ICM Photography in the Mountains
Show Notes
The last days of summer brought a hot, clear, blue sky day often considered the dread of landscape photographers. I wanted to head out and film a vlog but the weather was very uninspiring for photography. Flat hazy light was making it incredibly difficult to find some inspiration!
But then I had a brainwave! Often the golden hour light on clear days illuminates the mountains in such a way that there are deep contrasting shadows and a warm glow on the shapes of the mountains. I thought that they would make some interesting minimalist images, elements of the grand landscape illuminated well.
The day looked like it would be perfect conditions for that style of photograph, so I made my way up a trail so I was standing in front of the mountains, ready for that golden light.
But as I walked clouds began to form in the west blocking the sun from casting any shadows and creating more flat, diffused light. Not great conditions for golden hour photography and certainly not for what I had in mind.
I took a couple shots anyway but the impact would be better with more golden light!
While waiting around in case the sun managed to burn through the clouds, I began to play with my camera a bit and using ICM (intentional camera movement) to create abstract landscape images instead.
I took a break from ICM to take the panorama of the mountains that I had in mind when setting out, the conditions were not quite there for what I had envisioned but it was definitely a grand landscape and it made the perfect opportunity to get a test shot.
As the sun set, I went back to ICM capturing the tones and colours of the landscape transitioning into the blue hour. Although I didn’t get the conditions that I wanted for landscape photography, I had a lot of fun adapting my day to make some abstract and ICM images.
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Onto the Images
For these images you are going to have to apply a bit of imagination. These are the sort of compositions I thought that I would be getting that evening, but I imagined the light would be a lot more dramatic!
I was sure there was going to dark contrasting shadows and a golden luminous light filling the landscape with wonder and awe. This would have made the simple, minimalist images I had in mind a lot more impactful. Minor features in the landscape would be dramatically lit and therefore create an interesting subject.
Instead there was flat, diffused light caused by clouds emerging in the west blocking the sun. The only way I could recover these images was actually to use a brush in Lightroom just to bring out the natural light a bit more on the sides of the mountains.
The clouds were creating interesting textures and colours so I moved on to photographing those. Leaving my tripod in place so that if the light came I could easily run over and grab some pictures. Once I started down this more abstract photography path, the next logical step that evening was ICM Photography . . . .
As you can see the ICM Photography was quite productive and I managed to get even more later on, so there are more below!
I hope you can see why I edited and produced these images. It was all about the tones, colours and suggested shapes that the movement and light created.
The great thing about ICM photography in my opinion is that, sometimes you can look at a landscape and dismiss it for an image. That could be because there is a thing in the way or the light is not quite right but ICM can work better when a landscape might not work for a traditional photograph.
It the closest a photographer comes to painting with their camera.
This is the panorama view that I had in mind but I was hoping that there would be some dramatic colouring in the sky or dramatic lighting on the landscape. It looks a little flat as is but it was a useful exercise.
I noticed that a couple of the images I used to stitch this together were not 100% sharp, and may have had a little camera shake were a touched the tripod while it was exposing. So although this image looks ok as it is, when you zoom in you can see a bit of shake in some the areas.
That’s a big lesson moving forward, I will use my remote to expose for each image and make sure that the tripod head is completely locked down and I’m not touching the tripod in anyway.
This image will never be for sale or anything, but it is still a nice landscape and a memory.
Back to ICM . . . .
As I said above, the were more ICM photos on the way. I had a very productive evening of abstract photography.
There were so many spots that I thought would make a good photograph, but getting it exactly right was a challenge. I changed settings, style of movement and I moved around a lot and that meant I got some wildly different images even though I was using the same technique.
As I said above, ICM is the closest to painting a photographer comes. It is essentially painting with light and the landscape. Where an abstract or impressionist artist will use paints and colours to create a dynamic picture that does not depict a landscape but rather reflects the landscape, or at least the idea of that landscape.
ICM photography does the same thing. Instead of a straight representation of the landscape, it captures the essence of it and the colours of the natural world.
If you are curious about how to do ICM, I wrote a quick guide here.
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About the Film
Just a little information about the film and how I made it, as well as some links to equipment.
I edited the film using the Free Version of DaVinci Resolve. It’s an incredibly powerful piece of software that I am still trying to understand and will possibly write an article about in the future.
The tracks featured in today’s film were licensed via a subscription with Epidemic Sound. (By following that link, if you purchase a subscription then I will be gifted with a month free for referring you to their services)
And Then We Fell From The Sky by Across the Great Valley
All The Time We Need by Bluma Peterson
You Belong Here by Across the Great Valley
Old Rain On A New Day by Cora Zea
Last Goodbye by Marc Torch
A short Kit List
These are affiliate links, which means if you follow them and make a purchase I will earn a small commission for referring you to Amazon UK. You can find out more about affiliate links here.
Main Vlog Camera is a simple Panasonic G80 with the kit lens, its a great little mirrorless camera that I got for the sole purpose of creating YouTube videos. It’s capable of filming in 4k and seems to do everything that I want it to.
Rode Mic, I got this little microphone to boost the audio quality from the inbuilt microphone.
Action Camera, I use this to film myself when walking. It’s a simple DJI Pocket Osmo camera that has a motorised 3 axis gimbal head, which means that I stay in focus and static while the landscape around me moves. It’s also capable of filming in 4k and the audio quality is quite good.
Voice Recorder, to boost the audio quality when it’s windy or I’m using the action camera I use this handy little voice recorder with a lapellier microphone to record audio.
For a complete Landscape Photography Kit List you can read through what equipment I take with me when I go out here.
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Written by Daniel Long
Daniel Long created DRL Photography as a place to showcase his work as a photographer. Daniel has learnt a lot about photography and wishes to impart this knowledge with you, although the world is an ever changing place and he always says “you can never learn everything.” So as he makes his way, he continues to learn knew techniques, skills and information about photography. He focuses on Landscape and Wildlife photography and Daniel has a special focus on Scotland, his home away from home. As well as writing about photography and taking pictures out in the field, Daniel offers guided photography days so he can share his knowledge and locations in an effort to give his clients the best opportunities possible. Have a browse around this website to see his images, guided experiences and articles about photography. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact.
