple clouds from the base level Fuji neg film in Kodak chemicals, so generally it's best to get films processed in the chemistry of the same company.

Remember to load film in a shaded area and never let direct sunlight onto the film opening slit - direct sunlight, especially the longer red rays, get through the felt and can expose a strip of light onto your film. If there is no shade, then turn your back to the sun and lean over the camera. This is especially important if you are shooting infrared sensitive film, which you should load in near darkness such as inside a pack or at night.

An advantage of ISO 50 film - being able to shoot at low shutter speeds in full sun. 1/15s, panning with the action. The blur on the lower left is the Mt Hotham photographer who missed this shot! Generally shoot with the sun behind you or off to either side. Nikon FM2, 50mm lens, Polarising filter.

Flash

One area where compact cameras excel, the inbuilt flash! Some SLRs have a popup flash, but like compacts, are probably only useful to about 3 metres. Flash shots are great for inside a tent or hut, or just as fill flash in full sunlight, but if you have an external flash, it can be a creative tool also. Try a time exposure of a landscape, while you walk around a flash a few trees or people! Add coloured filters or cellophane for another effect. I have rarely hiked with an external flash, happier to save the weight and size for the few shots I missed out on. On occasion I would take a compact camera for nighttime people shots instead.

For professional daytime shots of a near subject, you might use fill flash to put some detail back into otherwise black shadows. If you have control over the flash output, try setting the flash for one stop less than your daylight exposure. i.e. If you are shooting at 1/250s f11, set your flash for f8 output. On overcast days, set the flash for two stops under your daylight exposure, or f5.6 in the above example.

Tripod

Great for long exposures of star trails at night or for long daylight waterfall shots. You can generally get away with a lightweight $50 tripod that straps to the outside of your pack. A tripod gives you great flexibility in where you position the camera, but sometimes you can do without it and find a fence post, rock, branch or other object to support the camera. Use a cable release for your very long exposures, or just use the camera's timer for 1/60s to 1s exposures.

A compromise on a standard tripod is a tabletop 15cm version that is quite small and light and gives you a stable pivot point for your shots. Monopods are available and suitable for slow shutter speeds, but not time exposures. You can adapt a ski stock/walking pole by inserting a bolt in the top which matches your camera's screw thread of 1/4 inch diameter. Other options for a stable support include the use of a bag of dried beans, popcorn, chick peas or the like which you can cook up later - or a sock filled with pebbles, sand or snow when you need a camera rest without extra bulk in your pack.

Murray River, Mildura, Vic. 15 minute exposure, moving focus slightly each 30 seconds. Handheld flash used on tree in foreground - 4 flashes left side, 2 flashes right side. Camera on tripod, with cable release. Nikon FM2, 28mm lens.

Filters

A standard UV/Skylight/1A/1B filter is recommended to protect the outer coatings of your lenses. These filters absorb some UV light to 'prevent haze' amongst other claims, but I have tested the transmission of these filters and they don't absorb anything that your lens won't absorb by itself - hence they should be considered only as a lens protection feature. Some cheap brands absorb more visible light than others (bad), but the difference is marginal.

Polarising filters are fantastic for full sun use and highly recommended for either colour or B&W photography. The greatest effect you'll see with a polariser on, is when you are pointing 90 degrees from the sun. i.e. At midday, the greatest effect is shooting the horizon. You can use both a PL and a UV filter, but be careful when using wide-angle lenses as you may see soft black corners (vignetting) in your shots from the filters. PL filters won't have a great effect in overcast weather, except for reducing reflections on water. Most PLs will cut the overall exposure back by about 1 1/4 stops, so you may want to remove the filter in low light. Cokin filter holders are OK, but not very hardy and the filters themselves are hard to protect from scratches. Generally I have found the circular glass type more durable.

For B&W photography, try a red filter to heavily darken a blue sky, or a yellow to make it a mid grey - use in combination with a PL for even more dramatic black skies against white clouds. For shooting B&W infrared sensitive film, use a visible light blocking filter such as an 88a or 89b, or sandwich a red and a green filter together. When buying screw type filters, buy the size to fit your largest diameter lens, and use step-up rings on your narrower lenses.

Accessories

If your camera can do time exposures, a cable release is a must. Even if you don't want to carry a tripod or similar support, a short cable release will enable you to get some great night shots.

For close up photography a set of extension tubes will allow you to shoot flora and fauna only a couple of centimetres in size, and with little extra weight in your pack. A 50mm extension on a 50mm lens will allow you shoot objects at life size, but will reduce your exposure by two stops. For close up work you may find that you may need a combination of full sun, fast film or steady support.

