PHOTOGRAPHING IN THE MOUNTAINS:

For centuries man has tried to imitate nature in his buildings, in its beauty and majesty, but rarely manages to make his work so harmonious with the environment that hosts it, so many times, more or less involuntarily, he tends to destroy it. In this sense, nature photography is an act of humility by man who is aware of being a guest on Earth. He portrays its beauties, inimitable by the hand of man, with a beautiful photograph it captures their essence and their grandeur. The main problem of the mountain photographer is to convey the idea of ​​the grandiose natural scenarios he encounters. One of the most important factors, as indeed in all types of photographic genres, is light: the ideal light in the mountains is that of dawn or morning, and from late afternoon to sunset, that is, the grazing light. This has the great advantage of giving greater prominence to the shapes and of being a warmer light, and therefore more suggestive, than what can normally be in the central hours of the day. Of course, this does not mean that excellent photographs can be taken at all hours of the day, including night. Filters can be optimally used to improve the quality of light, they are truly indispensable and, in a nutshell, they can be grouped into three:
- UV filter. Attenuates or eliminates ultraviolet radiation, that is, it removes the bluish dominance caused by the skies (eg, on faces or rocks). Many photographers keep it permanently on the lens to protect the front lens.
- polarizing filter Eliminates reflections (eg, from water surfaces), saturates colors (especially the sky). The effect can be graduated by turning the appropriate ring. The result depends on the position of the shot with respect to the sun (maximum effect with the sun behind you). It is one of the filters with which the most spectacular effects are obtained
- skylight filter Similar to the UV filter, it also has a slightly pink tint that “warms up” the colors.
Other filters that can be used with good results are graduated filters or filters with a color gradient, eg. tobacco, salmon etc. They serve to make those pale summer skies typical of the months of July and August more interesting.
The best results are obtained with the slides (which among other things can be excellently printed). Good films are: Kodak Extachrome 64 or Kodachrome 100 ASA. Higher sensitivities in the mountains are not needed: there is always plenty of light. Indeed, it is better to underexpose by about half an aperture compared to the nominal sensitivity of the film: you will have more saturated colors and excellent contrast. A small tripod, one of the 20 cm high ones with removable legs, is possibly useful. Another of the big problems is to render the height and majesty of the mountains. In these cases a good wide angle is what you need: let's say that a 28 or a 35 mm is the best choice. To give a good idea of ​​the height of a mountain, it is important NOT to tilt the machine. The wide angle has a much wider angle of view than the so-called “normal” lens, and therefore allows airy shots even from short distances. It is no coincidence that it is also often used indoors. Another very important factor in the mountain photo is the human presence: this should never be missing, because only in this way is there a sense of proportion with the surrounding mountains and nature. A landscape without any of these visual references would run the risk of appearing dull. Obviously you must avoid the classic pose of the tourist who looks at the car with the usual face. Much better to have him do something, have him walk on a path or at least let him observe the view. You can also put other elements in the frame that can give an idea of ​​the proportions, for example a hut, a stream, a path, a village, a fence, a cow that chews, etc. ... Last recommendation: you have legs, use them! Always look for good shots, don't just take pictures from the path! A negative factor is certainly to be found in the weight and space that with the camera body, lenses, rollers etc. they impose more than good shoulders on us; already the hiker has problems let alone us bikers.
Of course I struggled to write all of the above (and for me, who does not have the main merit in writing, is a considerable difficulty) and after all these talks with the advent of digital we close them all. The "digital" has changed things by making photography very simple and less heavy reaching a quality that is required if you want to obtain a remarkable product, not neglecting the economic side that allows us to take many photographs without necessarily having to print them. Then there are other certainly cheaper solutions: the first concerns the purchase of small reflex cameras that have photographic but also video resolutions, like the more expensive reflex cameras, the second concerns the new mobile phones that incorporate in a single instrument, telephone, internet , camera, video cameras and gps, all applications of absolute value, with only one problem concerning the batteries that will have a short duration. It all depends on us, let's not forget that the sceneries in the high mountains give us emotions that are sometimes truly unrepeatable and it is really a shame to go home empty-handed, so let's consider our purchase carefully.