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Clicking pictures of stunning valleys and the mountains you witness when you trek is no joke. Photography, be it on a camera or on a phone requires a lot of skill and expertise to nail. If you’re looking to click those perfect pictures for your Instagram feed, we’re here to the rescue! These tips will help you click beautiful and appealing pictures of your trek and will take your Instagram feed to the next level!
1. Research In Advance
If you’re going on a trek and are excited to fill your Instagram profile with beautiful pictures of the mountains and valleys the first step should be to research! Look at pictures taken by others in the same trek and you would know all about the landscapes and views you need to focus on. Search for the locations and hashtags on Instagram and save pictures and videos for reference and inspiration!
2. Follow The Rule Of Thirds
Be it pictures for Instagram or anywhere else, applying the rule of thirds while clicking pictures will always give great results. The rule uses a grid on the camera that has 9 equal sections. The trick is to place your subject on the intersection of one of the lines and click pictures. This is known to give out balanced and visually appealing pictures.
3. Smell The Flowers
When on a trek, don’t forget to stop, appreciate the little things and capture them on your camera! Be it vibrant wildflowers, a stunning panoramic views of the lush green valleys or just the clear blue sky- don’t take any of it for granted. Click pictures of everything that surrounds you and don’t be shy to experiment with your shots!
4. Catch The Golden Hour
The sunrises and sunsets in the mountains are truly sights to behold. If you’re on a trek, don’t forget to capture these picture-perfect views to later upload on Instagram. Play around with the saturation, brightness and focus of the camera to get innovative shots of the colorful sky. You can also pair these pictures with elements that reflect the dusk and dawn. For eg., a cup of steaming hot coffee right in front of the sunrise visible from your tent- now that’s a POV bound to be hit on Instagram!
5. Take Lots Of Pictures
Most of the time, when you take pictures when moving, they come out to be out of focus. Chances are, if you take lots of pictures at once, at least some of them would come out to be focussed, appealing and worthy of posting on Instagram and get you thousands of likes! One thing you can do to apply this is by clicking continuous shots on your phone or camera and then delete the ones you don’t like later. It is also important to keep spare memory cards in case your memory runs out because of the hundreds of continuous shots.
6. Capture The Memories
If you’re on a trek with a group, capture the little moments of the group throughout. Be it reaching a new campsite, or completing the trek, gather everyone for group pictures! The best part is, you will later be able to tag them in your pictures and stay in touch with all the new travel buddies you made throughout the trek!
7. Immerse Into The Wild
One of the best ways to click pictures during a trek is to take a wide backdrop. When you’re on a trek, look for cliffs, valleys, edges- anywhere that gives you a stunning backdrop of the mountains. Make the viewers feel the expanse of the mountains with a picture of you standing at the edge, looking at the massive green valley in front of you. Just make sure, to stay safe and out of danger!
8. Avoid Digital Zoom
When you zoom a picture digitally and then take your shot, it greatly reduces its’ pixels and clarity. This may not look very good on Instagram even after you edit the pictures. If you want to zoom in to a picture, either use a DSLR camera with a bigger lens or just walk closer to capture it. You can always crop the picture later to post!
9. Carry Your Gear
If you’re very serious about the stabilization of your pictures, don’t forget to invest in a lightweight tripod before you leave for the trek. Tripods not only help you click focussed and uniform pictures but also help in recording great time-lapses! If you’re shy to ask for people to click your pictures, you must also get a remote to click self-portraits when on the trek.
10. Take Horizontal Pictures
To capture most of the view in front of you, rotate your phone or camera and click a horizontal image of it. Horizontal images can later be cropped into Instagram sizes and you can decide what you want to show to the world!
11. Try Your Hand At Astro Photography
Mountains serve the best views of the night sky. The stars look just a jump away in the clear skies of the mountains! Capture this beautiful sight in your camera with a wide aperture, manual exposure and shutter speed and ISO set to the highest number. This setting will give you magical pictures of the night sky to rev-up your Insta profile.
12. Be In The Picture
Studies have shown that photographs with people in it have more chances to be liked and shared on social media than the ones that don’t. This is because it gives a perspective to the audience and makes them imagine themselves standing where you are standing in the picture. So give them something to dream about, and get creative with your presence in your photos!