Photographing in the mountains in b/w?

[Dante_Stella]

I am headed out Saturday for a trip to the mountains of South America and wanted to get a read (preferably from someone who has done high altitude stuff - 10,000-14,000 feet) about the "blueness" of light. This is for black and white photography. Anything color will be with digital and easily addressed.

1. Would lighting conditions on a clear day would cause underexposure using a silicon-cell meter (such as in a camera) or a CdS cell (as in one of my MF lenses). I have experienced something like this in California in the desert at more moderate altitudes, but I was never able to pin down the exact cause (I also bracketed, so it was no big deal).

2. Do b/w contrast filters exhibit any exaggerated effects? For example, does a K2 become unusually strong?

3. Does an X0 filter generall suffice for foliage, or is there any value in bracketing with an X1?

Thanks!
Dante

 

[tstermitz]

Cool, you'll be there in Fall. The beech trees have versions that stay green or turn color. The wind blows like the dickens!

I can't address your questions about B&W exposure.

The books by Galen Rowell have a lot of information about mountain photography and dealing with light, but he talks mostly about color photography. Light does get very harsh at high altitudes when the sun is direct.

 

[David_Manning]

A member of this forum, Peter Schön, is a world-class climber and a photographer. When he gets up high on the mountain, he puts a yellow filter on his Contax T3 for b&w (he's a film user...shoots M down low and Contax T3 on the mountain because he can shoot it with gloves on).