Switzerland photos and what I learned

17 06 2009

As you could have read in a previous post I was planing a trip to Switzerland. I also tried to think a bit in advance what kind op pictures I would like to come home with.
The results you can find here: Switzerland Gallery
What I’ve learned:

For a picture of mountains to work they need to be placed into context. This can be the valley, other mountains or a foreground object like a cabin. For this reasons pictures taken while on top of the mountain hardly ever reflect the true magnificence of the scenery
One day is too short. If you are photographing landscapes staying somewhere for one day is too short. Landscape photography is a lot about being at the right place at the right time. The right time relating to time of day and of year and under the right weather conditions. The right place is of course the best location to capture the landscape. If you are just there for one day you need luck.
Don’t take too many pictures. After a 1 week trip I returned with 1500 pictures. The trip ended 3 weeks ago and I am still not done sorting through them. Many of them are nearly duplicates. For most shots it is not needed to shoot more than one. Make your shot check in the preview that is is ok and move on. A lot of other pictures were just not good composition wise and of most of them I knew at the time of taking that it wouldn’t be brilliant. So next time I will try to limit myself and only take a picture when I feel the composition is good.
Of course the great thing about digital photography is that you don’t have to care about how much film you have, but it is also a disadvantage as you are more likely to not think enough about the composition.
Check your camera! It sound obvious, but I had a number of shots failed because I forgot to set the settings back (ISO value, still manual focus etc etc) I also had some images with dust spots. So check your camera.
As mentioned in a previous post walk. I spend 2 days in the alps (in the Jungfrau region) one of those days walking and the other going by train and with a cable car up the mountains. Almost all of the successful alpine landscape pictures were taken during the day walking. It really helps to get a feeling of the landscape.