The subjects

Speaking of hiking, the more common subjects will be natural places, landscapes, plants, animals, when possible, but often also architectural elements, like villages, buildings, churches etc. Also people, of course, but I am such a bad people photographer that I prefer not to compromise my reputation with this.

Photography hiking. piudimille.com

An important characteristic: the viewfinder

Most compact cameras and some mirrorless only have the LCD screen. Help !!! With some light conditions, very frequent outdoors, you see almost nothing and so it is difficult to compose your subject. Then, the tendency (of beginners) looking in the LCD, is to hold the camera by their fingers, straight arms, and also arching the body backwards; this is the best way to have shaken images, even if the present day cameras do their best to help, using them in program mode. In any case, people using smartphones or tablets without any basic information are candidates to take shaken images.

So: on your compact or mirrorless camera, better to have also a viewfinder. An orientable LCD screen ? Modern cameras have it by default, so there is no choice. Orientable LCD can help taking angled shots without the need of twisting our body, bending on precipices, or laying on the ground; but, when hiking, the less things you have that may open and cling to something, the best. So, in theory, orientable LCD would not be essential.

The lenses

With compact cameras you cannot change the lens and must stay with what they have. There are however very different combinations: with some of them you can also do some close up shots. So you have to decide before buying. With reflex cameras, with or without mirror, you can change the lens.

Standard lenses

They reproduce an image with more or less the same size that we see by our eyes. For the classic 24×36 sensor size their focal length is about 50 mm. For many digital formats, also reflex, and for most mirrorless and all the compact cameras, the focal length of standard lenses is lower.

Telephoto lenses

They do the opposite of wide angles, magnify subjects and restricting the view. So they are ideal to shot distant subjects. The more extreme telephoto lenses are these sort of gun barrels that we see with nature photographers or sport reporters. They are fascinating but must be well understood. In the common way of thinking, it is enough to own a telephoto to be able to successfully shot all kind of animals but, unfortunately, this is not the case. To shot distant things, the air must be clear, otherwise images will be hazy. A telephoto lens us be held very firmly, since the risk of shaking is increased. Focusing by a telephoto is much more critical.

Extension tubes

These are metal tubes, generally in series of three that, mounted between the lens and the camera, allow to take close-up shots, in relation to their total length: you can therefore use 1, 2 or 3 together. As an example, with a 50 mm tube (generally is the thickest of the three) and a 50 mm lens you obtain a 1:1 magnification, so you photograph at natural size.
Consider that: a) extension tubes are nowadays not easy to find; b) with short focal lenses you must go too close to the subject; their better use is perhaps coupled with a small telephoto; c) also extension tubes, although without any lenses, subtract light and this makes focusing quite problematic, also using rings that should retain the automatic focusing mechanism.

Zoom lenses

Zoom lenses have variable focal length. Nowadays they are known by all, even since they are standard in the compact cameras and even in smartphones, even if as electronic zooms. They are without any doubt practical lenses; find the one more suitable to our needs and we will hardly leave it home when going hiking.

Other optionals

Soft cases

It is more or less a story like for filters. When hiking, we will not carry dedicated photographic bags, so a protective soft case is almost a must.

Flash

Most cameras have a built-in one, that can be very useful. Let’s say that the attainable sensitivity of the sensors now can make the use of flash less important than in the past. Taking good shots with artificial light, also outdoors and close up, however requires the use of external flashes, and is among the most difficult things to do, generally not done when hiking.

Conclusions

If you are not yet acquainted, you will soon realise that serious hikes are little compatible with carrying loads of photographic materials. At the end, the light solution and the so-called all-purpose lenses, allowing to afford the more common situations, have a tendency to win. There are excellent combinations, also allowing some close up shots. But it may also happen that to not obtain the expected results. So we may be tempted to target some more specific lenses, perhaps bringing them with us only in specific circumstance or during light hikes.

An important note: it is possible to change the lens of our reflex camera; however, when hiking, be cautious. A blow of air is enough to make something getting inside the camera’s body, spotting the sensor. Try, to believe (with a second camera with you): as an example, spring pollens are a catastrophe. At worst, if you do not yet have a zoom covering the focal length you need, having a second camera body, with two different lenses would be better, if compatible with finances and weight. Costs are presently a problem but, if you want to build up your kit, do not neglect second-hand material, if guaranteed.

Finally, do not think about putting the camera in your back pack and taking it out when needed: 1) you will never do; 2) a time will come that you will miss some nice shots. You must have your camera ready, holding it in your hand, around neck or shoulder. You will put it in your back pack only when you have to afford some difficult stretches, where it will be an annoyance, or you risk to slam it here and there, or when it starts raining. Consider that having your camera handy is not compatible with the use of two trekking poles; at maximum, you can try with only one.

Photography hiking. piudimille.com

Composing the subject

I am still realizing how this is important. When hiking, there is a tendency to shot in hurry. The difference between a professional and an amateur (including me) is that professionals have the eye and the coolness to compose well, in all situations, the amateurs far less. So: look well what you are shooting in order to: a) include what you want to be in (e.g., the feet of people); b) exclude what you do not want (e.g., garbage trays); c) compose an overall nice subject, following the “rules” that you may learn reading handbooks or attending seminars.

Close-up photo

It can deal with different subjects; most commonly, they are small animals, generally insects, spiders and similar, flowers, mosses, buds etc. Wind is the worst enemy of close up photo, so also that of insects staying on grass twigs or leaves. The depth of field, so the thickness within which the subjects are correctly focused, is notoriously low in close up photo. It is also known that this problem can be partially managed by closing the diaphragm; however this must be compensated by a longer time of exposure, and this is not always possible, even if the wide range of sensitivity of present day sensors helps a lot. So some caution must be adopted.

