3 Days in the Wilderness for Landscape Photography

[Music] yeah I lost my spoon the moment of truth normally I'd have beat you on a tripod see anyway so with the Sun rising to the east to cast its light on the mountain and it'll be interesting to see how different it all looks [Applause] [Applause] [Music] so today I'm doing something that I've wanted to do for a long time and that is to hike a section of the PCT it's raining it's boogie but it's absolutely gorgeous [Music] the small section of the PCT that we are hiking is about 31 miles long with today covering about 17 miles so far we're making very good progress but this isn't about putting in the miles and getting to come early it's about enjoying the hike listening to the sights and the sounds and hopefully getting a photograph and if we don't well we will tomorrow [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] quick update we are past our 17 mile mark and past our campsites where you can see on my top of my rucksack there oh no when the dreaded GoPro wind no time there's a bit of a breeze I have to just stop so we got to about a mile or so before our campsite and it's the last good water source so we filled up four liters each that's what we're carrying but we got to our campsite at 17 miles and there was a tent there fine expect to share it comes right on trail like this not a problem effect I said looking forward to meeting people shiny way something wasn't right something was not right this tent was all zipped up you know it's 4:00 p.m. and we walked past it and it was a big tent taking up probably two pitches and the whole camping area was only big enough for maybe three small tents and school pops her head out just what I should woken up but she looks a bit odd a bit spaced out one might say then she said thanks she said oh you're not camping here are you like she didn't want us there and there were two people in that tent I don't know who the second person was but we just felt so unwelcome like we just tried to pitch up in a back garden so yeah we're pushing on the next campsite it's two and a half miles bit annoying so we've got to carry this water but yeah of course a not the vibe I was expecting well section hi can all's little tiny bit the PCT everyone else we've met been super friendly you know it's always the old one isn't that always the old one anyway oh it's a surprise two and a half miles tonight's comes out carrying an additional four litres of water not happy about this but it doesn't mean we'll have a shorter day tomorrow so yeah see what the next campsites like so after our strange encounter with the mysterious hikers we ended up doing a 20-mile day but it wasn't all bad because if you exclude the extra water that I was carrying I managed to get my total pack weight down from 17 kilos on my last long-distance hike to just 14 kilograms on this hike [Laughter] yeah I lost my spoon okay so we've arrived at camp had dinner and I've got a hot chocolate but I just wanted to go over a few items said before that I might get my pack weight down from like 17 and a half to 14 and a half well that's a I think it was fourteen and it's just a few simple changes the main one being the main one being water on this hike I never carried more than 1.5 liters of water because I did my research and knew there were lots of water sources on the route I also had no spare clothes other than t-shirt and Underpants no pillow I used my jacket a much smaller wash bag a super cheap and super lightweight frog togs waterproof and a tiny torch instead of my big headlamp but one of the best gear changes I made was my new sleeping bag now in my last video I was doing hiking across the Cumbria why I said that one of the things that I really think I could improve on was my sleeping bag but I just think I can do better I think I can do better than this sleeping bag so I will be replacing this for my next big photography hike Tim who's with me on this hike it got me this and this is a it's not my sleeping bag it's a quilt it's down it's water repellent water-resistant more so than my lawn because it's got a Pertex shell and it's only about don't quote me on this 800 grams there are there abouts which is about half of my other sleeping bag it's also half the size and it's just as warm if not warmer it's fantastic is by a company in Seattle I believe called feathered friends so if I really want to save more weight then I need to change my camera and lens system I've done all I can do don't know I can do with this stuff the next step cameras so there we go that's how I've got my pack lighter still enough photography this evening we got thrown off a bit we had to walk further than we thought we need to but there's definitely gonna be photography in this video so drink my hot chocolate chill out for a bit soon we'll be going down soon every time for bet tomorrow is a new day [Music] well good morning everybody it's the next day and it's a 3 sunrise very dark which is why I'm crudely lighting this with my little torch but we've just left camp it's about 45 minutes 50 minutes until sunrise we're just hiking about 2 out 2 not 2 hours for Panora about 1 and a half miles maybe a mile down the trail back the way we came because when we were walking into camp last night we did