Photographing Carlsbad Caverns National Park
If anything in this article becomes too technical then read the Photography 101 article first.
Energy efficient "natural" lighting replaced the theatrical lighting a few years ago and the experience has never been the same. At any rate, this is what there is to deal with.
Carlsbad is great for photography because it is so large, well-lit and there are paved walkways making it easy to navigate. Simply put, it's just well organized.
Gear to Bring
These photographs were produced with the widest, fastest lens available: that of a high-end compact camera. This point-and-shoot camera has a full frame equivalent 24mm lens and offers manual exposure mode. On a good full frame DSLR or mirrorless camera, choose a 28mm or 24mm lens. A f=20mm lens may be too wide for this cave because it will make everything too small. (For smaller caves, a 20mm may be perfect.) For best results, make sure the lens chosen has a relatively fast aperture, like f/2.8. Larger, like f/2 or even f/1.4, would be better because it means a lower ISO can be used.
A tripod is not practical or recommended.
Exposure Settings
Because the light does not change, the camera can be set to manual exposure mode and then forgotten. Do not be afraid to set the exposure lower than that which the camera recommends. The camera's light meter will try to overexpose so do not trust it. There should be dark areas in the images of this cave because this is how the designers intended it — to highlight just the creations in the cave. All of these images were exposed at 1/10s, f/1.8, ISO 800. They were shot in RAW format and then post-processed in Adobe Lightroom.
Too many photographers were patiently waiting to get a shot without anyone in it, but the people visiting the cave serve to show how large the cave really is. These people serve as a point of reference.
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