What is important for outdoor action and adventure sports photography? – Part II
I originally published this article on my personal website in 2019. Having reviewed it, I have republished it because I still believe it contains valuable information.
Read the first part of this article here to find out more about the photographer's knowledge, the people involved and the locations used for outdoor action and adventure sports photography.
Light
Everyone has probably looked at an amazing landscape and taken a photograph of it, only to be disappointed by how poor the photo turned out. In this case, it's probably because the light wasn't very flattering. Despite all the advances in technology, including digital cameras and Photoshop, light still plays one of the most important roles in photography. Outdoor photographers still prefer to shoot during the blue hour, the golden hour, at sunrise or at sunset. The only thing that has changed slightly is that we now shoot much more backlit images, as we have the technical ability to do so, and it's also a huge trend at the moment. Personally, I like it very much because it adds depth to pictures. What I fear most is a bluebird sky in the mountains at 9 am.
Conditions can sometimes make it necessary to use additional lighting outdoors, such as reflectors (technically not a 'light'), speed lights, torches or strobes. I really like reflectors because they are very light, and I always find room for them in my backpack. I definitely pack one when I know I'll be shooting portraits. Another advantage is that they not only reflect light, but you can also use them to provide shade for your subject if it's too bright outside.
Storytelling
The approach to storytelling will depend on the project. Of course, you always have to consider the requirements. However, sometimes assignments come with very few details, or you might be working on a personal project.
To learn more about good storytelling, it's helpful to look at what filmmakers do. Here you can find a Wikipedia article with explanations of the different categories of shots used in filmmaking. I think these different field sizes help you to tell a story in an engaging and interesting way. Over time, I have learned that every story needs detail shots, in-between shots without action ('lifestyle' shots) and landscape shots without people.
You also need to think about where the interesting things happen that you want to include in your story. Where are the key locations? What does the viewer need to see to understand the story? These spots and moments must be included in the story!
I have already experienced on several occasions that, especially at running or cross-country skiing races, hobbyists don't like having their picture taken during a steep ascent because they probably think they don't look very good at that moment. While I understand this concern, I still think these moments are important in showing how hard they worked to complete the race and how proud they should be of themselves.
To take your storytelling a step further, you also need to consider the potential layout. To achieve variety, you need landscape- and portrait-oriented pictures. You may also need to take a scene from the left and right to allow those pictures to be placed on left- and right-hand pages in a magazine. Pictures with a lot of negative space are interesting too because text (or other pictures) can be placed there.
As I often shoot while wearing a bike or ski helmet, I realised that this makes it very difficult to take portrait-oriented pictures. This is a clear advantage of mirrorless cameras, as you can shoot with the LCD screen on the back!
Equipment
The choice of equipment depends on various factors, the first of which is usually whether it is a staged shoot with easy access or if I have to move with the athletes. For me, this is the most important factor in choosing my equipment. Do I need to keep my load as light as possible? Or can I put everything in my car and decide later?
Further questions to consider are: what kind of pictures do I want to take? What would I need to achieve this in an ideal scenario? What could be left out? What is absolutely necessary? What else do I need to pack? Spare clothes? Camping gear? Technical gear, such as ski touring gear? How big and heavy will all that stuff be? I once learned that you should always take the best possible gear for the situation. Of course, this could also mean that if you only have room for your smartphone, you should only pack your smartphone.
As I walked up the glacier, I knew I wanted to take a photo, but my camera was in my backpack and the weather was too bad to stop. So, I took a photo with my phone instead.
In almost any case, I take a second camera body with me, and sometimes spare lenses too (although I don't always carry these in my backpack, I make sure they're not too far away). This may sound a little crazy, given that I've just written about 'going light', but I think it's really important if you want to market yourself as a professional photographer. Imagine you have models and hotels booked for two days of shooting, but you drop your camera in the first hour. How would you explain that to your client? Another concern is backups. I always try to back up my photos as soon as possible, copying them onto different backup media which I hide in various locations when travelling.
