Climb photography:
Simple improvements
to up your images
Simple improvements
to up your images
These days, everyone has a camera in their pocket or a DSLR over their shoulder when they're out climbing. There are a few simple tricks for capturing your climbing adventure in the gym or outside that will really showcase the beauty or the drama of your experience. You can go from rookie to semi-pro with just a few key techniques that will have your friends wondering where you got the professional images from. (And no, you don't need a $2000 camera to take amazing photos of climbing.)
How do I improve my climbing photography?
- Composition is key.
- Stay in focus.
- Capture emotion.
- Use foreground and a shallow depth of field.
- When the weather gets bad, keep shooting.
- Get above your subject, or at least at the same level as them, and to the side.
- Pick a good background.
- Try to capture the movement of the climber.
- Use light to highlight the climber, not the background.
- Edit your photos but not too much!
Composition is key.
For bouldering, sport climbing, trad climbing, and mountaineering, the composition of your image will make or break the impact of your image. Follow the rule of thirds for your image framing. The subject should be in the upper third of the image for a portrait orientation image and the subject should be in the right or left third of the image in the landscape orientation. This way, you get a maximum amount of exposure from the climb you are capturing and showcase the space below the subject. Play with the placement of the subject in the frame, and in the third and play with the zoom of your lens to allow for the most drama while maintaining some sort of connection to the subject.
Stay in focus.
Whether you are shooting your photos with a smartphone or a professional mirrorless camera, make sure your focus is tack sharp. You can make sure of this on the phone by tapping the subject to ensure focus, or on the camera, make sure you are in autofocus and confirm focus before you pull the trigger. There is nothing worse than coming home and realizing your shots are just barely out of focus.
Capture emotion.
Your best images will come from expressive subjects that are trying hard. Be sure to capture faces with emotion during a move or just before a move as the subject is eying up the move. Since climbing faces away from the camera and towards the rock, wait for the climber to face your lens, give you a good profile, or find a position that lets you see their face from the side or above. If you put the subject's face in the top third of the frame and allow the rest of their body to be in the lower third of the frame and even see some of the exposure that the climber is feeling below them, that is when your eye goes from face to movement to exposure in the order that you want the viewer to experience it.
Use foreground and a shallow depth of field.
Put some trees, rocks, water, etc. in the foreground of your image. It will give your image depth and draw your eye to the subject that is climbing. If you use a shallow depth of field, your subject will be in focus and the foreground (or background) will be blurred out of focus. You can achieve this by using a low f-stop like f/2.8 or lower to get your subject tack sharp and blur the background or foreground.
When the weather gets bad, keep shooting.
Some of the best images you will take will happen just before or while the weather goes sideways. When there are clouds, wind, fog, light rain, or snow, the drama of the image is ratcheted up significantly. Don’t worry about your camera getting a little wet or your lens getting some water on it, that can also add to the drama of the shot and be really interesting. It would have to be training pretty hard for a long time for your camera to get really messed up and you will be done climbing at this point anyway...
Get above your subject, or at least at the same level as them, and to the side.
Try to find an angle on your subject that reveals the exposure of the climber and the face of the climber. Avoid the dreaded butt shot and get level or higher than your subject with rope or a hillside from a side angle so you can show the climber's face and expression while seeing what they are going to do next. Shooting straight down on a subject from a rope is a great angle to really up your game. You can get expression and exposure really well from above. If you are shooting straight on to a subject that is climbing from behind, try and frame the subject so that the body position and the climbing wall is interesting. Find a creative feature, or wait until the climber is doing a cool move like a drop knee or a dyno so that there is movement or implied movement.
Pick a good
background.
Find a good side angle on your subject so that the background and the light work well for the moment. Try and find a background that is either out of focus and not interesting or distracting, or use a dramatic background that is in focus to contextualize the climb and the landscape.
Try to capture the movement of the climber.
Wait for the climber to be in action before pressing the shutter. A great climbing photo usually has some sort of movement or expression that emotionally ties the viewer to the climber or the location. Take the photo in the middle of a move so that you can see the hand of the climber reaching for the next hold, or the foot cut into the air showing the speed of movement or difficulty of the move. Wait for the climber to be contorted in a unique position and snap your picture then with a good expression, looking at the next hold or foot.
Use light to highlight
the
climber, not the background.
climber, not the background.
When shooting in challenging light, be creative with the background or sky. If you can put a shadow in the background of your climber they will pop out better and you will focus on them rather than the background. Find a hillside or something that is darker than the subject and place that behind them. You can get creative with the sky as well, framing the subject in a way that uses the negative space of the air around them to focus you in on the climber and the action.
Edit your photos
but not too much!
Most of the time you will need to do some simple editing to your images to really make them pop. There are apps on your phone for this, there are expensive programs as well, don’t shy away from playing with contrast, color, and exposure in post and be careful not to over develop your images. There is nothing worse than over-saturated or HDR images that take you out of the moment!
Don’t be afraid to take creative risks and never forget, the best camera is the one you have with you so don't miss a shot even if it's with your phone. Trey to get above and to the side of your subject by using a rope or a creative perch to capture emotion and movement. Choose your battles wisely and shoot climbs that are aesthetic and inspiring to capture. Photography in the climbing environment takes a long time to master but with some consistent practice, you can fix some simple mistakes that will really improve your shots overall. Get out and shoot as much as you can and diversify your locations and subjects to challenge yourself but also get inspired and seek out beautiful climbs in amazing places, the pictures will take themselves!
A Guide to Documenting
Big Wall Climbs
Big Wall Climbs