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Cold weather? Snow problem!

Beautiful scenery doesn’t always make for an easy photo trip. Capturing winter landscapes can be challenging
– freezing temperatures and deep snow aside, the tricky lighting can wreak havoc and the sub-zero temperatures can affect your camera gear. That’s not to say that a well-composed photo of a glistening white-covered landscape can’t be made into a work of art.

Shoot RAW
Setting your camera to capture photos in RAW rather than JPG will offer greater flexibility when it comes to making adjustments to your images in post-production.

When everything is covered in snow, our cameras really struggle to figure out what colour the landscape should be. JPG shots won’t allow you to make amendments to the colour your camera chooses, which means you’re likely to end up with a blue-hued photo. In RAW files, however, the white balance (WB) can be adjusted in editing programs, and make snow look like, well, snow.

Nail the exposure
Getting the exposure right can be tough, but thankfully, most cameras offer various modes, which can help. When it comes to all-white, however, you’re limited to manual mode. The camera will struggle to pick up and filter the light, so manual will give you more control over the amount of light let in. I recommend keeping the light meter on +1 or +2.

If you have a camera with an electronic viewfinder (EVF), you’ll get a real-time preview of the image, which will make setting adjustments easy. Keep in mind it’s always better to overexpose winter landscapes.

I use the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, which has built-in EVF and takes the guesswork out of exposure settings.

Let it rain
If your winter comes wet, rather than pretty and white, make sure you have a weather-sealed camera, like the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II combined with a PRO lens. With this setup, you’ll never have to think about the weather. You can simply go out, layer up and shoot the shiny reflections and moody atmosphere a cold, rainy day offers.

Layer up
There’s no point venturing outside in the depths of winter only to find yourself chilled to the bone. Capturing good winter photos starts with the right clothing. Sticking to the path and under cover isn’t going to get you the best shot, so be prepared for anything. Rain, hail or shine, you want to make sure you’ve packed more layers than you think you’ll need; that way, you’ll never miss the opportunity for a good shot.

Keep the camera cold
Cold temperatures can put a lot of pressure on your camera gear. Not only does it bring down the battery life, but sudden changes in temperature between your camera bag and outside can cause your camera to fog up. This can be avoided if you keep the camera in the same environment as the one you’ll be working in.

As an extra tip, in extreme cold it’s best to remove the battery and keep that in a warm place (like your pocket). This will help you get more out of your battery life. Don’t forget to pack spares.

With or without a trace
Winter landscapes can be delicate, especially when there’s snow involved. It’s always a good idea to stop and plan what you’re capturing before you take the snap. The path ahead might look beautiful and smooth, but once you’ve driven or walked through the snow, you’ll be leaving a trail of tyre marks and footprints on your canvas. It’s not always a bad thing – sometimes your tracks can add interest to an otherwise plain white layer.

Don’t forget the detail
Did you know that every snowflake is unique? Winter is as much about the details as it is about the big views. If you want something a little different to the rolling white hills and forests dusted in snow, then grab a macro lens and try some up-close photography.

The M.Zuiko 60mm f/2 Macro lens by Olympus is ideal for close-up detail shots and it’s also weather-sealed, so you don’t have to worry about frost or moisture seeping into the lens.

Finnish Lapland – Christmas doesn’t get more traditional than this.
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Keep the scale
If you do want to shoot the bigger winter landscape, then all regular photography rules apply. Find a foreground that can relate to the background (remember those footsteps?), and then keep in mind repetition, rule of thirds, contrast and the rest.

Winter landscapes can sometimes seem empty, quiet and, from a compositional point of view, rather boring at first sight, but you can use this to your advantage. Minimal and abstract photos can be really interesting, especially when you can create a warped perception.

Make the most of it
Most importantly, snap it all. You don’t know when you’ll get to experience a dreamy white landscape like this again, so don’t be afraid to experiment and capture as much as possible.

Chris Eyre-Walker is a member of the Olympus Visionary Program, a team of award-winning photographers supported by Olympus.

olympus.com.au
chriseyrewalker.com

Moving Image

From short Instagram stories to full-blown feature-length videos that capture the experiences and vistas of a country, video has become an increasingly important way to document travel. It is said that by 2020, 82 per cent of the content we consume on the Internet will be video. It is the future after all. But it’s not only the smart, future-proof way of documenting your travels, it’s also an incredibly powerful way to tell stories and get creative. Once you understand the basics, you’ll have a whole new box of tools at your disposal. As with anything, practice is key, but these basic video tips will see you on your way to creating your masterpiece and saving your family and friends from the dreaded holiday-return slideshow.

Story
As with photography, the story is the most important part of your video. This should always be your aim. A story has five basic but essential elements: the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that makes it easier for your audience to follow. You could have the most beautiful footage in the world, but if it lacks context, it’s basically a moving version of a slideshow.

