How bad was that road? Really?

[jcbrandon]

Be there when the tires leave the ground



...



Seriously, it is a challenge to show what it felt like to be there. I suspect that might be why so many backcountry photos show rollovers, swamped cars, and broken parts. The normal, interesting, moderately challenging stuff tends to look pretty boring in a picture.

 

[Lost Canadian]

Get real close, go ultra wide. The same principals for all other photography apply here. Ultra wides can exaggerate the scale of features if used in the proper fashion to do so. Example, get within inches of someone's face and take their picture using an ultrawide and just watch their nose grow. Same goes for landscape. You're essentially taking a 3 dimensional image and making it 2 dimensional. In order to convey size in a picture (rocks, angle, whatever) you have to exagerate it, and the best way to do that is by getting very close to an obsticle and using a very wide lens. Stay away from longer lenses as they will compress or flatten the scene.

 

[grahamfitter]

I usually have the opposite problem: how to make the road look worse than it really was!

Cheers,
Graham

 

[Vermejo]

Capturing the precarious

Onlookers can singlehandedly heighten a situation

B&W can give an iconic effect to the extreme

Get low on ascension shots

No matter how you position your truck on the rocks, there is no substitute for motion

Capturing the moment- An accident in the making is always a better image than the wreckage

Expose the guts of your obstacle. Show what’s being conquered just before victory. The rear of the rig will help define the height and grade

 

[Root Moose]

Love this picture!

Watermark/copyright and make available in say 1280x768 for desktop background?

 

[d0ubledown]

cool thread! some great contributions. im usually the photographer on any outings...unfortunately its hard to drive and shoot at the same time. obviously that means most of my pics are of others' rigs. it is hard to convey how tough trails are in 2D. i find if you can go as wide as you can, and have the rig close to you..a lil bit of angle and it makes for a good wheelin pic. i also love playin around with rear flash sync and dragging the shutter...here are some of my faves..

my old 4runner...got someone to take my rig through this water hole. dragged the shutter with rear sync flash

mogs passin' by at whipsaw

also love to 'stack' using a medium tele length...works the best with windy roads and nice background. whipsaw is also great for this

vehicle placement in the pic using the rule of 3rds and a leading line that allows the eye to follow...

capturing fast action just at the right moment...

and sometimes its nice to show people what you see cruising down that forest road...

 

[Pskhaat]

Give you guys credit, both of these pictures turned out great (how apropos on the same trail, no?)

I've found it to be very hard to capture the severity as well. The picture below in no way conveys how deep the snow ruts are unless I had a movie camera whilst winching or has been said to have something for perspective like my son crawling out of it. I like the angle you took on your Taco there Scott vs. wishful attempts at letting noon-day shadows tell stories.

 

[UK4X4]

I have the same problem, dificult trails turned into graded tracks !

washout on track Gran Sabana

Though I think this shot does show the dificulties....quite clearly
baby wipe anyone ?

Brazil-Venezuelan border Gran Sabana - bogrun- looks like a small puddle

Estado Sucre venezuela road to the beach

This one is unsolidifed very steep sandstone, walking up it was near impossible, yet looks like nothing Gran Sabana Venezuela road from El Pauji to Ikabaru

 

[mauricio_28]

Come on, guys. You are rock-crawling. You should be embarrased if the pictures don't show how bad the track was.

The real art is to show how bad the road was under "normal" overlanding trips. So far, Vermejo and UK4x4 are way ahead of the rock-crawlers.

 

[DiploStrat]

Selamat Pagi, Tuan!

Come on, guys. You are rock-crawling. You should be embarrased if the pictures don't show how bad the track was.

The real art is to show how bad the road was under "normal" overlanding trips. So far, Vermejo and UK4x4 are way ahead of the rock-crawlers.

I agree. So post some pictures of the road up Gunung Bromo!

 

[mauricio_28]

The road up to Bromo is paved all the way to the caldera rim. But here are some pix of the track, sandy and steep, up the volcano where the most potent eruption in recorded history took place. I'll give you a hint: It's not Krakatoa.

 

[DiploStrat]

Gunung Tambora?

I assume you mean Gunung Tambora. (Never made it there.)

The road up Bromo was paved when I went there. Good thing - I was on foot in the dark. I could only find my way by putting one foot on the pavement and one on the dirt. Two pavements or two dirts meant that I was getting off track! Finally caught a truck to Ngadisari to spend the night, freezing my ankles off and pitching cookies all night in the altitude. That was the trip where I swore that I would always:

-- Have a backpack
-- A 4x4
-- A good camera.

Kept that resolution for many years.

 

[DrMoab]

I've always found with steep obstical shots you get much more perspective of how steep it is if you shoot from the bottom of the obstical instead of the top.

I took a photo of this washout from the windshield and never even bothered to upload it because it just didn't look anything like how bad it really was.

 

[mauricio_28]

Tambora, it was.

 

[DiploStrat]

Ma'af Tuan,

Suda lama di Indonesia?