« 2011, Neiges et Glaces du Monde » (2011, Snows and ices of the world) is a project of Marion Jonchères, French mountaineer, sportswoman, adventurer to the end of the world. During a full year, this frail young woman will face cold and altitude while climbing icy summits all over the world, on all continents.

But Marion is also a photographer ; This is why we asked her to share her tips and tricks with us for a better photography in (high) altitude. They will be applicable under 6000m too, of course.

You can follow her 2011 adventure on her blog at ice-altitude.com.

When Yves asks me about the peculiarities of mountain photography, I ask back: What mountain photography? The pictures of the admiring tourist using his photo camera from an outdoor café facing the snowy peaks? Maybe not… Or the pictures of an assiduous practitioner, whose camera is a part of the mountaineering gear? Of course, this goes with some constrains… Here are the lessons I draw from my modest amateur experience.

• • Focus on a camera body as compact and lightweight as possibleDon’t forget that you must carry the photo gear and that it must not limit your progression. The photo hardware is stored in the backpack or carried, inside the clothes or on a shoulder strap. Forget about sensitive equipment!
    If you leave for a trekking or a long expedition, remember the spare batteries or solar battery chargers. The most farsighted mountaineer will have several memory cards, just as insurance against losing all the pictures in case of the long fall of the camera into a crevice or a river…
  • Use a UV filterUltra-violet (UV) light density will increase with altitude. Snow has a blinding effect. The UV filter (Skylight 1A or 1B) helps moderate these effects. Moreover, it will protect the lens if, like I do to speed up operation, you never cover the lens between shots.
  • Favor a wide-angle lens and leave the telephoto homeA wide-angle lens (up to 18 mm) will allow to step back from the somewhat imposing mountains and will better capture your feeling in front of a mountain range… Sometimes, one would wish being equipped for panorama photography!To capture pictures of your climbing partner in action, forget the telephoto lens except if you intend to check on his ice spikes or his climbing helmet. However, a slightly longer focal length (135 mm) is useful to isolate an individual while keeping some image depth.

    And if you want to track the progress of your partners on a mountain side or define an itinerary, you’d better have binoculars ; It’s less heavy and more powerful.

  • Of the difficulty to capture the actual inclination of a rock / snow / ice slopeThe rock wall is vertical and snow slope is inclined to more than 60 degrees, and your leader, above you, still seems to be crawling on all fours? This is the main difficulty for a picture or the progress of your leader. You’d better try to shoot pictures of a person roughly on the same level as you (be sure to catch his best profile!), the sky or other mountains being a background to highlight the position of your model and the slope he/she’s working on. Some low angle shots may be successful too if you keep composition lines or a focal point (an ice tongue or a moraine…).

• Forget about back-lightingExcept if you want to draw the different planes of ranges up to the horizon, mountain is usually quite ugly when back-lit, crushed in light, rock will become black, without any of the contrasts brought by a more favorable lighting.
• Which is the nicest light?Very personal question… If the sunsets can give you magnificent colors, most notably in rosy tints, still prefer the colors of sunrise. The morning orange will be warmer than in the evening and the atmosphere will be clearer. Also notice with interest the pastel lights so peculiar in a Winter afternoon, drawing into apricot or peach: Quite a treat (figuratively speaking)!
• To dazzle your friendsYou just climbed a snow couloir still somewhat unimpressive? So, climb down quickly and shoot the couloir while facing it from a little distance: Your friends may feel that it is now near vertical!
• Despite all your talent and the quality of all your gear… be ready for frustration!Stopping to get your camera out of your jacket will quickly become annoying when you also have to concentrate on your progress. How many times did I feel I had shot 100 pictures to discover only 30 in the camera when the climb is done and most of them uninterested or not spectacular enough or not worth taking… It is somewhat hard to simultaneously climb, admire and shoot! Choose your partner cautiously: On top of his mountaineering qualities, he must be patient to stop whenever you want and whenever the safety conditions are met (certainly not under a serac or in the middle of a snow bridge…)

When you are in a plane of a light plane flying near a mountain range, it is quite tempting to shoot a few landscape photos; But the conditions will stay very difficult for the photographer. There are many traps and the results may loose a lot of quality compared to what you expected.