My biggest tip here is to consider your story before you start filming. As you embark on your travels, you’ll find yourself searching for creative ways to tie it in together at each location.

Movement
The big difference between photos and videos is, quite obviously, movement. This can be used to create emotion and context. For example, panning your camera left to right advances the story just like reading text, while zooming in emphasises the focus on certain objects or details. Don’t be afraid to still use static shots, too, as they can be a great way
to pause and let your audience take a breath.

Don’t overdo it with the camera movement – use it wisely to avoid it becoming a distraction. Essentially the motion should follow on-screen movement, reveal information or emphasise emotion.

The camera is your viewer’s eye, so always consider why you should, or shouldn’t move the camera.

Capturing the feeling of walking the highline.
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Stability
Most of the videos I shoot are done using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the M.Zuiko 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO for the simple reason that the stabilisation of the sensor and the lens work together. This allows me to get super smooth movement without the need for extra accessories. This means I don’t have to worry about balancing a gimbal, carrying heavy tripods or packing unnecessary gear in my bag. Instead, I can just shoot my travels and enjoy the journey, knowing I’m capturing high quality, smooth shots along the way.

Camera Settings & Filters
When it comes to camera settings, the rule of thumb is to double your shutter speed compared to your frame rate.

So when you’re shooting a video at 30 frames per second (fps) then you want to be using a shutter speed of 1/60 seconds to get a natural looking amount of motion blur. If your shutter speed is too fast, footage will look choppy and unnatural.

For that cinematic look, it’s always nice to shoot at a wide aperture (f/1.2 or f/2.8). This gives nice background blur and the subject becomes the focus of the scene making it easier to focus you audience’s attention on one particular thing.

In order to achieve a low shutter and wide-open aperture, it’s highly recommended you use a variable neutral density (ND) filter. This will allow you to darken down the image without having to change the camera settings. Think of it like sunglasses for your camera.

Moving the camera in an upwards motion creates an interesting perspective and shows number of things in one pan.
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It’s in the Details
I always try to think about how I would describe a scene with my words and then film those details. So, instead of shooting everything at once, I build up the story with the little details. If we use a market in Asia as an example, we think of the smells, the colours, the people, the spices, and the noise. Each of those elements may come from objects that might not seem worth filming at first, but when you put them together, they describe the story.

Putting it all Together
Editing a video together is usually the most daunting stage. If you followed our first steps and established your story before you started filming, then the editing part will be much easier. Every scene you shot will have purpose to begin with and the order in which you will use them will already be determined by your story.

Personally, I always like to find the music first. A good song will help me set the mood for my clip and find a pace for editing. Once that’s in place, it all comes down to telling the story piece by piece.

In general, I never show a scene for longer than three or four seconds, which is enough time to give the viewer everything they need to see before moving on to the next part of your story.

At the end of the day, this is an enjoyable and creative way to tell the tale of your travels, so get out there and practice, and above all else, have fun.

Chris Eyre-Walker is a member of the Olympus Visionary Program, a team of award-winning photographers supported by Olympus.

olympus.com.au
chriseyrewalker.com

Tell Me A Story

One of the beautiful things about photographs is that they always tell a story. Sometimes it’s all captured in the one moment; other times it’s a collection of images that paint a bigger picture. So instead of uploading a handful of your travel photos to social media and forgetting the rest, why not turn them into a photo series?

There are many ways to create a series. You can frame your story around patterns, shapes, locations, objects, repetitions, time, seasons – it’s really up to you to figure out what the photo series will be about.

A bustling market, tiny backstreet or being immersed in nature are just a handful of examples of times I have shot hundreds of photos in a single place to create a collection of shots that look good alone and when featured together. Then there are a couple of bigger series I have worked on over the years that have defined my style and will most likely never be completed because of their endless possibilities.

Here are a few tips on how to capture a strong series of photographs that tell the story of your adventures.

Standing out among Iceland’s delicate moss.
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Find Your Theme
Sometimes a common thread can reveal itself to you, but if your intention is to create a series then selecting a theme before you start shooting can really help you focus on crafting the right shots. Ask yourself what moves you. Your theme could be as broad as observing the everyday life of people in a single country or as specific as honing in on your local forest during a single season.

Whatever you choose, your photo series will need that all-important thread – the one thing that connects each and every shot, but is delivered to the viewer with a slight variation each time so they understand why they’re moving through the series.

My work, for example, has always had an overarching theme of humans interacting with nature. Adding a person to a landscape to showcase scale, a sense of adventure and that human touch makes these distant places seem a little closer.

