Equipment for the wildlife and nature photographer
Nature photography encompasses a lot of things including wildlife, landscapes, and flowers.
Wildlife Nature Photographer:
The telephoto lens is the wildlife photographer's bread and butter. It's important to have a lens with as large an aperture and as long of a focal length as a person can afford. These lenses get expensive very quickly, but a reasonable lens can be purchased for about $500 such as the Nikkor 70mm-300mm VR lens. A faster lens for low light action shots with the same focal length is going to cost $2000 or more, so it's a good starting point for all but professional wildlife photographers. With the lens, you'll still need to be relatively close to get a good shot of a small bird, but it won't be a problem for larger wildlife such as deer, moose, or bison.
A macro lens is also of use to the wildlife photographer that specializes in shooting insects and other small creatures because the macro lens can focus at a very short distance.
Landscape Nature Photographer:
For the landscape photographer, a super wide angle lens with a focal length somewhere between 10mm-28mm is recommended to capture a large area or to frame a huge object such as a waterfall when the photographer is near by. Wide angle photography uses different techniques than when you use a normal or telephoto lens; for example, usually, you'll want to be very close to your main subject, if possible, otherwise, your subject may be too small in the picture for it to be noticed. Waterfalls, rivers, trees, landscapes, and anything normally too large to be fully seen with a normal or telephoto lens are all excellent candidates for the super wide angle.
For Canon and Nikon users, Sigma has a super wide angle lens for about $500 for both Nikon and Canon, which is a 10mm-20mm lens (15mm-30mm 35mm equivalent) built for DX DSLRs. Nikkor's 12-24mm lens is about $1050, and Canon has similar lenses as well.
In addition to having access to wide angle shots, the landscape nature photographer will also benefit from normal focal lengths of 28-70mm when it's desirable to shoot something slightly closer than the super wide angle, and a telephoto lens of 70mm-300mm or more to zoom in on a distant object such as a mountain, waterfall in the distance, or other natural feature. Telephoto lenses compress space, and I've seen where people use this technique on rolling hills or mountains for dramatic effect.
Flower Nature Photographer:
The macro lens is the mainstay for the flower photographer, along with any other equipment that magnifies and shortens the focus range. Bellows, extension tubes, and magnification filters are common to get in close to capture the delicate parts of a small flower. Having a huge aperture is also important keep a narrow depth of field. While you're getting started, a 50mm 1.8f prime lens combined with a 3x magnification filter will produce good results for about $100. For about $300, you can get a 50mm 1.4f, which will narrow the depth of field even further, but it's probably not worth it at first especially since a starter macro lens is $300 as well.
Other Equipment for the Nature Photographer:
In addition to camera equipment, you'll need a good backpack. There are packs available that combine the storage compartment of a traditional backpack with a camera bag for about $200. Since you'll be doing a lot of hiking, it's good to limit how bulky your equipment can be. Also, you should buy a monopod to help stabilize your photos. Monopods can double as a walking stick or can be stored away in your pack. You'll also need food and water while hiking and other safety precautions, which is described in detail in my article titled, what to take on a nature photography hiking excursion.
The nature photographer needs a wide range of focal lengths for maximum flexibility; however, keep in mind that these can get heavy and thus you might need to plan ahead and take only what you'll need.
Wildlife Nature Photographer:
The telephoto lens is the wildlife photographer's bread and butter. It's important to have a lens with as large an aperture and as long of a focal length as a person can afford. These lenses get expensive very quickly, but a reasonable lens can be purchased for about $500 such as the Nikkor 70mm-300mm VR lens. A faster lens for low light action shots with the same focal length is going to cost $2000 or more, so it's a good starting point for all but professional wildlife photographers. With the lens, you'll still need to be relatively close to get a good shot of a small bird, but it won't be a problem for larger wildlife such as deer, moose, or bison.
A macro lens is also of use to the wildlife photographer that specializes in shooting insects and other small creatures because the macro lens can focus at a very short distance.
Landscape Nature Photographer:
For the landscape photographer, a super wide angle lens with a focal length somewhere between 10mm-28mm is recommended to capture a large area or to frame a huge object such as a waterfall when the photographer is near by. Wide angle photography uses different techniques than when you use a normal or telephoto lens; for example, usually, you'll want to be very close to your main subject, if possible, otherwise, your subject may be too small in the picture for it to be noticed. Waterfalls, rivers, trees, landscapes, and anything normally too large to be fully seen with a normal or telephoto lens are all excellent candidates for the super wide angle.
For Canon and Nikon users, Sigma has a super wide angle lens for about $500 for both Nikon and Canon, which is a 10mm-20mm lens (15mm-30mm 35mm equivalent) built for DX DSLRs. Nikkor's 12-24mm lens is about $1050, and Canon has similar lenses as well.
In addition to having access to wide angle shots, the landscape nature photographer will also benefit from normal focal lengths of 28-70mm when it's desirable to shoot something slightly closer than the super wide angle, and a telephoto lens of 70mm-300mm or more to zoom in on a distant object such as a mountain, waterfall in the distance, or other natural feature. Telephoto lenses compress space, and I've seen where people use this technique on rolling hills or mountains for dramatic effect.
Flower Nature Photographer:
The macro lens is the mainstay for the flower photographer, along with any other equipment that magnifies and shortens the focus range. Bellows, extension tubes, and magnification filters are common to get in close to capture the delicate parts of a small flower. Having a huge aperture is also important keep a narrow depth of field. While you're getting started, a 50mm 1.8f prime lens combined with a 3x magnification filter will produce good results for about $100. For about $300, you can get a 50mm 1.4f, which will narrow the depth of field even further, but it's probably not worth it at first especially since a starter macro lens is $300 as well.
Other Equipment for the Nature Photographer:
In addition to camera equipment, you'll need a good backpack. There are packs available that combine the storage compartment of a traditional backpack with a camera bag for about $200. Since you'll be doing a lot of hiking, it's good to limit how bulky your equipment can be. Also, you should buy a monopod to help stabilize your photos. Monopods can double as a walking stick or can be stored away in your pack. You'll also need food and water while hiking and other safety precautions, which is described in detail in my article titled, what to take on a nature photography hiking excursion.
The nature photographer needs a wide range of focal lengths for maximum flexibility; however, keep in mind that these can get heavy and thus you might need to plan ahead and take only what you'll need.
posted by Brian at
1:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home