Sunshine and Scenery

by Jay Harrison

Climbing isn't the only thing I do. Here are some photos, mostly taken from Crane Mountain or other Adirondack locales. The focus here (pardon the pun) is on sunlight and getting the most from it while taking pictures in the Adirondacks.

Sunrises

Occasionally, I will camp on the mountain and get up early enough to capture first light. This is always a crapshoot: while sunrise usually looks nice in situ, it doesn't often translate well digitally.
One can improve the chances by keeping an eye on the forecast: late morning storms predicted often provide enough clouds coming in from the west to add color and texture to photos. Of course, if the storm arrives early, it's a wet and maybe even scary interlude of frantic packing and descent. I've had my share of those times, too.

Low sunlight and water are a magical combination, so catching sunrise by a lake increases the odds of getting good pictures. Even if the sunrise sky is a bit bland, atmospheric conditions may create dramatic effects like mist-shrouded shorelines. Above is a picture of the sky on an early autumn campout on Garnet Lake. The high-level clouds would have made excellent color but the lower veil obscured the earliest sunlight. Pointing the camera elsewhere produced better images...

The sky wasn't terribly interesting and colors were muted, but the effect of fog swirling among trees is worthwhile. Rivers frequently provide the same source of interest for picture taking:

This is a common morning occurence in the Adirondacks, and often the best source for good pictures in the morning light when one is up on a mountain.

Scenery

The flat light of midday means few pictures taken at that time make it to the keeper pile. However, late morning and late afternoon sun provide plenty of dimension for good scenic shots, and ducking into the shade of the forest during the brightest hours sometimes reveals interesting, smaller-scale photo opportunities, and every once in awhile provides the key bit of highlight for a special shot.

Water again can manage decent images even in relatively flat light.

Sometimes, the interplay of bright light and water creates its own color.

Of course, those rare stunningly blue days - usually coming in fall or winter, make good shots possible almost all day long.

Winter is a special season for mountain photos. Low-angle sunlight most of the day makes the effort of a snowshoe climb worthwhile.

Snow storms offer interesting pictures despite creating flat, bland lighting conditions.

Manmade Objects in Scenic Nature Shots

The juxtaposition of manmade objects against the backdrop of wilderness adds to many scenic pictures.

Toss in a nice sunrise or sunset, and that combination is intriguing.

Sunset

With the help of a headlamp and perhaps some insect repellant, the last light of day is the most convenient for snapping epic pictures. No camping required (though it may help!), just be prepared for a hike out in the dark and you're all set. Often you don't even need to do that: good sunset pictures are just outside the car door.

Details

Often, a sunrise or sunset will look uninspiring: most of the sky is bland, the terrain is too dark, or some other detail detracts from a stunning vista. Often, a bit of zooming in draws out pleasant, even unearthly details.

Afterclicking

Digital cameras don't handle low light nearly as well as real film - but it is rapidly becoming hard to find quality film. If you are fortunate to have a good film SLR, medium, or large format camera, you can use a digital camera to take some of the guesswork out of your low-light photography. With practice, you can estimate the best camera settings for a film camera based on a digital shot.
Realistically however, catching a fading sunset or the first glow of a sunrise is a matter of fast shooting. With limitations on loads, chances are you have only one camera, a digital one. Keep in mind that the viewing LCD won't give an accurate idea of whether you've blown out the highlights or not. Bracket your shots, a bit overexposing one or two and underexposing at least two steps.

When you return to the computer, don't give up on a shot, especially if part of it is underexposed. Within reasonable bounds, modern image editing works wonders.

Careful image editing can achieve acceptable results from underexposed digital images. While some photographers - and many more critics - scoff at intensive post-session editing, this is really just another step along the route artistic photographers take in order to convey what the mind's eye sees. We're working with a limited medium, attempting to convey an ethereal and ephemeral moment.