If you haven’t heard, I have a unplugged from technology for a week or so and am vacationing with my family in Canyon Country. More precisely, we’re traveling to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks in Utah.
I am quite familiar with photographing in our national parks considering Joshua Tree National Park is my backyard playground. So today I thought I would offer some tips on photographing in a national park.
1. Capture the landmarks. Every national park has it’s own unique features. Take Joshua Tree National Park for example which is known for the joshua trees and the early settlers who mined gold in the area. Zion National Park is known for its arches whereas Bryce Canyon is known for its hoodoos.
2. Compose your photograph. To make for a more interesting photograph, consider placing your point of interest off center. Keep the role of thirds in mind. For example, instead of capturing the horizon dead center, place the horizon in the upper third of your camera’s frame. Or have the subject of your photograph appear in third of the way to left or right of the frame.
3. Size does matter. The fallen redwood trees in Northern California may not appear massive until you place a person next to the tree for comparison. This will add a sense of “awe” to your paragraphs.
4. Have extras. Batteries and memory cards. I can tell you from experience how heartbreaking it can be to have your camera flash that your battery has no more juice or that your memory card is full just as the sun is setting. So make sure you have extra batteries and memory cards with you while photographing in the national parks.
5. Get it in the picture! How many times have you come home to review your photos only to realize you’re not in a single photo. Use the self timer that is probably built into your digital camera. Or in my case, I will be using my tripod and remote release to get myself into the photos while on vacation. Because the last time I let a “friendly stranger” take a photo with my camera (to get me in the picture with my son) she left out the landmark I was trying to include.
6. Capture the panorama. Nothing captures the grandeur of the vistas better than a panorama photograph. Nowadays some digital cameras may have a panorama mode built-in. If not, there are few simple steps to guide you in capturing a panorama. I highly recommend using a tripod to help you and keep the horizon level in all the photographs. Another important factor is exposure. You’ll want to have consistent exposure in all the photographs to be stitched together for the panorama. To do is take, one photo using whatever setting you normally use, then view the photo and make note of the settings. Now turn your camera into “Manual” mode and dial in those settings. To start a panorama series take a photo with your left hand in the frame. This will remind you that this is the beginning of your panorama series. Take your first photo then turn few degrees to your right to take the next photograph. Be sure to overlap the photos with 10 to 20% of the scenery from the previous photo in the frame. When you are done with a panorama series, take one last photo with your right hand in the photo to signal the end of the series.
These are just a few tips I use on a regular basis while photographing in our national parks. Do you have any tips to add? Have you take any photographs and one of our National Parks? Please link up your national park photographs with the Thumbnail Linky Tool, as I have yet to visit all 392 National Parks in the United States.