How can one photograph in difficult conditions? That is a good question! Recently I visited Capricorn Cave near Rockhampton, Queensland (Australia). It certainly presented its own set of challenges – we entered with midday sunlight pouring through various caves; then inside they allowed photography but no flash photography! So what did I do then?
Bracketing
When faced with harsh contrast between bright brights and dark darks, bracketing may be your solution. While challenging, it did enable me to save several images.
High ISO Some areas were so dark, there was no flash and tripods weren’t allowed; all I could do was try. Shooting up to ISO12,800 — never seen such high ISO before in my life — did produce usable images? Once processed through Denoise in Lightroom or Topaz Denoise AI, my images became usable as holiday snapshots. Though, winning any Nat Geo awards seems unlikely – especially as I’m not an experienced landscape photographer and therefore my images wouldn’t belong in that category anyway. High ISO may add noise, but there are denoising programs such as Lightroom Classic and Topaz Denoise AI which can help counteract it in post. Lack of contrast? That can also be improved through postprocessing; and finally if all else fails, black and white images may provide relief from color aberrations or color distortions.
Did I capture it perfectly?
Not always; so why am I sharing these images and writing this post? Because some of you may find it intriguing how I attempted to capture this stunning location. As I am not an experienced landscape photographer and only had limited time available for shooting anything worthwhile I decided on Aperture Priority mode with wide angle lens so as to let as much ambient light through while keeping ISO at 100 as much as necessary in order to avoid blurred photos.
Why bother?
This is another valid question and many may judge my photos for being subpar (they probably are), but for me personally this was a challenging situation and they actually turned out okay in my eyes. Pushing myself creatively means sometimes embracing imperfections with grace as opposed to striving for perfection; I chose both options here – accepting imperfection with grace while enjoying nature is something we should all learn to appreciate and embrace more often! I think my takeaway from this was accepting imperfection with grace while having fun!