Improving your climbing photography – 12 week mini course – week12
A strong and unusual composition on Valkyrie. I like the second's strong body shape and attention grabbing colour. Georgina Shellard Photography/Offwidth Images
Hi RCUK readers. Well here we are, the final installment of my 12 week climbing photography course. I hope you have found it useful.
12. Pre-visualise your shot
Okay, this one’s a biggie. It touches on a number of the ideas already discussed here and is contra to others. If you agree that there’s the “go and experiment” approach, then this is the opposite, and it therefore requires more preparation.
The essence of this is that you plan ahead of time, as much as possible, exactly the images you want to create. To do this you’ll need to draw upon your:
- Knowledge of the existing body of climbing photography out there
Different styles and positions etc. - Knowledge of routes
How they are climbed, their aspect, where the crux moves are. - Creativity
Finding new angles, positions and compositions - Predetermined plan of what you want to shoot today
Taken from your project/ideas list
An uncommon ascent of Valkyrie with the climber running the two pitches together. It's unusual to see only one climber in photos of this route. Audrey Seguy running together both pitches of Valkyrie at The Roaches.
Expose yourself to the work of as many photographers as you can and look at their styles. Are you after documentary coverage of a meaningful ascent; abstract close-ups; wide contextual landscapes; rock architecture; body positions; maximising the sense of an exposed position; or developing your own style?
If you’re planning for a particular location or route then do some research. Which angles do you like? Which are most common? Can you find a new angle? (The UKClimbing website is a good place to start your research.)
ED: UK Climbing Duncan? Pah! 
If you have a strong idea in mind you get the added benefit of minimising the number of exposures you take and benefit from spending less time behind the computer!
So that’s it! Take from that what you will and go create great climbing photographs!
For those of you who might have missed previous weeks, here’s a quick recap of the previous posts:
- Decide whether you want to climb or take photographs
- Know your camera controls
- Use the creative controls
- Use continuous shooting mode
- Remove clutter from the scene
- Styling matters
- Get level with the climber
- Watch your composition
- Be respectful and professional
- Review Review Review
- Set yourself projects
- Pre-visualise your shot
All photos are copyright Duncan Skelton/Offwidth Images unless credited.
ED: Thanks very much to Duncan for sharing his expertise with us, I for one have found his tips really useful. Watch out next week, we’re going to be launching a new-look RCUK, and to celebrate we’re going to run a climbing photography competition (with real prizes and everything). Stay tuned…
