Tag Archives: Canyonlands

3 Simple Tips for Shooting More Dynamic Landscapes

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on by

As outdoor photographers, landscapes speak to many of us more than any other type of subject. Perhaps it’s because of our inherent connection with nature and because the process involves a solitary and individual method of seeing the world in our own way.

There is great satisfaction in creating dynamic landscapes. As we tromp around outside and lug our bag of gear over the mountains, across the prairie, or the tundra if you live at certain northerly latitudes, and through the forests, we strive not only to make photographs that simply document the location of our chosen subject, (a simple GPS would suffice if that was our goal) we look to make images that communicate a certain power and emotion to our viewers that transcend time, place and familiarity with the scene.

As we brave the cold, the wind, sometimes the rain, and often a long walk back in the dark, we seek to create dynamic representations of the landscape that we hope will work their way into the consciousness of the people who see our work, and that will become the universal visual idea of that specific location or region, even if our viewers have never seen the place with their own eyes.

Most importantly, we seek to create photographs that transmit our own personal ideas about these scenes to our viewer, which might be defined as simple concepts such as majesty, tranquility and wonder. Often times, images that do a great job communicating simple concepts end up being the most powerful and remembered photographs.

This eternal quest to create the perfect landscape is like some innate instinct that drives us to keep heading out into the wild with our cameras as we keep trying to perfect our craft. It makes us want to buy books and new lenses or tripods, study the works of others, and read magazines and blogs as we endlessly devour information that we hope will make us that much more prepared for our next outing.

It’s a never ending process, and probably one that we’ll keep pursuing for as long as we live. That inspires us, because we know that for all the landscapes that we’ve shot up to this point, we still have many of our best images ahead of us.

Here are three simple techniques that I try to incorporate into my own landscape imagery. They’re tried and true tips, and probably stuff you already know anyway, but hey, you can never read too much about how to improve your landscapes, right?

Maybe they’ll help inspire you, or at the very least least remind you, so that they’re fresh in your mind for the next time when you head outside with your camera.

1. Wait for the light

3 Rocks, Joshua Tree National Park, California. Nikon N90s, 17mm f3.5 lens

This is most the important one. If you don’t do anything else to improve your landscapes, make sure you shoot under the most dramatic, beautiful, serene, vibrant, moody, soothing, edgy and appealing light that you can find. You’ll probably have to wait for it, and if you stand around outside enough times, you’re bound to be rewarded on rare occasion. Good light doesn’t happen all the time and extraordinary light is indeed a special treat. You have to get out there and wait for it, over and over again. Be patient, and eventually, it will come.

2. Create simple compositions

Crescent moon and North Six Shooter Tower, Canyonlands, Utah. Nikon N90s, 80-200mm f2.8 lens

The best landscapes portray simplicity in their subject matter. Usually, this means focusing on just one important element in the scene, or better yet, the relationship between one element and another. Don’t mistake this for including only one piece of subject matter, because then you’ll lose your sense of place. Instead, accentuate your subject with proper placement in the frame and through it’s relationship to the other elements in your composition.

Treat your viewfinder like it’s your canvas and make a very conscious decision about every single thing you include in your photograph. Make the picture be what you want it to be and don’t clutter it up with elements that don’t relate to your main subject. A crowded photo is a lost photo that will only confuse and bore your viewer. Be deliberate and conscious of every square millimeter of your frame.

3. Choose the right lens

Rogers Pass, Selkirk Mountains, Canadian Rockies, British Colombia, Canada, Nikon D200, 85mm f1.8 lens

We often think that wide angle lenses are the best lenses to use for shooting landscapes. This if often true, but it’s not always the case. It depends on the subject matter and what you’re trying to communicate with your photo. There are times when a telephoto lens, or even that often neglected 50mm lens may be the best choice for the scene in front of you.

Think about what you’re trying to say with your photograph, and then consider your vantage point, your foreground, the distance to your subject and the environment around your subject. Maybe you want to isolate your subject against a soft, compressed background that draws the viewer’s attention right to a single sharp piece of subject matter. If so, then reach for your long lens. If you want to show the grand view that holds focus all the way from the foreground to infinity and that shows how your subject relates to it’s greater surroundings, then reach for your wide angle.

For further reading, check out 5 Great Books for Learning Landscape Photography.

Heath Mackay Climbing Supercrack, Indian Creek Canyon, Utah

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on by
Rock climber on Supercrack, Indian Creek, Canyonlands, Utah

Heath Mackay climbing the legendary route, Supercrack, Indian Creek, Utah

Supercrack.

This legendary and almost mythical feature that breaks the Dakota standstone on a certain wall in the Canyonlands of Southeast Utah is, without a doubt, one of the most famous rock climbing routes in all the world.

First climbed in 1976 by Earl Wiggins, five years after it was discovered by three young unruly, yet talented and athletic fellows, who were exploring the desert for new routes, Supercrack draws climbers like a religious monument draws the faithful.

They come loaded down with braided rope and slings full of cams, and they stare in awe when they finally stand below this magnificent four inch wide crack that splits the nearly featureless, bronze colored rock face, for it is truly a sight to behold.

And once you step into your harness, tie into the rope and make that first hand or fist jam, depending on how big your paws are, and take that first step off the ground, you are in it. You are committed, because if you came to climb Supercrack, there’s no giving up. You made it this far and if you do not reach the top of the route, it will only be because your muscles or technique came out, not because your heart lacked the desire.

Unless you’re an expert climber, it’s by no means easy. Supercrack is rated 5.10, and that means hard. It’s a stout climb, and it’s perhaps the perfectly designed route, because as you stuff your hands and feet inside the crack, you discover it to be deviously off-kilter, not too mention the fact that there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to grab or hold on to as you struggle to make your way higher. Plus it’s dead vertical.

When you’re halfway up, your forearms begin to burn. If your crack climbing technique is bad, then you’re even more spent. Supercrack is relentless. It makes you fight for every single inch, and as you expend muscle and energy to propel yourself upwards, the crack begins to widen, which makes it even harder. It’s like some kind of cruel joke.

At one point, you probably look down and realize how far you’ve come, but your joy only lasts so long because looking up, you realize that those last thirty feet will take every bit of strength that you have left.

You lean your body to the side, trying milk every bit of friction that the crack gives against your hands, arms and feet. It’s friction that keeps you from falling out. Friction and muscle. However, you pay the price in lost skin. Like fine grit sandpaper, Supercrack abrades. It rubs. It cuts. If your technique is sloppy, and who isn’t a little bit sloppy after eighty feet of hard climbing, you lose even more skin. In the end, whether you make it or not, you’ll come out with the Supercrack signature rash. We all get it.

As with any desert crack, the last fifteen feet is the hardest and only guts, heart and endurance will see you through. If you reach the top of the route… well, I won’t tell you what it’s like. You either know or you don’t. If you run of of steam or if the crack spits you out, then you’ll lower off and come back another day.

Nearly every climbing and adventure photographer has photos of Supercrack. This is mine. It’s my friend Heath Mackay. He made it to the top that warm November day.