Close up lenses exist (sometimes incorrectly called close up filters) which screw onto the filter thread of your lens. Available in varying strengths, expressed in Dioptres, these lenses absorb very little light and allow you to get in close to your subject. As with any piece of glass you put in front of your film, image quality is compromised to some degree. Very cheap close up lenses will more than likely degrade the sharpness and contrast of the final image.

A keen photographer may also want to invest in an external light meter, to allow greater control and accuracy in exposure. These devices can be used in very low light and are much more flexible than in-camera light meters. Incident light meters measure the light falling on a subject, which will give you a more accurate reading when the subject matter is not an average brightness (eg snow, sand). For time exposures under a bright moon, incident meters will usually be able to give you a good indication of exposure, if you are looking to make the shot look like daylight. Once you have that exposure, take one or two stops off to give the image the nighttime look.

Sale wetlands, Vic. Handheld shot, FP4 ISO 125 B&W film. Red 25A and Polarising filters used to blacken sky. Nikon FM2, 28mm lens.

Exposure

Generally if what you are shooting has a good mix of highlight and shadow, or is mostly middle brightnesses, the in-camera meter reading will be reasonable. If your shot is mostly snow, sand or white water though, the meter will be 'fooled' and tell you to make the shot darker, making your whites look a dirty grey. Usually this is not what you want, so in that situation, take a reading off your bright white region and then lift exposure by two stops. Your whites will look bright, but still retain some detail. Conversely if you were shooting something like a charred black tree trunk, the camera meter would give you an exposure that would make it look a mid grey tone. To expose correctly, meter off the black area, then reduce exposure by two stops.

As a guide for sunset shots where the colour is more important than foreground detail, try metering off the bright patch of sky above the sun and then drop exposure by one stop. If foreground detail is important, try adding some fill flash or compromise on exposure between the sunset and the foreground.

If your batteries fail, but you still have a working camera without its light meter, there is a rough guide you can use for exposure. The rule is 1/film speed at f16 in full sun - If using ISO 100 film, in full daylight, 1/125s f16 will be pretty close. For ISO 400 film, 1/500s f16 will be close. If you are shooting in the snow, you might want to lessen the exposure by 1/2 stop to make sure you keep detail in the white snow.

As a guide for moonlit (full moon) landscapes, using ISO 100 film, try 30 minutes f4 for a night feel, or at f2 for an eerie daylight look. If you want to include the moon in shot, shoot this seperately with a double exposure, around 1/125s f2.8. If your exposure is much longer than 1/60s (dependant on lens) the moon will be blurred by its own movement. If the moon is not full, exposure will need to be increased.

To capture star trails caused by the Earth's rotation, shoot for 15-60 minutes at a mid-to-high aperture (say f5.6). If you point at the South Celestial Pole (Find the Southern Cross, then add a kite tail to it with a length of 4 1/2 times the length of the kite) you will get a shot showing all the stars 'moving' in an arc around the centre of your frame. Star trail shots are best done on nights with no moon, away from city lights and a few hours away from either sunset or sunrise. If you shoot North and about 30 degrees above the horizon, star trails will appear almost horizontal, but you will also have points of light that are not lines - these are geostationary satellites orbiting the Earth at the same speed as it is rotating. You will often notice odd lines in your star trails shots which don't fit in with the rest - often these are meteorites or aircraft. Combine your star trails shot with a few flashes onto nearby trees that are in frame, or put yourself in the shot with the flash at arms length!

Digital

Digital cameras are great for city use or short trips, but outside that you may find you need to carry boxes of batteries! As with any battery operated devices, you may need to keep it close to your body heat in cold weather, and sleep with it in the foot of your sleeping bag to prevent freezing. Solar powered AA battery rechargers are available quite cheaply from your local electronics store, though they only suit locations where you can get plenty of sunlight and where you can leave the device outside, or on top of your pack to charge. Other than that, charge all your batteries before you leave, take plenty of spares and hope for the best!

Due to the limitations of the CCD chip in digital cameras, more care will have to be taken with exposure in high contrast situations. For snow and sand shots, it is best to err on the side of too dark than too light, as there will be no detail in the highlights if you are not careful. Most consumer level digital cameras will not handle the high brightness ranges that you can capture on film. So if you want digital images, you are generally best to shoot on film and then scan the prints or slides: you then have the option of enlarging images to hang on your wall later on.

Stirling Trail, Mt Stirling, Vic. Handheld shot, metering off the ground to avoid the underexposure that a mass of white would otherwise cause. Nikon FM2, 50mm lens.