spot too nice viewpoints with some nice compositions potential for a lovely image one of them is it is a valley view that you can pretty much right you can't see but it's over my shoulder it's quite a simple image looking straight towards the sunrise and with all the other forest fires in the distance there's a nice haze in the atmosphere so you get those definition of layers the definition of layers and a very very red sky which you can just see over my shoulder the next view point is probably quarter-mile half-mile maybe pass that and it's a view of Mount Rainier which is an iconic mountain seldom shot from this angle because not many people karts photography gear 20 miles down the trail makes sense so not really sure of a plan oh yeah I don't know hopefully we'll have time to shoot both actually it would be nice it would be nice but we'll see so yeah anyway I'm gonna keep walking and then we'll see what happens in the next scene all see what happens gonna stop and get my camera I've stopped on the trail it's kind of difficult to shoot both scenes that we saw but we're gonna try so this sort of valley view is looking good now and it was very dark but that's kind of what gives it it no draw its atmosphere it gives its qualities this is you've got very very deep blue hues in the valley with layer upon layer of a sort of mountains crisp crossing it's almost impossible shirk is so dark I'm filming this is gonna be a challenge and then beyond the deep blue is contrasted vibrant red as the skies already beginning to catch cold so anyway and just say I don't now we've give ourselves a target of no more than five minutes to stop one shot move on and see if we can get the second composition further up the trail so right let's get my camera gear out so this is the scene which is almost impossible for me to show you because it's so dark my camera is obviously gonna keep shifting focus because there's hardly any light but we'll go with it we'll see what happens if I bring in my exposure you can see let me just see if we're gonna lock focus there we go you can see the different layers and the bridges and that valley seems to be filled with smoke and Hasen and a deep blue color and that's kind of what's giving this image its atmospheric quality I'm a bracketing this because those shadows are so deep and I don't want to lose any details that's what I'm doing is I'm taking one exposure for the shadows similar to this just bringing in those shadows and then I'm taking a second exposure dialed down like this so you don't lose the deep reds there in the sky so absolutely gorgeous on my f11 no filters I'm gonna take this and then I really have to push on but this is a just a gorgeous gorgeous scene focusing on the distant mountains okay so that was the first image that I've captured I'm now gonna pack my stuff away walkabout or I don't hope it'll hopefully it's less than a mile down the trail and fingers crossed a second view will open up yeah I think that was worth something for but onwards and upwards [Music] so we've arrived it's our second composition the second location that we spotted yesterday on the hike to our campsite the problem is after a twenty mile day you're so exhausted the last thing you want to do is set up camp and then hike back you know a mile and a half to go and take a sunset photograph so what I'm definitely learning is that on these long hikes these big hikes my energy is its highest in the morning and I have no problem waking up at sunrise and shooting because I'm so tired at the end of the day that one's better like 8:30 so I'm getting seven hours sleep so yeah something I'm learning it's all about the sunrise on these hikes but more importantly is the view in front of me Mount Rainier framed beautifully by these lovely Douglas fir trees often saying these lovely pine trees I mean this is a wilderness area which means this there's no impact of man at all other than the trail there's no impact of man so I find it fascinating that this natural window has appeared through these trees I have salutely love it it's nice a nature it is very best it's it's breathtaking it's very very typical of this section of the PCT as is the image that I took previously with the the layers and the hills and the Blue Mist and the pink sky very very typical and quintessential of this section you're lots of forest and woodland with glimpses to the mountains every now and again that's what this is a glimpse probably one of the most impressive mountains I've seen Mount Rainier absolutely phenomenal so we're a bit before sunrise hoping I don't get startled by a bear or an elk or vice versa I don't startle them I'm just waiting and hoping that that as the sunrise is a red glow that I photographed earlier as that increases ten suffice its gonna cast onto Mount Rainier we are now facing west or due west so with the Sun rising to the east to cast its light on the mountain I'm just waiting and I'm probably gonna shoot this as a sixteen by nine composition just nicely framed you know it demands him framed by the trees but I'll probably shoot a couple of different option you know do one vertical and horizontal just just because I'm uncertain it's really straightforward I don't think I'm gonna use any filters I might try and my polarizer and