20 Tips for Photography while hiking or walking

 
Rainclouds clear over Inishkea island and Achill island on a cold February evening, revealing a new moon and the planet Venus. The planet is setting earlier and earlier in the evening – by the end of the month, it will closely follow the sun sinking below the horizon. Bigger version here.

I won’t claim to be an expert on either hiking or photography. But I have been lugging a camera with me since I joined the Galway Walking Club 3½ years ago, so here are my twenty tips for taking pictures  while hiking  with other walkers.

1)      First of all, if you haven’t  much experience at hiking,  join a walking  club. Unless you have unlimited time, the best way to discover great vistas and unknown locations is to take advantage of the collective knowledge of other experienced walkers and hikers. While I nearly always take pictures ‘on the run’ while walking with the club, I spend as much time noting locations to return to at a different time – perhaps in a different season or different time of day. In Connemara, you’ll find that certain valleys and mountainsides are in shade for one part of the day, depending on the angle of the sun. Bear in mind too that a mountain stream will be in full flow in winter but can fade to a less photographically pleasing trickle in summer (ok, not last summer). A GPS unit is excellent for ‘marking’ a spot [I do the same with my in-car GPS unit – if I see a location that I want to return to, or that looks promising, I’ll mark it on the GPS. That way, if I happen to be driving back that way, I’ll see all the spots in the area that I have previously marked as interesting].

2)      If you are unsure of your fitness level, start with easy walks (we call them flat walks in the Galway Walking Club – other clubs refer to them as either B or C walks). If you don’t know the standard of the club, you definitely want to start with the easy stuff. What you want to avoid is to be regarded as the Gomer Pyle character [a la Full Metal Jacket] in the walking group . A few years ago, I accompanied a few very experienced [and fast] hikers on  a trek across the Maamturks (from Corcog to Knocknahillion) during the Christmas holiday. It had snowed, and the landscape was completely frozen (which is rare enough in Connemara these days) so I was looking forward to the photographic opportunities. I knew I was in trouble when I asked where we would stop for lunch, and received only a blank stare in response.  I spent most of the trek running to catch up with them, and practically finished the hike on my hands and knees.

 

3)      In fact, you will probably end up doing even more walking [and sometimes running ] than the rest of the group – I know I do. You’ll be amazed how long it takes to stop and take a picture when you see how far the rest of the group have walked on ahead. And you might be surprised just how unfriendly they will be if they have to wait for ‘Mr. Camera’ to stop and ‘create Art’ every hundred yards or so.  Be sure not to lose sight of the rest of the group – in poor visibility, wear a high-visibility vest (the sort that come with car breakdown kits).

 

4)      I like to include walkers in some of my pictures to give an idea of scale and to add some detail to the foreground of images. That usually entails either running ahead (to get a picture of the group coming towards me) or waiting behind to include the line of walkers in a shot [which means running after them to catch up]. I have a habit of crossing a stream first in a group and then waiting with my camera in the hope  in case that someone will fall in [obviously, I don’t want anyone to fall in but it is important that someone record the event if it happens, and puts it on the internet. Really ].

5)      The biggest problem in Connemara (for both walker and camera) is rain. Keeping your camera dry can be a challenge and  I still haven’t really discovered an ideal solution to this problem.  It is possible to buy weather-proof covers for camera [I bought one in B&H last year] but I find that they are either cumbersome or not entirely waterproof. Be sure to have a waterproof backpack (or at least a waterproof cover for it) – in heavy rain, you’ll need to stow your camera and I wrap mine in a plastic bag, and then a fleece, inside the bag. [if the rain is intermittent, you might be able to tuck the camera inside your jacket instead]. A well-wrapped camera might also help save it when crossing streams – if you fall in and get out quickly enough, the water might not have reached the camera. Always switch off the camera if there is a danger of it getting wet – it will reduce the chance of a short-circuit.

 

6)      The other weather-related problem is fogging. Unfortunately, placing your camera inside your jacket, or in a bag, or sometimes even putting on the lens-cap, can lead to the lens fogging.  I usually avoid doing so unless there is a deluge. My own approach is to use the toughest camera that I own [see below], since I would go crazy if I had to constantly take the camera in and out of my bag.

 

7)      So what camera should you bring ? As I mentioned before, you should only buy a camera that you are prepared to carry around. And that is even more relevant for a long day’s hiking. My Canon 5D + Canon 24-105mm zoom weighs around 1.5 kgs (3.3 lbs) and it is the heaviest item in my pack. The 24-105mm gives a good range of focal lengths (most of the time, you’ll just need  a wide angle lens but there is usually a few opportunities where a telephoto is needed too). Lately, I’ve been using a wider lens (a Canon 17-40mm). It is much lighter and works better for really wide vistas. The 5D has one great advantage – it is very tough – my one has endured a few Connemara winters, has been drenched and frozen numerous times, without giving any problems [unlike its owner!] . You don’t really need a DSLR at all – a decent compact will deliver good results (particularly in good weather) and is much easier to carry. I’ve started bringing a Canon G9 along to take short video clips of the walks – it seems to be handling the poor weather fairly well – so far [the newer versions of DSLRs such as the Canon 5D II can take both stills and video].

