How To Take Great Trail Photos On The Run
Trail Runner|July/August 2019

How to take great trail photos on the run

Howie Stern
How To Take Great Trail Photos On The Run

Nowadays, you see running pictures everywhere—Instagram, Facebook, magazines, blogs, websites. And that is not surprising, especially when they feature running off the roads. Trail running takes place in some of the most beautiful settings, so it’s natural to want to capture your friends and fellow runners out in nature doing what they love.

Even though you don’t possess the knowledge and gear professionals to use, following a few simple guidelines will help you to up your photo game and be on your way to social-media glory.

Get Started

It isn’t necessary to shoot a fancy DSLR or mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. In fact, a late-gen smartphone is capable of capturing excellent, sharp images, and has the bonus that most people carry them everywhere they go. As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you.

While keeping things on the small and light side, a significant step up in versatility and image quality is a higher-end point-and-shoot camera, such as a Sony RX100 or similar, which usually offers optical zooming as well as higher megapixels and better lowlight performance. You can shoot in manual mode and save to RAW files for greater processing flexibility.

It’s About Location

In general, seek clean backgrounds, i.e. ones without a lot of clutter such as scrappy vegetation, dead trees or manmade structures. If you can find open views, water crossings or interesting sweeps of trail among grasses or lightly treed terrain, you’re off to a good start.

Esta historia es de la edición July/August 2019 de Trail Runner.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición July/August 2019 de Trail Runner.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE TRAIL RUNNERVer todo
You Cannot Erase us
Trail Runner

You Cannot Erase us

Over the years and through thousands of miles of running, I have thought about the words that marked the beginning of colonialism on the land and the end of Indigenous sovereignty.

time-read
2 minutos  |
Fall 2021
Inside The Adaptable Mind
Trail Runner

Inside The Adaptable Mind

How Courtney Dauwalter uses adaptability to stay cool, calm and collected when the going gets tough.

time-read
4 minutos  |
Fall 2021
Take it Easy
Trail Runner

Take it Easy

How to stay at aerobic pace when you live in the hills

time-read
4 minutos  |
Fall 2021
Here Comes the Sun
Trail Runner

Here Comes the Sun

Where pessimism meets its match

time-read
3 minutos  |
Fall 2021
Connecting the Dots
Trail Runner

Connecting the Dots

How Laura Cortez uses her passion for trails to build community.

time-read
4 minutos  |
Fall 2021
Carbohydrate Confusion
Trail Runner

Carbohydrate Confusion

When it comes to food and nutrition, we tend to overcomplicate things. Eat this, not that. Run fasted, restrict sugar. Unfortunately, much of the controversy stems from observations and sensationalized media headlines vs. actual data, leaving the consumer more confused from their Google search than they were before.

time-read
2 minutos  |
Fall 2021
This Wild Life
Trail Runner

This Wild Life

ONE MAN’S 92-MILE RUN OF GRIEF AND SELF-DISCOVERY.

time-read
5 minutos  |
Fall 2021
Our Town
Trail Runner

Our Town

Trail running is all about the community it fosters and the beauty and diversity within the community. Here’s a look at seven places, and the faces that call them home.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Fall 2021
Fueling for Females
Trail Runner

Fueling for Females

Here’s how female runners can use recent research findings for performance breakthroughs

time-read
4 minutos  |
Summer 2021
Lose Weight with a Shake
Trail Runner

Lose Weight with a Shake

Being a health and nutrition correspondent means that companies frequently send me their products, and ask for my stamp of approval.

time-read
3 minutos  |
Summer 2021