BIG MOUNTAIN SCENES
Take your photography to new heights as you capture wonderful shots of mountain scenes
Aerial perspective
a creative way to shoot mountains is using ‘atmospheric perspective’ – the further away each mountain range, the more the contrast decreases, and this change in tones makes for a lovely image. We took our Raw file into Photoshop and cooled the white balance to make the shot even more blue, darkened the shadows, and boosted sharpness and contrast to emphasise the effect.
Aim high
there’s something special about being up in the mountains; the air is clearer, it’s so still and peaceful, and, of course, there’s the beautiful mountain scenery and epic views you’ve earned after making your way up top. But taking fantastic shots of big mountains isn’t always easy. Knowing how to compose your shots when you have big skies to contend with can be baffling if you don’t know the solution.
We made our way up to Belvédère du Revard viewpoint, next to Mont Revard at 1538 metres, and boy, are we glad we did – the 360 degree view was stunning, with snowy mountain ranges of the Massif des Bauges national park in one direction, and the valley down to Aix-les-bains and the lake in the other. But capturing an epic vista in a single frame needs the right technique…
Zoom in for better composition
BIG wide panoramas are all well and good, but they don’t really have a clear focal point. So when you have a snowy mountain range before you, rather than capturing the whole scene, look for interesting areas and shapes for a composition with more impact. Use a telephoto zoom and look for areas that are lit nicely – such as the cliff face, on the left, shot at 80mm. For our main image, we zoomed in over the tree tops at 200mm to focus on the peak of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps at 4808 metres. It was catching the setting sun perfectly – and 20 minutes later the light was gone. Vertical compositions often work best for these zoomed-in shots.