Call of the Mountains
Call of the Mountains
“Call of the Mountains - Learning Landscape Photography among the Giants” is my third E-book, written over the span of two years. As I spent time among the mountains, more and more ideas kept pouring in my head that I really want to teach. In this 143-page book, we’ll cover shooting techniques, gear, composition, getting that atmosphere and even post-processing.
143 pages
Widescreen format - high resolution images and screenshots
Interactive chapter links
Many dozens of visual examples, finalized works, before- and after comparisons and behind-the-scenes footage
This book includes all five parts, which all have new insights into the various parts that go into landscape photography:
Creative Vision
Finding Subjects and Foregrounds
The Technicalities of a Great Image
Composition: An Analysis of my Mountain Photography
Two Mountain Photography Cases: “Dauntless” & “Poltergeist Pass”
Contents:
Foreword
Part One ~ Creative Vision
Whispers of the Mountains 6
Greener Pastures 7
Catharsis 12
What I See when Looking at Mountains 13
Copying Me 14
Finding Inspiration in the Puzzle 15
MTG Basic Lands 17
The Puzzle 18
Part Two ~ The Coveted Mountain Light & Finding Subjects and Foregrounds
Scouting Mountains 20
Finding Compositions in the Digital Age 21
The Concept 21
Finding Foregrounds 23
Composition Commitment 24
Subjects 25
Ghostly Mountains 25
What Makes a Ghostly Mountain? 25
Techniques for Peaks 26
Flowers 27
Inside the Mountains: Canyons and Caves 28
Waterfalls, Rivers and Glaciers 29
Finding Foregrounds 30
Conditions 32
Mist, Pouring Rain and Darkness 32
Twilight 33
Sunrise 34
Snow 35
Above the Clouds 36
Nightscapes in the Mountains: The Milky Way 37
Nightscapes in the Mountains: The Northern Lights 38
Part Three ~ The Technicalities of a Great Image
Gear: What to bring up there 40
In my bag 40
Sensor Sizes 41
Camera Settings: The rules and when to break them 42
Raw 42
Exposure 42
Getting sharp images 45
Deliberate non-sharp images 47
Technical, but Practical - Steps to Technically Perfect Raw Files 47
(Ultra) wide lenses and sweeping foregrounds 47
For manual focus bracketing 48
Note for automatic focus bracketing 48
Note for automatic focus stacking 48
Telephoto images (Ghostly Mountains) 49
Capturing birds 50
Big Foregrounds - Minimum Focus Distance 51
Focus Stacking 52
How many images are required for focus stacking? 53
Automating Focus Stacking (Focus Bracketing) 54
Working with Distant Objects 55
Perspective Blending 55
Focal Length Blending 55
The Overwhelming Puzzle 55
Composite Images 56
Part Four ~ Composition: An Analysis of my Mountain Photography
“Crags and Glory” 59
“Last Beauty Before Mordor” 60
“For my Demons” & “Fimbulwinter” 62
“Paradise Warfare” 63
“The Tattered Spire” 64
“Touching the Void” 66
Luminosity: The Importance of Receding Contrast 70
Modes of Contrast in Lightroom and Camera Raw 72
The Basis for Luminosity: Exposure 73
Color and the Mood of your Mountains 74
Monochrome 74
Analogous color harmony 75
Complementary color harmony 76
Split complementary color harmony 77
Double complementary or quad color harmony 78
Conclusion 79
Part Five ~ Two Mountain Photography Cases
Case 1 ~ “Dauntless”
Why this Image? 80
The Journey 80
Composition 81
Photography - Capturing the Puzzle 83
Equipment & Technique 83
Focus Bracketing 84
Camera Settings 84
Movement 85
Raw Conversion and Pre-Processing 85
Organizing Layers 91
Focus Stacking in Photoshop 92
Blending by Hand 93
Blending in a Different Background 96
The Actual Post-Processing 100
Channel Selections & Masking: Mountain Light 100
Channel Selections & Masking: Sky and Flowers 104
Balance, Saturation and Exposure Corrections 106
Creative Controlled Warping 108
Dodging 109
Exposure Corrections in Camera Raw Filter 110
Orton Effect 114
Final Mood 115
Export for the Web 115
Case 2 ~ “Poltergeist Pass” 118
The Journey 118
Why this Image? 118
Composition 119
Photography - Capturing the Puzzle 120
Equipment & Technique 120
Camera Settings 120
Raw Conversion and Pre-Processing 121
Masking 126
Changing the Crop 128
Post-Processing 129
Light Bleed 129
Cloud Dodging 132
Finishing Touches and Export 134
Creating an Album Cover 136
Black and White Processing 137
Graphics 140
