shots · how I shot this
Elk Mountain in snow: me on the ledge, the valley behind
Elk Mountain, Chilliwack · shot November 11, 2022
- 1Stand on the summit ledge facing out, back to the camera, so the frame reads as the view and not a portrait.
- 2Frame at 44mm: wide enough for the valley, tight enough that the ledge and the person still fill the bottom of the frame.
- 3Keep the orange jacket against the grey valley. In November light, the one warm colour is what the eye lands on.
Shot on Nikon D850 · 24-120mm f/4
This is from 11 November 2022, the day the summit ledge had snow on it. It was shot on the Nikon D850 I used before the A7 IV, and the settings below are straight from the file.
The ledge is the whole photograph. Elk Mountain is 765 metres of climbing in under 4 km, and a frame of the view alone flattens all of that. A person on the edge puts the drop back in.
Why these settings
f/4 at 1/200 is what the lens gives you wide open in flat November light without a tripod. ISO 640 is the cost of the overcast sky, and on a summit there is no reason to slow down further: wind moves the jacket and the grass. At 44mm the valley stays wide while the ledge holds the bottom of the frame.
Try it on your next summit
Put someone on the edge, back to the lens, in the one bright colour you have, and frame so the ground they stand on fills the bottom third. The trail guide for this one is Elk Mountain.
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