When it comes to photography gear, 'pro' usually means that the equipment can withstand much more abuse than consumer gear. For example, it can be used for shooting in the pouring rain for hours, in deserts, or while mountain biking with your gear in your backpack. Professional gear is often made from metal instead of plastic, and has much better weather sealing. This gear is therefore also heavier and more expensive. However, it doesn't mean that lenses are self-cleaning, so it's a good idea to take some microfibre cloths and lens-cleaning liquid with you.
Furthermore, professional-level gear offers high ISO tolerance (less noise in the picture) and a high frame rate. As useful as this sounds, I still try to minimise the use of these bursts. On the one hand, I don't want to end up with hundreds of almost identical pictures that I then have to download to my computer, edit and delete; on the other hand, more often than not, the best moment occurs between two pictures. As mentioned earlier in this blog entry, knowledge and timing are everything!
Regarding my other gear, when I have to carry it for a long time, I try to make it as light and multi-purpose as possible. For example, instead of long johns for warmth and another pair of trousers for the hut, I would pack leggings that I could use in both situations. Similarly, if I know there are creeks or fountains nearby, I'd rather pack a lightweight water filter or purification tablets than carry lots of water, as this makes my load much lighter.
The one thing I couldn't live without are sturdy, comfortable, weatherproof backpacks in different sizes. Mine look like normal outdoor backpacks, but you can open the back with a zip. There are boxes in different sizes for your camera gear, depending on how much you want or can take with you. The advantage of this system for me is that you can always take the gear box out of the backpack and use it like any other backpack. This came in handy once when I was asked to check in my carry-on photo backpack. I didn't want to do this, of course, but I could just take the box out and take it with me on the flight.
Even for a sequence shot like this, you don't need an extremely fast frame rate — 4 to 5 pictures per second are enough. However, a faster framerate makes it more likely that you will capture the right moments and have more pictures to choose from for the composite.
Safety
So, I travel light, but I always prioritise my personal safety. For ski touring, I take a helmet and enough spare clothes, because I don't want to be cold — that would also stop me from taking pictures. Good (nutritious) food is also important for staying warm. If you're hypoglycaemic, you'll be in survival mode and your priorities will be different.
However, the safety of everyone else involved must also be taken into account. I don't want to be a risk to anyone, and I also don't want anyone else to get injured. As photographers, we are not always able or allowed to take on this responsibility; sometimes, you will need safety experts, such as mountain guides.
Being aware of safety issues also means checking information about other countries released by your country's foreign office prior to your trip, carrying a good first aid kit, doing everything possible to avoid getting sick (remember: wash it, peel it, cook it or leave it...) and, of course, thinking about how to keep your expensive photography equipment safe. Personally, I prefer to act in a way that most people don't even notice that I'm travelling with camera gear.
When you're out and about, you'll probably want to share your location with your loved ones. But who has the emergency contacts? Before big trips, I always scan all my documents into one PDF so that I still have the numbers in case of loss or theft. I also register all the serial numbers of my photography gear online with the respective manufacturer.
You should also consider insurance. In Switzerland, health and accident insurance are mandatory. However, there are many other types of insurance that could be useful for photographers, such as insurance for your equipment in case of theft, damage or loss, professional liability insurance, travel health insurance, tracing and rescue services, roadside assistance and trip cancellation insurance.
If you are planning to travel to high-risk environments, you can find lots of useful information here: Safety Guide for Journalists: A Handbook for Reporters in High-Risk Environments, published by Reporters Without Borders.
On this day, we spent about three or four hours on rafts on a river in the Rocky Mountains, taking pictures of kayakers. With a temperature of around 5°C, it was definitely a survival-mode experience — I was freezing! Unfortunately, I couldn't take any more good photos; my only priority was to endure until it was over.
Conclusion
I hope I have answered some of your questions about outdoor action and adventure photography. Often, there is no one right way to do something, and everyone has to find out for themselves what is most important and what feels best.
While writing this text, I realised more than I already had during the planning stage that photography itself is only a very small part of the whole. The more serious you are about your adventures, the more important it is to know how to stay safe and handle difficult situations. Photography is just the icing on the cake.
One last thing: try to have as much fun as possible while working outdoors, and make it a positive and memorable experience for everyone involved!