Stick To It
Once you’ve captured your shots, unity is key. An image that doesn’t quite fit will, more often than not, stick out in your collection. If a location or subject doesn’t connect with the bigger picture of the story, then don’t force it. A strong photo series is the result of you, the storyteller, carefully removing the images that don’t belong and retaining only the best and individually strong photos.

That said, you will soon findyou can push the boundaries of your theme. As long as the common thread remains consistent it can almost become a challenge to change everything else around it.

Adventure photography is probably my favourite artistic pursuit. It combines the two things I’m most passionate about: travel and creating arresting images.

The moment you close your door and set off to experience something new, you’re embarking on an adventure. All you need to do now is compose an image that best represents your journey. I’ve spent years testing techniques to capture that excitement, so I’d like to share some of my tips to help you get excellent photographs of those wild activities and destinations you encounter while wandering the world. Needless to say, there’s adventure to be found all around you. All you need is the right frame of mind.

Share The Fun
The finest adventures, whether long and outlandish or simple and short, are the ones we share with friends. Not only is it great to have someone to reminisce with when you’re settled in back at home, but bringing a friend to photograph is the perfect way to demonstrate what your escapade is all about. If you’re doing anything active, whether it is kayaking, climbing, hiking or mountain biking, try to place a person pounding out the action in your frame. It makes the photo more alive, plus it’s much easier to coordinate than mucking around with a tripod and timer.

Primary colours make the subject stand out in Iceland’s East Fjords.
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Make It Pop
It’s all about the person, activity and location. Shooting at the right time of day – usually those golden minutes around sunrise and sunset – will put the setting in the best possible light. Once you’ve got your setting sorted, the last thing you want is to lose your subject in the image, so it’s important to make use of colour and contrast to help your pal stand out as much as possible. I love using primary-coloured jackets and t-shirts (remember that’s red, yellow and blue). Our eyes are naturally drawn to bold tones, so a splash of scarlet will help your friend pop out of the frame. I also try to place my subject in the brightest or darkest part of the composition to create contrast around them. This combination will focus the viewer’s attention onto the most important part of the snap.

Don’t Switch Off
It’s often the scenes that occur before and after the action takes place that really tell the story. Never put your camera down! Some of my favourite shots are the ones I didn’t expect to capture. They often give the most accurate portrait, rather than the scene you’ve crafted, and nothing beats a candid photograph. Your best shot could, for example, be your friend dragging a kayak into the water rather than paddling on a pristine lake, or sparks bursting from a campfire on top of a mountain after a long hike. Think of yourself as a storyteller – don’t just wait for one moment, tell everything leading up to it and everything after it.

Creating contrast at Somoto Canyon, Nicaragua.
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Go Green
You might be the only person on the beach but that doesn’t mean you’ll be the last soul to set foot there. Avoid damaging the environment around you. If a location has a fence or barrier then respect it. It may seem like common sense, but it’s incredible how often photos pop up on social media showing Instagram handles carved into natural icons or you hear of tourists damaging precious structures by climbing on them for an epic selfie. Hopefully your images will one day inspire others to visit that far-flung destination you were lucky enough to explore, and it would be a real shame if they were to find it looks nothing like it once did.

Show The Big Picture
If the location allows for it, take a step back and get up high. The bigger the frame in which you can place your subject, the more dramatic the scene will look. In some instances I’ve positioned myself a kilometre away from my subject to capture the right feeling and scale, but the distance depends on the location and the vantage points available. Framing and composition become very important, as it can be easy to lose your subject somewhere in the shot. If you’re focusing on a person make sure to follow the colour and contrast tip to ensure they stand out.

Enjoying black sand beaches on the south coast of Iceland.
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When you’re shooting from afar, the type of lens you use makes a difference to the quality of the image, so opt for a wide-angle lens if you have one. I take many of my adventure shots with the Olympus M.Zuiko 7–14mm f/2.8 PRO. It’s the perfect lens to capture a wide landscape and show the big picture. Communication is key, as you might need your companion to show off a few different poses. I love using walkie-talkies to stay in touch. They function in places that might not have phone reception, and they’re a great way to awaken your inner child. They’ll also help you to avoid shouting across a valley and disturbing the silence of a perfect sunrise. Your fellow travellers will thank you.

Pack Light
Memorable trips often come with a degree of uncertainty. That’s ultimately what makes an experience an adventure, right? I’m not phased by changes in itinerary but one thing I don’t want is something unforeseen to ruin my chances of taking quality shots. I reduce that degree of uncertainty by carrying a spare, fully-charged battery or two, and selecting a camera I know won’t fail me. At the moment, my camera of choice is the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II – it’s incredibly reliable, weather sealed, splash and freezeproof and basically made for adventure. This light-yet-powerful camera, in combination with Olympus Pro lenses, allows me to forget about my gear and focus on crafting the kind of shot I want to put my name to.