Some of my favorite photos from my thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail were of people, not scenery. Going into the hike, I would not have considered myself very experienced at photographing people, especially strangers. Over my months on trail I learned a lot about how to get interesting photos of the people around me, and in 2021 that turned into a portrait series of thru-hikers, Thru: Hikers Along the Pacific Crest.
This post is the advice I wish I'd had before that first hike, plus how I made the portrait series.
Take a lot of photos, of a lot of people
My biggest piece of advice is to photograph a lot of different people. It's natural to end up with albums of your trail family, but make a point of photographing strangers when they pique your interest. A short conversation, a shared campsite, or simply thinking someone looks interesting are all good reasons to ask.
Asking strangers can feel intimidating. I felt it a lot at the beginning. Over the hike I asked hundreds of people for their picture, and the vast majority were happy to oblige. I can count on one hand the number of times someone said they'd prefer I didn't. No big deal.
A few things make asking easier:
Talk first. A minute of conversation turns "a stranger with a camera" into "the hiker I just met."
Say what it's for. "I'm photographing hikers along the trail" gets a yes more often than a vague "can I take your picture?"
Offer to send it. Get a phone number, email or Instagram handle and actually send the photo. People remember that, and word gets around on trail.
Respect a no, and don't photograph people when they're clearly at a low point unless they're fine with it.
If you think you might ever exhibit, publish, or sell the photos, keep a simple note of each person's name or trail name, how to reach them, and where and when you took the picture. It's much harder to track people down years later.
Photograph people everywhere, not just on trail
Take photos in a variety of situations. One thing I wish I'd done better was photographing people in town. Town is such a big part of the experience, and it's a great chance to capture people as they kick back, relax, and eat everything in sight. Camp is a good place to catch people with their gear or sitting around a fire. On trail you get the best light, the big accomplishments, and people giving scale to the places you're hiking through.
Look for the Light
Good light does more for a photo of a person than any camera upgrade. These are the three kinds of light I looked for most.
Open Shade
One of my favorite photographers is Steve McCurry. I've always admired how his photos of people have soft light on the face and subtle colors. After some research I found that much of that look comes from "open shade": light is blocked from directly above, and it comes in from the side instead. I love it for close portraits, and on trail I tried to recreate it with a reflector.
Open shade is most dramatic when the person is as close to the edge of the shade as possible without direct sun hitting them. I like it because it works at any time of day, avoids harsh shadows, flatters almost everyone, and puts a catchlight in the eyes.
Back-light
Backlight adds a lot of drama. The sun is behind your subject, ideally low in the sky, and it makes foliage and color glow.
Decide what needs detail and expose for that. If nothing interesting is behind the person, expose for them and let the background blow out. I also like silhouettes of people against lakes and mountains, where you expose for the sky instead. Backlight is hard for a camera's auto exposure, so I switch to manual rather than fight it.
Magic Hour
Magic hour is when everything looks good. The hour around sunrise and sunset gives soft, warm light, and colors look more saturated. It won't help you much in long stretches of forest, but in an open spot it's special. If you can, plan to be somewhere open at that time, even if it means stopping early or pushing a little further.
How big should they be in the frame?
Know the difference between a close, mid, and wide shot. Each puts a different amount of emphasis on the person, and knowing what each one does helps you decide quickly and come home with more keepers.
Close
A close shot is just what it sounds like: up close and personal. The face takes up most of the frame, with not much more than head and shoulders. All the attention goes to the person, their eyes, and their expression. It's the most intimate kind of portrait.
Play with angles. Have the person stand at a slight angle to you, then turn their head anywhere between looking straight at you and the point where the tip of their nose meets the edge of their cheek. Anywhere in that range makes a good portrait; the rest is personal preference.
Mid
A mid shot adds more of the body. I usually frame just above the waist or halfway down the thigh. Avoid cropping at a joint (knees, elbows, wrists), because it looks awkward.
A mid shot adds context: the environment, the gear someone carries, the clothes they wear. It puts a little less emphasis on the person than a close shot, but much more than a wide one. The same posing advice applies, and angling the body matters even more here because it gives the body depth and shape.
Wide
I count anything that includes the whole body as a wide shot, from a full-length portrait to a tiny figure in a big landscape. How big the person is depends on the balance you want: the larger they are, the more the photo is about them; the smaller they are, the more it's about the place.
These were my most varied photos, because the scenery on trail changes so much. They were also more interesting when people were doing something: walking, climbing, or talking to someone.
Eyes
Eyes are the most important part of a photo of a person. They give the most insight into what someone is thinking and what they're like, and they can pull you straight into an image or point you to what's happening in it. When someone looks straight into the camera, it demands attention; it can feel direct, even intimidating, compared to someone looking into the distance or at something else in the frame.
It's often better for someone not to look at the camera when they're doing something. When one hiker was teaching another how to tie a knot, I tried to catch the moments when they were both looking at the knot.
Use a fast shutter speed
A fast shutter speed is the easiest way to make sure a photo of a person turns out. I aim for at least 1/250 s for someone standing and talking, and 1/400 s or faster when they're moving.
You might wonder why, when stabilization lets you shoot static scenes at a second or longer. Stabilization steadies the camera, not the subject. It does nothing to stop the person in front of you from moving. Even when someone poses and stands still, they laugh or turn their head, and a fast shutter speed means you catch those moments sharp.
How I made the Thru: Hikers portraits
In 2021 I started photographing thru-hikers the same way every time: where we met on trail, waist-up, lit with a flash, looking straight into the lens. None of them knew they'd be photographed until they came across me. That randomness meant I met people at every kind of moment, from the excitement of reaching one of the most beautiful spots on the trail to hearing terrible news from home.
A few things that made it work:
One method for everyone. Same framing, same light, same direction of gaze. The consistency is what turns individual portraits into a series.
Flash, even in daylight. I used a 300W strobe and a large softbox.
Eyes to the lens. Unlike the knot-tying moments above, these are meant to be direct.
Keep it quick. A portrait took less than 5 minutes from meeting to completion.
Record who and where. I noted trail name / location / date for each person. More information could have been helpful but it can be burdensome to collect.
You can see the series here: Thru: Hikers Along the Pacific Crest.
Getting good photos of yourself
One last tip, for the photos other people take of you: wear colors other than black. Any other color is better. In a lot of black you end up looking like a floating head on an amorphous blob. A long hike is a great time to go bold with colors and patterns; pineapple prints were everywhere on trail in 2019.
Lighter colors are also easier for a camera to expose. When a camera sees a large dark area, it brightens the whole exposure to compensate, which often washes out the face and the background.
Related: Camera Gear on a Thru-Hike ยท Eight Years with the Canon G1X Mark III