see what happens framing wise in composition wise there's only one annoyance and there's tiny tiny little treat just like four feet in front of me but I am sort of on like a small edge here like a rocky outcrop so I can't move very far certainly can't go any further forward so I just need to make sure that I this little tree doesn't creep into the edge of my frame and then we're good we're all good so what I think I'll do is take you off the tripod put this on the tripod frame up and then wait and hope for that gorgeous early morning pink light so we're just starting to get a very very soft glow on Rainier it's not that intense alpenglow that you would expect about 14,000 foot mountain but that's because there's so much haze in the atmosphere with the forest fires going on so yeah it's more of a nice pink hue than anything but to be honest this is all about composition and actually I am struggling with composition let me let me show you what I'm struggling with hang on so the thing that I'm trying to do is keep this mountain dead center in my frame obviously framed by the trees left and to the right now if we come down here this is more or less what I've settled on as soon as it focuses there we go and it's all about this tree here this this prominent one that it's it's quite difficult to show you here come on so initially I wanted to go wide like this the mountain becomes really smaller which I don't think too much of a problem but what what bothers me is how messy these edges are will kind of cut enough trees and we've got trees creeping in and whilst I do think this is OK I'm not so sure that it's worth losing sort of prominence of the mountain because it's so small so what I'm focusing on more instead are these three tiny trees here this big one and then this sort of lanky scruffy disheveled looking thing which is that one there and I'm just going in a little bit tighter so I'm going from 24 mil just something like that and again difficult to show here but this tree on the Left kind of acts as a a blocker like to stop your eye wandering out of the frame and then same on this side so it looks a bit more even and then you have this prominent line through the center of the image one tree and another tree it drops down got the big tree and then these three trees and then obviously that mountain in the middle so kind of I think what I settled with it may change but for now that's why I'm going with the mountain it's just starting to catch and as soon as my camera focuses won't be able to see there we go absolutely glorious now that the light is beginning to hit the mountain just lift it you know you just got that beautifully lit Center focal point I've got my camera again on a 10 second timer because of this long center column f11 focused on the mountain that will render the trees sharp because they're about 100 feet away from the lens and there we go it's a nice image it's it's a really nice image and one that would be typical of this hike and a view that you would walk past and see on this hike so really really happy with that I think it's time now to pack away go back to camp have a nice hot breakfast and then move on to our next occasion which thankfully is only about 12 miles away and not the 20 that we did yesterday [Music] so before we head back to camp there's just one more thing I want to do nice to go and see if I could find my spoon we're not too far from where I think I left it but the views as I walk to the food it's just absolutely breathtaking what a place to be so this is it the moment of truth oh yeah there she is there she is in all her glory my long spoon my most prized possession well kind of you gorgeous okay at least if you go eat breakfast now and so I've just packed away and leaving camp now yeah really happy really happy with this morning and how it went a couple of nice images also I have to say very happy with my tent and no I wasn't happy with it and like district it was so so humid and there's so much condensation but purely in the context of this trip absolutely the perfect end it's a super lightweight I've got the setup down to a tee now so it looks pretty perfect when I set it up and zero condensation the base of it was a little bit wet this morning but it always is but inside was just really really dry so I don't feel bad for slugging it off on my Cumbria way hike I feel like I should have given it more time but when you're out camping in the middle of nowhere and everything's wet you know it's not a good experience but this this trip has been a very very good experience anyway not very big day today 910 miles and take it really slowly take our time and hopefully finish off a beautiful spot some evening photography and sunrise tomorrow as well all right onwards and upwards [Music] oh it is chilly oh it's a lot colder than it looks wilderness hiking photography and swimming it likes ice all about mm-hmm all right time for a second breakfast I think after a well-earned second breakfast a change of clothes and a quick drying out of some gear we self towards Chinook Pass but you could tell now that we were leaving the wilderness as we starts to encounter more and more traffic on the trail the foot traffic increased and the free-flowing and seamlessly endless footpath suddenly became