Like many people, I don't have high confidence in my own photography skills. So many popular subjects are already illustrated by hundreds of pictures on Commons, many of which are much better than my limited abilities and camera could produce. For a long time, I wouldn't take pictures of notable subjects that I happened upon in the course of everyday life, or if I did, I wouldn't upload them. What follows are a few of my photographs that have been added to Wikipedia articles; none of these photos required any skill to capture beyond pointing a smartphone at the image subject.

On 6 October 2024, I climbed up to Camp Muir (4,600 feet (1,400 m) elevation gain from Paradise, about two-thirds of the way up Mount Rainier) on a clear day and took a handful of pictures. I figured that since Camp Muir is a well known hike and camping place on the most common ascent route for climbers of one of the tallest mountains in North America, there must be a lot of pictures of it already on Commons. Unfortunately, when I got back to an Internet connection I discovered it was not true. The one picture we really needed—an overview of the camp from just below it—was one I hadn't taken.^[1] I did upload the pictures I took, which looked much better than I expected due to the great photography conditions and my new Pixel 8a, which has a much better camera than did my Huawei Mate Pro 8 from 2016.

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  New lead image for Camp Muir
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  Swapped in a better pic of Muir Snowfield below the camp, looking down towards Paradise

Since I managed to get to Camp Muir in only three and a half hours, I figured I was up for some longer and more difficult hikes than my previous hiking partners were interested in. I realized that there was an open spot on a shuttle that would enable me to through-hike the Enchantments on 11 October. Finding a parking spot at the trailhead—which is often full well before 5 a.m.—is only the start of the challenges of this hike, which include a poorly marked trail, extremely steep scrambling up Aasgard Pass, and a 20-mile (32 km) hike back to your car. I started before sunrise and it took me 16 hours, so I did half the mileage in the dark.

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  New header image for Colchuck Lake, viewed from halfway up Aasgard Pass
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  Aasgard Pass, viewed from near the shore of Colchuck Lake. You have to climb this screefield to get to the next part of the hike.

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  A lone Larix lyallii in fall color
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  Nada Lake after dark, taken with night vision mode on my phone camera—an imperfect picture is way better than no picture!

During the 8-mile (13 km) hike out from Snow Lakes, which I did entirely after dark, I tagged along with some climbers who had summited Little Annapurna, who told me I could get permits to camp in Mount Rainier National Park in October.^[2] I showed up at the White River Ranger Station a few days later and snagged a same-day campsite at Indian Bar overnight 13–14 October, one of the most scenic and difficult to obtain campsites in the park. Despite a chance of rain in the forecast, the weather was beautiful, especially the first day.

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  Panhandle Gap—a new article illustrated with two of my pictures from the Indian Bar trip
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  Tamanos Mountain, viewed at a different season, different face, and from closer than all other Commons pics
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  Sunrise Road—new article illustrated by my picture of the road winding its way up the mountain

One particular feature that unfortunately often needs updating due to climate change is pictures of glaciers: the true extent of the glacier can only be seen in late season in the most recent year, so updated images can be crucial for maintaining encyclopedic value. Here are some older glacier pictures that I replaced with photographs from October 2024.

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  Previous picture of Colchuck Glacier from May 2015
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  Remnants of the glacier (upper left) in October 2024 (I had no idea there used to be a glacier there)
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  Fryingpan Glacier in October 2008 (foreground, in front of the triangle peak of Little Tahoma)
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  The glacier in October 2024—both the ridge and lower area are more melted out

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  Sarvant Glacier in August 2007—note the exposed glacial ice in center
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  The same glacier in October 2024

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  Previous header image for Nisqually Glacier from 2004
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  Nisqually Glacier in October 2024

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  Winthrop Glacier in July 2017
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  A previously ice-covered ridge—not shown on topo maps—emerges from the reduced glacier
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  Inter Glacier in 2003 (small glacier just to the right of the rocky promontory on the front left side of the mountain, left of Winthrop Glacier)
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  Similar view in 2024. An inferior picture, but more accurate at representing the glacier's current extent.

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  Ohanapecosh Glacier in August 2007
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  The central piece of the glacier divided into four discontinuous snowfields

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  A photograph like this one of Mount Stuart is arguably of more artistic value due to the dramatic lighting and fog, but encyclopedically we would prefer an unobstructed photograph taken with the sun closer to overhead

I learned that you don't have to be an expert photographer to contribute useful images, and you often don't know in advance if the image will be encyclopedically valuable. If you're interested in contributing more photographs, Wikishootme can help you locate Wikidata items without an associated image. Photographing notable people at public events can be helpful, although it is hampered by difficulties encountered by Wikimedia volunteers obtaining press passes to larger events. Even if a subject is highly notable, it may not have a lot of pictures—especially if it is hard to access.

Another consideration is just because a subject already has a photograph doesn't mean that your photograph couldn't be quite useful. Many subjects change over time or look different depending on the season and weather, so even if there are already images on Commons, yours could well provide new information. Sometimes the "wow factor" of a really stunning photograph can reduce the encyclopedic value of an image by taking focus away from its subject, and certain photography techniques (such as golden hour, sunset/sunrise, fog) may reduce the clarity or obscure certain features of the subject.