Travel Photography #1

In two previous posts on this blog, I've filled you in a bit on the tours that I was involved with for Gery at Special Travel International http://www.sticanada.com/  While they've been very enjoyable experiences, my role was to be of assistance to the travellers that are along enjoying all that Gery has organized.
It's not excatly tough work. It's about being helpful and understanding what their potential photographic needs are. Because quite often they don't know. And I've been a professional photographer for er...........too many years.

Most people buy a new camera and don't really get too far into reading their manuals. That's their first mistake. Most cameras today are really little computers. They're not as complicateed as your computer, but taking a bit of time to read the manual will assist the owner in getting a lot more out of the camera they likely paid several hundred dollars to buy. So, sit down for an hour or two with your new toy in your lap and read the manual.

The camera brand you buy isn't relevant, except that there are some that are better manufacturers than others..........in my opinion. It's more about the accessories or settings that the cameras offer. Ask questions of people who have bought cameras, or really challenge the people whose job it is to sell you the camera and take your money.

A lot of the time the settings on the different brands can be labelled differently or have unique icons that will  add to your confusion, but really do similar functions.

I am a Canon 'shooter'. I've had Canon http://www.canon.ca/ cameras since the 70s and all through my professional career. They work for me. They make excellent products. So does Nikon, Sony, Olympus and many others. It's not the name, so much as the functions that are useful for you.

If you've bought a pocket sized camera it likely has a premanently attached multi-focal length lens. That is commonly referred to as a ZOOM lens. But it doesn't really go that much faster. (Sorry). It gets that name from the user being able to "zoom in" on a more distant subject by varying the focal length of the lens. 

If you've bought a camera that has interchangeable lenses, then you've spent more money on a, likely, more versatile tool. So you can buy the specific lenses that do what you'd like to do. If you know what that is.

You need to understand what wide angle or telephoto means and what those settings will do for you.

I can tell you, but you're not really going to understand and learn as well as if you experiment, play with your camera and learn. Or take an evening class from your local community college or art school.

If you look at the two previous blogs ALL of the images were shot with a wide angle lens. It is a 17 - 35mm variable (Zoom) focal length lens. It is a very versatile tool..........FOR ME. It is from the Canon 'L' series (red line) of lenses that are their top of the line optics.

The general line of thinking in the advanced/prosumer/professional photography world is to buy the best optics you can. The bodies and their unique settings may change and/or become redundant, but best quality lenses will carry you through from body to body. As long as you commit to a camera brand and stick to their proprietary lenses.

I'll talk about focal lengths in a follow up blog.