rather congested our next campsite was a few miles past the popular parking spots and it didn't take long for us to escape the crowds and find that peace and solitude we had become so used to but what about the photography yeah could be honest no your wrist it's not looking good not looking good it's I'm expecting the view to be beautiful and the hike will be quite nice but I really think it's just blue blue blue no single cloud in the sky you know maybe different on the other side of the past but I very very much doubted so you know it's never good photographing blue sky days especially when you're shooting big vistas whoa good value in there yeah we go never wish you in big vistas so I don't know we'll see what we can do when we get there but I have to say I'm not optimistic but still not optimistic for the photography very optimistic for the lovely hike okay so half an hour from camp and we have made it to sourdough gap you can hear the marmots whistling probably cuz he doesn't like it but you can see the views are absolutely phenomenal beautiful views but we are not staying here we are gonna go there see that just wear that patch of light is that is gonna give us another view which yeah I have no idea but I'm sure it's gonna be fantastic but this is gorgeous this is just like open country fantastic views all around still don't think there'll be a shot this evening very rare blue skies but we'll see I don't know I believe the view that we were hiking to now in that gap offers Mount Rainier and if that is the case and that very near from here will be a sunrise location so with the blue skies as they are I would call this a wonderful walk and a scouting mission for tomorrow morning so let's push on few more minutes and see what the next gap offers [Applause] all right so we have crossed the second gap and ditched ditched my pack and come ruin everything we've got so much time so I've used that time to basically run around this entire area like an idiot let's feel so free without my pack and I basically have to look in I know what I want my head I know what I want in my mind in my mind because there are blue skies and lots and lots of haze I think I want silhouettes shadows shapes maybe a touch of color now it's quite tempting to want to shoot this bad boy behind me doesn't offer anything these more substance so I want something really simple and try and take advantage of the summer haze and the blue skies so oh hello some fairy creatures and these rocks making some noises yeah the what caught my attention here was the radiation or the gradient from the silhouetted trees which I like just love the silhouette it reason and so I've taken a shot now but it was a bit bit of a challenge because the the sun's cast is straight on to the lens but I'm just gonna wait now I'm gonna sit here wait let the Sun set and then see what happens Sun has now set so it's time to take the photograph think the sky judging by what's happening I think this is about as colourful as it's going to get so as I said I shot the image earlier when the sunlight was streaming in from the side and that looked quite nice but I just wanted to wait and see what happened I'm gonna bracket the image because I didn't bring any filters with me apart from a sixth up ending in a polarizer but I just looking at this I feel I need to bracket it because to get the exposure right on the bottom two-thirds of the image it needs to be quite bright so you get a separation between the trees and the mountains in the distance but it blows out the sky so bracketing me I'm just gonna bookmark I'm gonna die oh that book mark is just so I know where I'm at with my images I always recommend doing this so you don't get mixed up alright so the first thing I'm gonna do is expose for the sky when f 11 are focused on the trees because I suppose they're my main subject you know they're what I want to be pin sharp above anything else and I've got this on a 10 second timer because tripods very very unstable it's fine there's no wind but it just needs a few seconds to settle down so there's an exposure for the sky and I'm gonna freakin do this Emily's in the one tripod video camera you know normally I'd have biggy you on a tripod see anyway so that was a feeler but now I'm just gonna blow out the sky bring in the shadows which just gives me those layers that's definition definition between the trees the mid-ground the background there you go five seconds and then what I'll do is I'll just simply blend the two images I might just need one image you never know but it's always good to be safe but I kind of thinking maybe I like the first image with the sunlight streaming in I'm not sure he'll only know when I get home on the computer so now put pop one of those up on screen now and well see you're enjoying the lovely image I'll be packing away and hiking back to camp in the dark and then I suppose it'll be the following morning sunrise back up here and it'll be interesting to see how different it all looks [Music] [Applause] so it's another early start here on the Pacific Crest Trail just outside of Mount Rainier National Park and this morning is almost a carbon copy of this time yesterday morning which you will have seen earlier on in this video we've hacked up from our tents to sourdough