Adventure photography takes a certain level of skill and a lot of know-how. Like any type of photography, the process is all about telling a story, forcing the photographer to be in the right place at the right time — or often ahead of the action. In order to get to the heart of the narrative, the photographer occasionally has to lean over the side of a cliff or dip their expensive photography setup underwater to nail the shot.
Adaptability is key in environments like these. Getting creative with gear is also essential, since it enables the artist to perfect the story and bypass technical problems along the way.
Here are a few photography hacks that adventure photographers employ to get the shot they need. We spoke with Chris Burkard, Anthony Gordon, Jeff Colhoun, Jean-Simon Bégin, Alexis Pageau, Kylie Fly, Rachel Moore, and Adam Wells — all of whom are experienced professional adventure photographers — about gear tips, tricks, and hacks.
These pros shared some great knowledge. Whether you’re new to adventure photography or a veteran yourself, these tidbits will be useful in your repertoire. If you’re interested in learning tricks and tips for shooting adventure photography, check out GearJunkie’s other article on the subject.
Adventure Photography Tips & Hacks
1. Shoot Through Polarized Sunglasses
Chris Burkard is best known for his outdoor photography, often capturing surfing, landscape, and travel subjects. But every once in a while, even Burkard gets caught without a camera, and he has to use a standard smartphone to snag the shot.
Burkard told Gear Junkie, “Whenever I just have my phone and no camera and I always want to emulate the polarizing filter on my camera. It’s a filter that cuts reflection and brightens the contrast of clouds. But they don’t make one for a phone. So, usually I just grab my sunglasses and shoot through the polarized lenses.”
Eliminating glare and boosting color saturation makes for clear, crisp shots. And you don’t necessarily have to have a lens filter nearby to accomplish this goal.
At times, Burkard even uses this sunglasses hack with a normal camera to get the same effect.
“It’s an easy trick that works pretty darn well … just gotta bring a lens cloth to keep ‘em clean,” he said. Although he admits that this strategy can add excessive warmth to the image, a quick round of edits can tone it down after a shoot.
2. Don’t Forget Duct Tape, Cable Ties, and Baby Wipes
Australia-based Anthony Gordon has oscillated between mountain and ocean photography and filmography throughout much of his life. Gordon has done everything from filming a documentary about Mount Everest’s first Sherpa rescue team to telling stories about long-distance cyclers and swimmers. His biggest piece of advice is, “Make sure you know your location, circumstance, and potential failure points.”
As a result, he recommended that adventure photographers “always take duct tape … always … along with cable ties, as it solves so many issues and breakages.”
Laughably simple, duct tape just might be the piece of gear you need to keep the photo shoot together. And this isn’t the last tip you’ll hear involving it.
3. Use Shower Caps Instead of Rain Covers
California-based Jeff Colhoun tells meaningful stories about global impact and travel through words and a camera lens. His biggest tip is not to overlook basic hotel amenities.
“The shower caps in hotels aren’t for your head. They go in your bag and are perfect for protecting your camera from the rain,” said Colhoun.
It never hurts to have a few extra waterproof covers for your camera gear lying around. Whenever you see shower caps for free, grab a couple and stick them in your camera bag. They’ll come in handy.
4. Trade the Expensive Cover Lens for Tape
Québec-based wildlife photographer Jean-Simon Bégin’s big hack is to use “camo tape instead of an expensive cover lens.”
Bégin wraps his lens in camouflage duct tape to add a layer of protection from plants and other obstacles he encounters in the backcountry. Bégin admits that he’s a big “gear junkie,” and is quick to purchase the best equipment, but he doesn’t see a need when it comes to a cover lens. Tape is much cheaper and accomplishes the same task.
He likes using camo duct tape because it helps him blend into the environment a little bit better and isn’t as reflective.
5. Bring a Quick-Release Camera Clip
Since being ahead of the shot is vital to capturing the action and its essence, Montana-based Jordan Lefler focuses much of his effort on making his equipment as accessible as possible. He loves a quick-release camera clip like the Peak Designs Capture Clip. It keeps your camera close at hand so you don’t have to remove your pack and dig it out when you want to take a shot.
