Nature and outdoor photographers will tell you that you can never have too long of a lens – the more millimeters, the better! I’m one of those photographers.
For me a single lens that has wide angle settings for inclusive scenes and can zoom out to capture distant subjects is preferable to carrying multiple lenses. The lens that attracted my attention was an 18mm to 300mm zoom. However I was only able to find one made for APS-C sensor cameras.
My main camera has a large full-frame sensor with a resolution of 9504 x 6336 pixels. Luckily it can accept APS-C lenses although the sensor resolution is reduced to 6240 x 4160 pixels.
Here’s a small gallery comparing the relative image sizes when using the APS-C lens and full-frame lens. While these samples are not subjects from the outdoors I hope that they illustrate the concept of mm reach.
Below are side by side sample photos taken at various lens setting. The photos on the left were all taken with the Tamron APS-C lens. The photos on the right were taken with the Sony full frame lens.
Keep in mind that although the subject size is smaller on the right, there are more pixels available if you crop the image in post processing.
For me, the bonus in using the Tamron lens is the addition of reach up to 300mm which gives me the ability to capture more distant subjects from a single lens.
I just returned from a recent trip with my full frame Sony camera and the Tamron lens. The two photos below were taken from a distance and the extra mm’s gave me a more detailed images of the two birds.
My back was grateful too since I was weighted down with only a single lens instead of two lenses that could offer me the same range.
As a bonus I can use the new Tamron lens with my older and smaller APS-C size Sony A6000 camera.
Written by:
Arnie Lee
I’m a frequent visitor to Yellowstone National Park with its abundance of unique thermal features – geysers, mud pots, steam vents, hot springs.
Yellowstone also is home to amazing wildlife.
While I took many more pictures than presented here, below are some of the ones that I liked best from my last visit this year. There isn’t much text here, just the visuals.
Yellowstone as with most of our national parks is one of those places where you can find scenes and wildlife to photograph and experience everywhere you go. Hoping that you get to have the experience of visiting a national park.
Written by: Arnie Lee
Experts stress composition when they’re referring to how to place your subjects in the viewfinder to get that best looking photograph. Your subject may be a face, a full body portrait, a tiny flower or a majestic canyon.
You have many ways to approach those subjects: move closer, move farther away, bend your knees to lower your viewpoint, point the camera upwards slightly, climb onto a nearby bench to take in more of the subject, and so on.
By simply changing the angle of your camera in relation to the subject you can get totally different – and hopefully better – results.
Here are a few samples of how I’ve come up with different angles.
It doesn’t take much to make your snapshots slightly more interesting. And remember that these days with digital cameras (or cellphones) – it’s pretty cheap to take a few extra “experimental” photos. Have fun!
Written by: Arnie Lee