For example, problems could be:

1. The presence of visible obstacles
2. The atmospheric turbulence
3. The atmospheric veil
4. The vibrations of the plane
5. The optical limitations of the cabin window

First, you must be seated near a window (and on the right side) and you must avoid the presence of the wing and/or an engine which could reduce the view. Choose your seat wisely at check-in time or politely negotiate with the passenger better seated.

The engines of the plane produce a lot of air turbulence that is very perceptible just behind them. Seat sufficiently in front (unfortunately, the more expensive seat are often in the front of the plane).

Air moisture and dust are less problematic at high altitude than at ground level, but you will probably shoot your landscapes from very far. Only when the sky is very clear can you try a flight. Then you would limit the atmospheric veil to its minimum. It’s even better to fly early in the morning (the light is nicer and the air moisture is still mostly on the ground). Chance must fly with you (or you will have to compensate with perseverance).

Then, a plane shakes a lot. Even more when it’s a small plane. Not as much as a helicopter, but it is definitely not stable! So, choose a fast shutter speed. Worse: Those vibration frequencies are not well compensated by the image stabilizer of your camera or lens; They are targeting the smoother moves of the photographer. For an 80mm lens, I would advise faster than 1/200 s; For a 35mm, faster than 1/100 s. You may have to crank your ISO up a little for that.

But the biggest interference will probably be the window itself. Nothing much you can do: It is not a neutral photo filter. It will darken irregularly the image. It is not really compatible with polarizing filters (color shift and forced shading in the sky part of the image). It usually has a lot of scratches and stains (those inside may be cleaned, but going outside is tougher…)

In the end, shoot! Don’t hesitate to shoot twice, think about building panoramas (shoot according to the advice for good panoramic photos at Roumazeilles.net, and assemble them with PhotoMerge in Photoshop or with AutoPano Pro).

The photos illustrating this article are Copyright (c) 2009 – Yves Roumazeilles (all rights reserved)
Click on the thumbnails to see the larger photo.

When you’re traveling far in order to satisfy your complementary needs for exoticism and photography, you will have to go through the Customs and/or boarding controls of the airplane. A few things would be good to keep in mind in order to ensure this is a better experience. Here are mine:

• Pack everything really fragile in your cabin luggage, but only that: Your lenses are fragile, but your tripod is not.
• Make sure that all cameras have charged batteries (if you are requested to prove their correct operation).
• If you still use film, ask for a manual screening to avoid burning them through the X-ray machine.
• Have all invoices in a pocket (not in the bag in order to limit the consequences of always possible robbery). Customs may want a proof of purchase/cost/taxes and this could avoid your re-paying of heavy customs taxes.
• Avoid adding a couple of under-the-counter Flash cards from a tax-free country, that may attract the attention of the Customs officer and make them suspicious. You’ll buy cheap during another trip wiht less sensitive hardware…
• When you are checking-in, politely ask if you can keep the bag as cabin luggage (always ask first, always smile and be polite). You should make it look like a small bag even if it is big and heavy (stand up, shoulders high, bag hung on 1 shoulder only, as if it was empty). If accepted, you win.
• If not, politely inform the person that the bag contains expensive equipment. In the extreme, you should be ready to ask for insurance to cover the cost of your photo equipment (this last step is often enough to bring a closure to a possible confrontation).
• In some countries or on some short flights, it may be possible (or necessary if the plane is real small) to purchase an empty seat for a few bags (share with fellow photographers).
• Be sure that whatever weight, your photo bag stays within the size limits (115 cm adding all sides), it is easier to solve things this way.
• Never fly with companies that enforce brutally the cabin luggage weight limit. The list may be changing in time, but two companies actually stand out: British Airways seems to be the nightmare of heavy luggage (no more than 5 kg even with a pro Id card and pre-organized pro-check-in; I know a couple of pros who will take a longer flight just to avoid them) and RyanAir (and many low cost companies) finds all possible ways to make you pay taxes on top of your ticket cost. In any case, check in advance with the company (or your travel agent if they are used to photo trips and photo customers).
• Always be polite. Remember that the person in front of you has to power to ruin your photo trip.

With this it is easier to travel and shoot photos. Do you have some other tip to share?