I have tried a number of times to create a great photograph of Wild Goose Island up in Glacier National Park. This is particularly difficult since I live in Chicago. But when I am there I am awestruck by the beauty and can never seem to capture it. Of course I could buy someone elses work, as this has been done before, but I prefer the challenge. I thinksome of my technique will be helpful to others, and I would truly like any suggestions to help me improve.


My steps for a landscape photo of this type:
  1. ISO 100 or as low as possible. Although from later reading it may be possible that iso200 has greatest dynamic range. If Anyone has comments on this I would love to hear them.
  2. Apeture f11-f16 This one was at f11, I tried to get nearer to the sweetspot of the 10-22mm lens which seems to be around f8, while still retaining sufficient depth of field.
  3. Use a tripod of course.
  4. Focus on distant object as the fine detail in them is more critical. I use liveview on my 40D which works out great. Make sure tolock asmanual focus especially if later you will be using mirror lockup and timer and not LV when actually taking the photo.
  5. Check internal exposure meter in Manual mode to determine proper exposure. Set the correct shutter speed to overexpose just a little. This may need to be adjusted if wind is blowing vegetation around. In that case a higher ISO and a shorter shutter speed may be required. Take a test photo, look for a very small amount of blown highlight. Check Histogram and adjust shutter speed if required. This will work if you are shooting RAW and can recover the highlights.
  6. Wait for the right light, and look out for bears.
  7. I trigger the photo by turning on liveview, and pushing the shutter button. I have the timer set to 2 seconds, and the picture is taken without any vibration from mirror slap.
  8. Sunrise or sunset will require constant attention to the exposure since things change rapidly.



Here is the photograph at the end of all this work.





http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/3152599334_69e027ceff_b.jpg


As I was saying before I wish it were sharper. The mountain peaks always seem blown out. Perhaps I am shooting too much to the right? Maybe it is just orange morning light onredish mountains. I am curious if anyone else has seen this and been able to overcome it. Post your photos too of this beautiful place. I wonder too if later in the summer the morning light is more from the south so you get light on the island itself?


Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any comments and tips you can add.


Tom