For nature and wildlife photographers, that’s huge. Oftentimes, you only get a couple of seconds before your photo opportunity is gone. A camera clip makes it much easier to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“Another thing I do is hike with my DJI Osmo Action camera mounted to my other backpack strap. It has a magnetic quick-release mount that makes it easy to pop off and grab video while you are walking,” he said. “The camera has insane stabilization built in, so handheld shots while hiking are still smooth and steady.
That camera also has a “one-click” power on and record feature, which makes it really easy to quickly grab, power on, shoot, power off, and mount the camera again, he said.
Check out GearJunkie’s review of the Peak Design Capture Clip.
6. Bring a Poncho or Zip Lock Bags
Québec-based TV host and photographer, Alexis Pageau, always packs a poncho or a plastic bag for his camera. During overnight time lapses, he makes a hole in the poncho or plastic bag, “and I put it on my lens over my camera for rain.”
This allows him to let the camera do its work without worrying about rain damage. Rolling up a few zip locks, or pocketing a few ponchos ahead of a shoot (especially if you plan on doing timelapses) is never a bad idea.
If you’re doing this, though, just make sure you are fully covering the vulnerable parts of your lens. Make the hole just barely big enough for the end of the lens to stick through. Then, situate it so it’s protecting your lens fully. It would be an expensive bummer to leave your camera out taking a time lapse, thinking it’s fully protected from the rain, only to find it full of water when you’re done shooting.
7. Use an Alpine Sling Instead of a Camera Strap
Utah-based Kylie Fly is best known for her backcountry photography and filmography, in which she regularly documents athletes and adventure in some of the world’s most remote corners.
Taking the shot on climbing shoots adds a layer of complication. Dropping gear can be catastrophic or even deadly. For this reason, Fly says, “I use a Dyneema alpine sling for my camera strap on climbing shoots.”
Built for climbing, alpine slings are usually used to carry gear, create anchors, or make personal tethers on a rock wall. But when used for a camera, they allow photographers to confidently sling a camera around their body while climbing. That kind of easy access and security is very important when chasing athletes up a rock wall.
Bonus tip: Fly also been known to use the reflective lining of a technical jacket as a natural bounce on snow or ski shoots. That enables her to direct the light where she wants it, without packing extra gear.
8. Rinse Underwater Setups After Every Shoot
Rachel Moore has been living her best life on a sailboat since 2016, using her background in marine biology to capture iconic underwater shots. One of Moore’s biggest motivators behind capturing underwater photos is starting conversations and advocating for marine protection. Keeping her photography setup clean and damage-free is an important part of that advocacy work.
Since saltwater is corrosive and quick to damage expensive camera equipment, Moore adamantly recommends keeping it as clean as possible.
“Always rinse your underwater housing with fresh water after every shoot — especially after saltwater sessions — and press every button while submerged in clean water, then use a dust blower to blow out water from under the buttons,” she recommends. “It helps prevent salt buildup and corrosion.”
She also applies a small drop of baby shampoo or dish soap on the outside of her dome before diving to create a natural water repellent.
9. Pack Microfiber Cloths & Domke Protective Wrap
San Francisco-based Adam Wells celebrates the natural world through a camera lens. Like Moore, he’s big on keeping his camera equipment as clean and protected as possible in the field. He said he never leaves home without a few microfiber cloths to maintain clean lenses.
“I also keep a Domke protective wrap on hand, which is hard on one side and soft on the other.”
This enables him to set gear on various surfaces without them becoming contaminated, scratched, or dirty. Domke protective wraps are a common supply that you should be able to find at most camera shops or online.
Similarly, Gordon (from tip #2) recommends keeping alcoholic baby wipes on hand to clean your gear.
“The moisture then evaporates and keeps the gear sterile and clean,” Gordon said.
Want more adventure photography tips? Check out GearJunkie’s other article on the subject.
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