5 Tips for Photographing the Himalayas

1 – Motivate and prepare yourself mentally for what awaits 

 


Annapurna Sunrise

The effects of altitude and all that comes with it, the nausea, the headaches, the sleep disturbances, the tiredness, the lack of appetite, and freezing temperatures, can all turn your trip into a complete disaster. Preparing yourself mentally for what awaits in the high mountains will go a long way toward ensuring that you capture some memorable images.

In order to capture something different, an image that most of those around you won’t, you can’t arrive to your destination at 2pm as hoards of others arrive at the same time with the very same shot in mind. To capture something distinct, something that rises above what the casual snapper will come back with, it requires some planning and extra motivation.

Crawling out of a warm sleeping bag a couple of hours before sunrise, or hanging around outside in the biting cold after nightfall at 5000 metres is easier said than done. Shooting in the twilight can be very rewarding. I recommend waking up a couple of hours before sunrise and hanging around for a while after sunset until the light ratio evens out. These tactics can be especially effective if the surrounding mountains are bathed in moonlight.


Motivate yourself to get up extra early!

Here is a shot of Annapurna South (7219m) bathed in moonlight at 4:30am.
2 – Watch the red Channel!

Yes, the sunrise and sunset light that slaps against the high Himalayan peaks really is as red as it appears on a National Geographic documentary! I first witnessed this when photographing the sunset one evening above the village of Dingboche, just below Everest Base Camp. The sun had set below the horizon, but Makalu, the worlds fifth highest peak at 8463 metres, far off in the distance, was bathed in a warm red light, the like of which I had never witnessed before. The sun being below the horizon from my location had to traverse through much more atmosphere thus dispersing more blue light, and allowing the warmest red light imaginable to hit the high peaks.

In order to capture this, it’s important to take extra care with your exposure. The single histogram on the back of your camera may indicate a properly exposed image when in reality the red channel is severely over-exposed. The solution is to monitor the RGB histogram and ensure the highlights on the red channel are not blown.


Ama Dablam – Red Channel over-exposed

I’ve made this mistake. Shown above is a photo of the north face of Ama Dablam at sunrise. It is possibly the most photogenic mountain in the Khumbu region, and on the way to Mount Everest you round three of its faces.

Even though I overexposed the red channel, the single histogram did not show any clipping. It’s something I’m well aware of but whether it was altitude, tiredness, sheer impatience and a need to keep moving in the biting cold, I messed it up and was left with an unusable image of what was a great scene. A bad mistake!


A better exposure on the red channel
3 – Don’t be Afraid to Photograph in Harsh Light


Kongma La Pass

I’m guilty of it as much as anyone, often times with an arrogant refusal to photograph landscapes in harsh light! However, I have found the high snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to be one of the subjects that nature provides which can be photographed very effectively in harsh light.

Impressive panoramic vistas of snow-capped peaks lining the horizon. Multicoloured rock layers and ridges poking through the deep blankets of snow which envelop the upper reaches of the mountains. Violent winds whipping snow up in a plum as they strip the exposed peaks bare. All this set against customary deep blue skies sparsely populated with rising puffy cumulus clouds in the afternoon heat, coupled with a turquoise lake or two, it’s all about contrast and how could it not be photogenic under harsh light? In fact it’s at its most photogenic under the harsh midday sun!


Ama Dablam

Sunrise and sunset are obviously great times to photograph the mountains, as those weakened rays hit the high peaks. But the window for this light extremely short, 10-15 minutes in my experience.

Taking sunrise as an example, after this brief window mentioned, the suns rays will race down the mountain faces, the light becoming harsher and bluer with each passing minute. There will come a point when the upper third of the mountain is exposed to a cold light with everything below in deep shadow meaning that it all becomes rather unphotogenic.

It is only after the sun rises yet further that the mountains can once again be photographed well, as the deep valleys begin to fill with light. Unfortunately having risen early and trekked up to a photogenic location for sunrise, unable to predict the forthcoming events, many people leave before this point. When at Annapurna Base Camp, many people had arrived for sunrise and whether through exhaustion, oxygen deprivation, numbing toes or just the failure to predict what would unfold, they headed down to lower altitudes.

As the sun rises higher in the sky, overcoming protruding peaks, numerous objects of interest in the foreground become lit to the same ratio as the mountains, making them extremely photogenic. For sure, they are simple photographs to capture, requiring little thought and effort, but to refuse them through ignorance is a shame.

Of course make the effort to get into position for the sunrise, but schedule your breakfast for the period where that warm light disappears and deep shadow envelopes the lower regions, before returning to photograph the scene again in a very different light.


Annapurna basecamp and Machapuchare
4 – Experiment with Monochrome

Customary deep blue skies are common when at altitude in the Himalayas. When photographing snow-capped peaks, the white plums of snow being whipped off by the strong high altitude winds can often provide that high contrast scene which just jumps so much more in monochrome that in colour.

Here is an example of a photograph of Lhotse (8516m), showing the image which initially came out of the camera and the final image after being converted to monochrome in lightroom. The black and white photo is much more effective. It’s much easier to guide the viewers eye through the photo and toward the main area of interest, i.e. where that high altitude wind is whipping up plums of snow on Lhotse’s peak.


Lhotse monochrome comparison

The following is a photo of Pumori (7161 m) at sunset. The final image (on top) was converted to monochrome in lightroom and had a split tone applied. Again it is much more effective than the colour version.


Pumori split tone comparison
5 – Compress the Scene with a Long Lens

It’s not all about wide panoramic views of snow-capped peaks when in the Himalayas. When viewed through a longer lens, the photos captured can be quite effective. The mountains are sacred to the locals, so finding some foreground interest is often times a very simple task. Whether it be a Sherpa, a cairn, prayer flags or rolling foothills, you can use them to benefit the composition of your photograph.

I didn’t carry an especially long lens on my treks, but if you do, then use it to its fullest. Compress the scene and bring those high Himalayan peaks up close behind that foreground interest.


Field Compression


Himalayan Foothills
Bonus Tip! – Get off the Beaten Track

Technically this is six tips, but here’s one not so much related to photographing mountains or landscapes, but the culture that exists in the mountains. Nepal is diverse, and for a small country it is quite unbelievable the change the occurs not just in the landscapes as you traverse the country from north to south, but in its people. With so many different ethnic groups, countless interesting photographic subjects can be unearthed, from the people themselves to their customs, dwellings and clothing.


Woman preparing dal bhat in the village of Mali

Trekking some of the lesser beaten trails will enable you to immerse yourself in this side of Nepali culture. In the high mountains around the Annapurnas or Everest Base Camp, although people are friendly and welcoming, you are much more likely to run into a Sherpa woman dressed in a counterfeit North Face down jacket that one in traditional clothing!

Incidentally, if trekking to Everest Base Camp and you have the time, consider trekking to Lukla from Jiri rather than flying from Kathmandu. I was able to obtain some of my best shots of Nepali culture on this week-long trail. I found people to be a lot more enthusiastic, engaging and curious about being photographed.

Outside of the main trekking routes of Annapurna, Everest or Langtang, there are several other less well explored treks. Kanchenjunga, Manaslu and Makalu will undoubtedly become more popular in the future as things open up, but I’d hazard a guess to say that they provide wonderful opportunities to photograph a lesser known area of Nepal. I for one do intend on returning some day!