8)      Don’t bring more than one lens – changing a lens on the side of a hill is really not a good idea – you’ll end up with loads of dust on the camera sensor. Of course, if you’re using a film camera, this isn’t an issue.  Don’t bring a tripod either, unless you want to be beaten with it by other walkers. If you must take a longish exposure picture, put the camera on a rock and set the self-timer. Some compact cameras have wide-ranging zooms so you don’t have to worry about changing lens. 

9)      Like any photographic expedition, do a quick equipment check before you leave the house. The easiest thing to do is to put a battery on charge the night before , and then forget to put it back in the camera afterwards (been there, done that). Ditto memory cards – and be sure to bring plenty  of them (or as many as you have). Bring at least one lens cleaner – two is better, because if the first gets wet, it is unusable for the rest of the hike.

10)   It is unlikely that you will expend the power of a camera battery on a walk, but the cold may well drain it. If your camera takes AA/AAA batteries, you’ll probably need to bring spares on a cold day [leave them in your pocket to keep them warm].

11)   One thing you must do is constantly check the front of the lens for spots of dust or water. Depending on the weather, I may not be able to use the lens cover (to avoid fogging), and it is amazing how much gunk lands on the lens. Check after nearly every shot if possible.

12)   The challenge of shooting hillscapes is that the ground is much, much darker than the sky. Ordinarily, one could use a graduated filter but that’s a bit of a luxury on a hike. My own experience is that they take too long to set up and are almost impossible to keep clean.  I usually post-process the pictures to bring back some detail into the sky area – I shoot in RAW always (which gives more flexibility for post-processing) and try to ensure that the highlights are not blown out. Using software such as Photoshop or Lightroom, it is possible to bring back some detail to an over-exposed sky.

13)   Don’t sling the camera over your shoulder. When walking in Connemara, you should expect to fall over, trip or disappear into a boghole  at pretty much any time, and you don’t want  the camera to go flying. Put it around your neck if possible [so if you have a heavy camera, it will literally be a royal pain in the neck at the end of the day]. When clambering over rocks, make sure that the camera doesn’t swing loose [it might get smashed against a rock, or worse, impede your ability to climb safely]

14)   As well as protecting your camera, you need to protect yourself from the elements – it’s tricky to get a sharp picture when you’re shivering with the cold. For very cold weather, I wear 3 layers of pants – a pair of long-johns, a pair of army-surplus trousers and then army surplus waterproofs over that. True, it’s not a pretty sight [particularly the long-johns] but it works. Up top, I usually wear a walking top (made of lightweight breathable fabric) along with a couple of fleeces (a lot of thin layers works better than a few thick ones). Always bring spare socks. A waterproof jacket is essential. You’ll need a cap that will cover your ears. Even if there is a hood on your jacket, putting it up will restrict your view, so I usually leave my hood down unless there is heavy rain.

15)    Choose your gloves carefully – you’ll need a thin pair if you want to adjust the controls on a camera, and, unless it is really cold, you won’t need a very thick pair. Like the lens cleaners, you should really have  a couple of pairs – I got out of my car near Mám Éan to set off on a walk at Christmas, and one of my gloves blew away straight away [there was a vicious wind blowing], never to be seen again [luckily I had another pair].

16)   A good pair of walking boots is also essential – once they start letting in water, get rid of them. You should consider replacing them once the soles lose their grip too. On a drizzly day, rocks can be very slippy.

17)   You’ll encounter one of two surfaces while walking in Connemara; either exposed rock or slippery, boggy grass. The ‘grass’ is the worst, since sometimes the grass is actually a thin slick of green slime floating on a pool of mucky water. You can expect to take a slide or two walking down a grassy hill.  The trick is to fall backwards, since going headfirst down a slope probably won’t end well. Landing on your bottom is a much better option, and will probably stop you sliding too far [you can dig your heels into the ground to slow yourself down].

18)   I began writing this post last week, and unfortunately, since then, a hiker – and father of four –  has died after a fall in the Magillacuddy Reeks, near the Hags Glen [one of the approaches to Carrauntoohill]. The Reeks claim the life of a hiker almost every year, and walking there is much trickier than in Connemara [there are a lot more steep rock faces]. As a photographer, I instinctively head to the edge of a cliff to get the best picture. But there are a couple of things to watch for. A firm footing is the obvious one – when you are looking through a viewfinder, you’re not looking at where you are standing. The other thing, which I’ve only noticed in Kerry, is that sudden gusts of wind can be strong enough to push you a step or two – potentially fatal if you are standing right at the edge of a cliff.

19)   Many walkers find walking sticks useful – I prefer to keep my hands free for using the camera. My own experience is that using both doesn’t really work.

20)   Though the list above might imply that it is a lot of hassle to take pictures while walking, it is really a lot of fun. On a long hike, you’ve got a good chance of photographing scenes that you might not normally encounter, and you’ll get a bit of exercise too. It is a rare day in Connemara when you don’t get even a short opportunity for pictures, and it’s often the days where the weather looks really uninviting that the best images present themselves. See you on the hills!