– find the critical point of your subject and focus on it. Generally it is the head with the eyes, for insects or small reptiles; the centre, with stamens and gynoecium, for flowers, etc.
– keep your camera as parallel as possible, with respect to your subject, for example the body of an insect that you shoot laterally.
– if the subject is static, so does not run away, take few shots by varying the composition and the diaphragm; with digital cameras this is affordable.

All the rest will also depend on your preferences. Some people like a lot a very low depth of field, that highlights a detail, leaving out of focus all the rest. Most people consider very favourably a background well out of focus, that allows sharpening the main subject. Personally I do not dislike a medium out of focus of the background, when it helps to catch the features of the environment where the subject is placed.

But, to do this, one must be: a) very competent; b) very honest.
The media are full of heavily processed images that, to be sincere, generally leave me quite cold; they could gain in aesthetics, but lose their soul. Let’s say that they are not only photos anymore, but a mix of personal interpretation; from an artistic point of view, this can obviously be an excellent approach.

Post-production could allow removing details that we do not want to see. Think about electric or telephone cables; they are everywhere; in certain situations you cannot get rid of them, whatever position you may find. With skill and patience you can remove them from your digital picture. But whoever could be conquered by your picture, and go to see the place, would also find the cables, that you erased. So provided you are able to remove them, the decision is yours.

Post-production also allows to improve the visibility of under and over exposed areas in sharply contrasted images, especially if you shot in the proprietary format of your camera. It is one of the possibilities to bring back your picture to a situation more similar to the one you remember. If you are skilled enough, stopping at the same time at the right point, use it.

Ah, I was about to forget: a thing that you will find written everywhere. If you have pictures taken in the .jpeg format, before elaborating them, make a copy. In fact, you will be for sure very clever, and will often save you work, to avoid losing your work. Unfortunately, jpeg images worsen their quality at each saving, up to a point to be simply thrown away. So, keep an unprocessed original.

Photography hiking. piudimille.com

Panoramic shots

Now I introduce two special cases of less invasive post production. Let’s start with panoramic pictures. Merging side by side different shot, we can reproduce the landscape in real size, as our eyes see it. This is really a “harmless” processing, but must be studied from the very beginning of shot composition, otherwise there is no hope. It is in fact necessary to take different shots, at the same focal length and, possibly, with the same light conditions, to include the whole panorama. I never seriously put myself on this.

Cutting and magnification (cropping)

Cropping indicates the selection of a part of an image and its possible digital magnification. It serves to enlarge a specific subject and eliminate all what is not needed. As an example, in the case you shot and insect from far, so it is small and lost among many other things, in your picture. Cropping is a relatively easy operation but the limit of magnification are determined by: a) the resolution of your sensor; b) a perfect focus of the subject; c) the absence of motion blur. But you will understand upon trying.

Photography hiking. piudimille.com

Managing your images

Forget that your effort is finished with your hike. You must still devote quite some time to your pictures. If you enjoy taking pictures, they will soon become some hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. And, seeking for some, it will be impossible to find them. So:

• Immediately download the images from your memory card to a different storage device; an external disk is better than your computer hard disk, that can soon be filled. External storage device are now cheap and capable. But always have a multiple of two: it is absolutely necessary to have a full updated copy of everything. A simple strategy, then see further details below: download pictures to a directory with a generic name (e.g. “temporary”, that can also be on computer hard disk); once you finish working on your images, copy them in a final destination directory, with appropriate name, on both disks; or, transfer your photos in already existing thematic directories, on both disks. This procedure will allow you to keep everything update and avoid doing frequent full disk hardcopies that, if your material is a lot, may also require several hours. However, it will for sure happen that you make some confusion; so, always keep one of your disks as the main one, and update, and every now and then hard copy it on the other one. If you want to be almost perfect: fill your disks to less than half its capacity and first do the new hard copy, tagging it with the date of the day; only after, remove the old hard copy.
• Before, or just after downloading your photos from the memory card of your camera, to the temporary directory, mercilessly cancel all the bad ones and also a conspicuous part of putative duplicates.
• Give a name to all your photos: it should synthetically contain, all the information you need to find them using a search tool. Examples: a) sister, cesenatico beach may 2019 (but pay attention, if you have two sisters rather use their names); b) sunset mount cimone july 2014 (but pay attention: the word “mount” is generic, and will not be of any use for your search: you may omit it). Avoid capital letters, that are of no use. Important: try to use always the same name for the same subject; e.g. call a dandelion either “dandelion” or “taraxacum officinale”, otherwise you will have to perform double search; call your sister “elisabeth”, “beth”, “betty” or whatever else, but always the same way. To avoid following the name with letters or numbers, in case of several images with the same subject, (so a, b, c,  or 1, 2, 3) keep the tag and number given by your camera, at the beginning of the name. This will also allow to avoid unwanted duplicates. If you shoot by different camera bodies, set different tag acronyms on each of them, so you will also be able to immediately understand which camera you used for any specific picture; also set the numbering to sequential mode, so that it will not be reset to zero at each download.
• The choice of your storage organisation is a bit up to you. You can name your directories on the basis of a subject category (e.g. “insects”, where you will store all the insect pictures, wherever you took them); or, you can use a criterion of “block of activities” (e.g. eastern holidays 2019, where you will transfer all the pictures of this holiday, irrespectively of the subject). These can be both valid systems; the second is perhaps faster and less complex, even if apparently less precise. But consider: if you shot a nice insect on a nice flower, will you put this picture with insects or flowers ? The important thing is to give consistent names to all pictures, to be able to effectively search for them, according to different criteria, when needed.

Photography hiking. piudimille.com

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