P#12: Amazing Lighting in an AK Camping Shot

The Light was Right

Charlie Borland: This shot was taken from an AK camping spot up on Upper River in Alaska where I was rafting a few years back. We were on a "take an adventure" trip and other people there were paying guests so I was trying not to bother them too much.

I spent a lot of time wandering around looking for scenes. We had taken a short hike to see if we could find some grizzly bears. Then we were on our way back to camp when the sun was starting to set and it backlit the camp scene.

This is a perfect example of what I was talking about regarding lighting and how lighting can be so key to a photograph. It can really make or break a shot. (click the image for a larger version)

In this shot, the tents were backlit, the guides were preparing the kitchen for dinner and they were almost silhouetted. The receding mountains were also backlit. It was just really powerful as far as the lighting angle and everything and I shot away and took quite a few pictures.

Size Relationships

One of the other things about this photo is the massive mountains with the small people and small tent. The size relationship between the subject and the surroundings is critical for a lot of different types of photography.

If I were to go up to this AK camping spot and zoom in on the two guys at the table, but not really have any background, it would be a completely different photograph with far less impact. Here the mountains anchor the photograph with a sense of scale showing much bigger mountains, much smaller people. It's a very powerful technique.

To Conclude

This photograph was just one more example of how lighting is so important when creating a dramatic shot. By combining amazing lighting with dramatic size contract, Charlie Borland was able to capture this breathtaking image of this AK camping spot.