Dawn on Ross Lake

©Paul Anderson Ridge Lines at Dawn

Sometimes there are only seconds at dawn to capture the image. Changing weather pattern, changing light, changing color values all affect the image you have in your mind.

Remember, one of the best times to capture the mood of the landscape is during changing weather patterns and changing light conditions.

Try and be ready to capture the image as quickly as you can. With so many variables changing so rapidly you may only have seconds to get a usable image. Choose your primary composition and capture it - follow your instincts.

I remember hiking down to the bottom of Canyon de Chelly with my 75 pound pack. I quickly found a composition I liked of White House Ruins. I set up my 4x5 view camera and waited for the late light to begin its ascent up the canyon wall.

Another photographer soon joined me, set up his 4x5 and began his wait. But he soon decided to move to a different location - a process that took about 5 minutes. After a few more minutes he moved again, and then again, and again. By the time the light started to move up the wall I was capturing the image and he was trying to set up in a new position. I used approximately 30 sheets of film and one of those was used on a magazine cover, in several calendars, and in catalogs for photo tour companies. He never shot a single picture.

I believe that my hike back up the steep trail, with my heavy pack, in the dark, to the canyon rim was easier for me knowing I had captured a good image.

In a photo like this, don't be afraid to shoot many duplicates as the sky changes, you'll never know which photo is going to convey the emotion that you are feeling as you look at the landscape. Many times I fail to capture even one image that I have pre-visualized, but if I don't put myself into that position I will never capture what I want.

Your photograph, just like this one, may never be published, but this portrayal of elusive color and early dawn light meant something to me and so it was worth getting up early.

Photo Technique - Graduated Neutral Density Filter

© Paul K. Anderson
Here is a tip for quickly improving your photographs of the landscape.

More than with any other tool, (except perhaps my tripod) my photographs improved significantly and dramatically when I acquired my first graduated neutral density filter!

I'm not talking about the kind that "screws" onto the end of your lens like your round skylight or polarizing filter, but rather a rectangular piece of "glass" that slides into a holder that "screws" to the end of your lens.

By being rectangular it can slide up and down in the holder so you can adjust where the darkest/lightest part of the filter is located relative to the horizon or other features in your image.

Why?  Well, the camera/film/chip can handle only so much of a range in light values.  To keep it simple, that means usually one part of the image is either too light and the other too dark or vice-versa in difficult light situations! 

The graduated neutral density filter "compresses" the extremes of light to what the camera/film/chip can handle and more closely approximates what your eyes and mind see.  

Depending on which filter you buy, the "top" end of the filter is one, two or three "stops" darker than the clear, untinted  "bottom". The darker portion transitions gradually to clear glass.

In my photograph, the sky was almost totally white when I correctly exposed for the boat, dock and lake.  By adding a two stop GND filter, the sky darkened enough that the true  or more realistic texture and color of the dawn clouds emerged.

The modern digital camera has a solution but you want to use a tripod. 

You take a photo exposing for the darker areas and another for the brighter areas.  Then, when you process the images in your computer, you take the best image from both exposures and seamlessly meld them together using the proper photo software.

It's an effective way of accomplishing the same thing.

But I prefer using the graduated neutral density filter. That's just me.

Here is a link to one type I use:  Singh-Ray Filters.

Photograph the Light

© Paul K. Anderson

© Paul K. Anderson

© Paul Anderson  

When you want to capture the mood or emotion of the landscape it is important to capture the light at it's most interesting or dramatic. That typically means in the morning from a little before dawn until several hours after, and from just after sunset to several hours before.

You also can capture dramatic landscapes on the edge of weather changes.

Mid-day is best for getting in closer with people action shots.  You would also want to use fill flash if you have it, to balance out shadows in the bright sunlight.

I admit I can't resist shooting the mountains on the return trip from Ruby Arm in the early afternoon, but I am usually diasappointed with the flat, washed out look to the scenery and especially the sky.

If the light is fading try using your tripod to ensure crisp images.

Try photographing early and late and during changing weather patterns to evoke the true mood of the North Cascades and Ross Lake.