gap which is this coal in the mountainous gap that you crest over and you're greeted with a beautiful view towards the east where the Sun is rising and again you know blue blue skies but there's a lot of haze and smoke in the atmosphere so you have this kind of burning red sky in this continuation of ridges as they go from black it's gray to blue to gentle purple and pink in the sky which is exactly what we shot yesterday morning and then we're going to continue on the trail about and I'm not very far over half a kilometer over a second pass and then drop down and shoot Mount Rainier with the morning lights hitting it which is exactly what we said yesterday morning but completely different viewpoints but a very similar subject so I'm just grabbing this shot now or about 25 minutes from sunrise yeah it's just it's just gorgeous it's so peaceful so peaceful it's lovely and warm up it's freezing down a camp but as a bit of a temperature inversion unfortunately that's not a cloud inversion foot at least it means we're not freezing up here some of my compositions very straightforward it's more of a there's not any real obvious subject it's more of an atmospheric shot more of a shot that describes the landscape that we're in then it's just about the colors in the sky and the hues of blue as we go through the ridges of the mountains it's very straightforward I'm not gonna go on too long about it f11 focusing on the very very distant mountains which effectively is infinity I have no filters but that sky is very bright very bright indeed so I'm just taking two exposures one just to make sure I don't blow out this guy and then a second just to lift the shadows giving me more detail in a cleaner file and then I may blend them but in most cases I don't usually one files find I never really can you know you have to take the take the back of your screen with a pinch of salt I find oh yeah all in all very very happy with this but I'm kind of hoping that the next image it's gonna be the PSD his distance no yeah the next image I've got a panel in mind ridge line trees Mount Rainier morning lights that's what I've got in mind so let's move on over the next gap down the valley let's see if we can get a second image as the Sun begins to rise [Applause] so after crossing the second gap and hiking Archie a lot further than I thought we'd have to we finally reached a reasonable spot where I can shoot this panel that I've kind of had in mind now for some time well I'll say sometime yesterday but it feels like sometime leveling this tripod this little Benro Carbon travel tripod is a flippin nightmare it's just it takes ages and the whole thing so like sketchy and unstable I'll be surprised if I got a clean stitch but more importantly we have beautiful morning lights hitting Mount Rainier and then this sort of Ridgeline just in the shadow a little bit so it's quite a nice simple shot with regards to technical settings it's all it's all just the same same as usual thing it's all about one I suppose seeing the composition and visualizing what you want to get out of it to shooting it at their peak moment which is when the lights the pink lights of a new day just starts to hit the top of the mountain which happened about two minutes ago and I've got this job and I'm sorry I wasn't filming but it all happened so quickly so yeah now I'm just gonna hang around here enjoy the views back away head back down to camp and then that'll be it for my micro micro micro taste of the PCT to get a real taste I'd have to do what we did over the past two days and another hundred times and that were taken from Mexico to Canada but I don't think that's going to happen right don't back away breakfast and then shower [Music] [Laughter] [Music] okay so back at camp just enjoying a coffee and some breakfast I mean scrambled eggs I can't I can't get my head around it obviously 1.5 servings like I don't I don't they just make it one serving instead of one point who's gonna who's gonna want the point five serving I don't know it's funny anyway that's it we're gonna have breakfast back away our tents and then head back down to the car park so this is my this is the end of my little hiking and photography adventure and I've thoroughly enjoyed it hope you have also enjoyed it and if you have in your new to the channel do consider subscribing and if you're at least good subscribed thank you very much and don't forget my calendar is now available animistic a link below it's much no a year or so of my best work you know subjectively you might not think that but yeah calendars available so thank you so much for watching and until next time bye for now seriously 1.5 servings why who is it it makes us sorry Mountain house yeah looks like I've added too much water [Music]

Channel: Thomas Heaton

Views: 285,724

Keywords: landscape photography tips, landscape photography film, landscape photography hiking, wilderness photography, canon 5d mkiv, best camera for landscape photography, hiking photography, hiking for landscape photography, camping in the wilderness, hiking the pct, white pass to chinook pass, pct, how to do landscape photography, landscape photography tutorial

Id: Qhr5xwzNOkg

Length: 40min 53sec (2453 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 04 2019