How bad was that road? Really?

[DiploStrat]

One of my (many) great frustrations as a photographer is my complete inability to capture the challenge of various roads and trails I have crossed. Most of my trail shots would reduce the Himalayas to molehills. (Hence no linked pictures.)

A bit in the same school as the "Stuck!" thread, anyone got some images that accurately show how bad a trail was. And, since this is a PHOTOGRAPHY thread, how did you capture the image? Lens, lighting, angle, etc.

(P.S. This is a great opportunity to get some bragging rights on TWO counts at once, so let's see 'em.)

 

[fangars]

Everything I have misses, the gnarly trails do not look gnarly.
This is as close as any shot I have that shows the difficulty of the trail, only problem is the real difficult part is lost in shadow and off frame as the road dips down into a steep wash that also forces your vehicle to lean heavily toward a gulch, only to have to rise back up a bumpy 45 degrees with all sorts of technical bumps not shown.
I think night shots might be the best way to show relief in terrain and get a real sense of difficulty but there would have to be more light then I had here.

 

[DiploStrat]

Nice Photo

Don't know if the road looks all that bad, but what a great, atmospheric picture.

 

[computeruser]

Fangars - incredible shot.


Diplostrat- Good topic. I'm looking forward to answers on how to capture trail difficulty, degree of grade, etc., as those things usually seem lost when I try to photograph them, too. Everything comes away looking far more flat and smooth than it really is.

 

[Connie]

Yes! This is so frustrating! I am by no means an expert, but have tried quite a few things. The first is to get as low or as high as possible to get the shot, some undercarriage showing often helps. (Noonday sun is the worst though because there aren't even shadows on the trail). On a steep grade I tip the camera about 10 degrees in the opposite direction, thank goodness for digital, because I can see straight away if I tipped it too much.

I will be watching this thread too, to find out how to overcome this problem.

 

[DarinM]

Rough road ahead

Martinez Mine Loop, AZ
A slightly rocky section. Point & Shoot Canon Powershot A40. Jeep is owned by Tat (member here). Also pictured are Wolfsoul & Goodtimes.

A slight incline on the same trail. Same camera.

These are not great photos, certainly not artistic or atmospheric, but the road was pretty rough.

 

[BIGdaddy]

Martinez Mine Loop, AZ
A slightly rocky section. Point & Shoot Canon Powershot A40. Jeep is owned by Tat (member here). Also pictured are Wolfsoul & Goodtimes.

A slight incline on the same trail. Same camera.

These are not great photos, certainly not artistic or atmospheric, but the road was pretty rough.

so, in that first shot...how long did you sit there, before you u-turned?

lol. J/k.

 

[DarinM]

so, in that first shot...how long did you sit there, before you u-turned?

lol. J/k.

I had the only non-lifted Jeep in our little group. Tat was bringing up the rear and he had it easy as my Rubi's roadgrader belly plate had already smoothed off all of the tall rocks. :smiley_drive:

 

[goodtimes]

Actually, that first picture does a good job...in fact, I would say that the trail is easier than it looks right there (for a SWB jeep with air lockers and a 4:1 ratio in the t'case).

The second pic, not so much. Yellow Belly Ledge is steeper than it looks in that picture.

 

[Root Moose]

An annoyance I always have with my pictures is that they never seem to reflect how steep a grade is. I have pictures of trails where you can barely stand upright on the incline but in pictures they look pretty "ho-hum".

Techniques for that kind of image without resorting to tilting the camera even more (i.e. cheating)?

 

[DiploStrat]

An annoyance I always have with my pictures is that they never seem to reflect how steep a grade is. I have pictures of trails where you can barely stand upright on the incline but in pictures they look pretty "ho-hum".

Techniques for that kind of image without resorting to tilting the camera even more (i.e. cheating)?

I'll happily "cheat" if someone would give me a few good ideas on how to do it!

 

[adventureduo]

Yeah, many times photos don't give the obstacle or condition justice.

Every once in a while i think the camera figures it out though...



Im standing in front of Jeep.

 

[Scott Brady]

In my experience, you need something to create perspective

My Tacoma, my photo

Get some big rocks in the foreground, and off to the side a little.

Me on the KTM950, Jeremy was the shooter.


show an extreme angle

Outback Imports race photo of my 70 series

My Jeep, my photo

show motion

Nathan Hindman, Pangaea

Stacey Roy

Me on a KTM640 ADV, Panama. Image Peter P.

 

[Explorer 1]

Can you spell A-R-T-I-C-U-L-A-T-I-O-N?

Cherokee Atriculation, it makes the picture beautiful!

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[photoman]

This is a great subject. I think the guys doing the serious off roading/rock crawling have an advantage because of the vehicle articulation that occurs when traversing the boulderfields and waterfalls. However the rest of us that mostly use forest roads, mining roads, or powerline/pipeline access roads it is much harder to show how rough the road was.

None of these are particularly hard trails or great shots but will possibly give some ideas of framing and perspective that can work.

1. Below the vehicle- catch the angle and articulation

2. Action- vehicle in background at a different level

3. Wide angle- showing the terrain and more of the trail

Just a few ideas. :ylsmoke: