Archive for the ‘Photo and photography tutorials’ Category

Shadows – The Forgotten Element That Can Make (Or Break) A Photograph

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

As photographers, we obsess over light. How much of it, the direction it’s coming from, the color and so on…


Isn’t the very WORD – photograph – ancient Greek for writing with light? (Photo = light, graph = to write) Maybe it’s Latin, I’m doing this from memory.
In our obsession, we buy studio lights so we can get more of it, at the right color and direction. We use multiple lights to eliminate unwanted shadows! And to add highlights. We buy reflectors to fill in the shadows and we bounce our – on camera – flash off the ceiling to avoid shadows on the walls. A quick search in any library or bookstore will show dozens (if not hundreds) of books and magazines devoted to controlling light.

So far…I’ve never run across a book devoted to capturing shadows!

But, isn’t it the shadows that define mood?

Picture in your mind, a photograph of a smokey New Orleans, jazz club. Was your mental photo in color or black and white? Probably black and white, but even if it was in color, was the room well lit – OR STEEPED IN SHADOW?

When your subject is a little – shall we say, hefty – how do you tell them to dress for their portraits? In white? Or in black?

In case you’re new to photography, and know absolutely nothing about fashion, I’ll tell you – it’s black. Why? Because shadows define shape! If they are wearing white, all the shadows cast by their excess weight are clearly visible. Wearing black, the shadows aren’t that visible and thereby a person look thinner.

When you study the various lighting patterns, you’ll see they are almost all defined by the shadows – not the light! Rembrandt, broad light, narrow light, split light, butterfly and so on…it’s the way the shadows appear that determine the pattern. Without shadows, all lighting patterns would be the same!

Wrinkles are defined by the shadows. That’s why lights are always positioned directly in front of models – to eliminate any wrinkles. The same for blemishes. We mostly notice pock marks because of the shadows.

So, when you are doing a portrait session, consider the shadows. What kind of mood are you after? Do they have wrinkles or blemishes that need to be filled in? Do they have a wide face that can be narrowed by shadowing one side?

Photographs are on paper and are two dimensional, so the best photographers look for ways to include shadow. Can YOU add shadow to give the portrait depth and dimension?

When you start to think about shadows as intensly as you do about the light, that’s when your photography will move to the next level.

It’s the shadows that create the illusion of depth and shape and it’s the consideration of shadows that can turn a snapshot into ART. People will know they are looking at something special but they won’t know why, because shadows truly are the forgotten element.

by Danny Eitreim

Dan Eitreim has been a professional photographer in southern California for over 16 years. His data base exceeds 6000 past clients, and he says that selling YOUR photography is easy – if you only know a couple tried and true marketing strategies. He’s created a multimedia presentation that can teach ANYONE how to sell their own photography and generate freelance income in as little as two weeks. To learn more and enroll in a FREE photo marketing course, go to: http://www.PartTimePhotography.com

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An Introduction to Macro Photography

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Exploring the world of miniature objects with a macro lens is a special and exciting area of photography, and once you start, you will quickly become addicted. The world of macro photography holds many delights and is an area that cannot be appreciated with the human eye. Macro photography is the name given to close-up photography, and is best explained as images that are taken at reproduction ratios of life-size and above. Ratios of between 1:7 and 1:1 fall into the macro photography category.

Understanding Ratios: This is a term used to express the magnification of a macro lens or other macro equipment that relates the real life-size object to the reproduction size on a slide or negative. If you shoot an object that is 3cm in length and it measures 1.5cm on a 35mm slide or negative – the ratio is 1:2. When both are equal length the ratio is 1:1.

Choosing the right lens is the most important factor with macro photography. While a telephoto lens may be acceptable with some types of close-up photography, the macro lens is invaluable to get really close and really accurate focusing.

There is an endless range of subjects that fall under the range of macro photography. The most common subject for macro photography is the natural world – all types of flowers, plants, and insects. For the more creative photographer, macro photography is used in abstract imagery. With many forms of macro photography, especially with insects, a lens with a long focal lens – minimum 200 mm is required for some nature subjects. You need to keep a working distance from the subject to get a successful image – you don’t want to frighten your subject away. When shooting close-ups you are limited with depth-of-field – to get an attractive image you must focus on the most important part of the subject. This will be achieved easier if you place your camera on a tripod or monopod.

By using your tripod you will reduce the risk of camera shake. Subject movement is also an important factor to consider. Macro photography magnifies the subject, leaving more room for blur. A strobe unit can be used to freeze movement – even on the brightest of days you should consider using your strobe unit. Try bouncing light from your strobe unit off a reflector. This will give your image a softer illumination.

Many amateur photographers stay away from macro photography because they feel that their technical ability is too inept – your personal ability should not turn you away from this exciting part of photography – macro photography is like all types of photography – practice makes perfect.

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer. He frequently writes for the travel site http://www.trovoo.com and the photography site http://www.goldprints.com to view or buy some of his images visit his gallery at http://www.goldenirishlight.com.

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Time Lapse Still Digital Photography Technique by Ziv Haparnas

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Time lapse photography is a technique that allows to quickly and visually convey processes that take a long time in real life. For example time lapse photography can shrink to 10 seconds the complete process of building a new bridge. Although usually used in videos time lapse can also be used in still digital photography.

The idea behind time lapse is simple. You want to capture a change that usually takes a long time in real life. In order to accomplish that you take photos either every fixed period of time or every time there is some change in the real life process. For example you can take a photo once a week to document the building of a new bridge, or you can take a photo every time a new floor is built in a new skyscraper. When viewing these photos in sequence the feeling of the actual real life process and its magnitude is very effectively conveyed.

Time lapse photography is mostly known for such scenarios as the process of building bridges and buildings or the process of flowers growing. There are however other usages to time lapse photography that are more relevant to the amateur home photographer. Here are some examples:
# Moving apartments: You can document your moving to a new apartment using time lapse techniques. In this scenario it is best to take photos based on events and not every fixed period of time. For example start with a photo of the apartment you are moving from. Then as you start packing take a photo every time you pack a box. When the movers show up take photos as furniture are moved away from your apartment. Do the reverse in the new apartment. Take a photo of it being empty. Then start taking photos as furniture move in and finally take photos as each single box is opened and put in its new place. Taking the time to take such photos can be a great way to capture memories for years to come.
# Renovating your house: Similar to moving, renovation can be documented using time lapse techniques. Take photos as significant changes are made to your house. Take the first photo before any work is done. Then continue taking photos as renovation progresses, for example when a wall is taken down. Take the last photo when the renovation is completed and the house is ready.
# People and kids: You can use time lapse techniques to document how your kids are growing up or other changes in people you care about. One way to accomplish that is by taking a photo of your kids every 6 months or a year. It is a good idea to take the photos in the same place and in the same position as it will intensify the effect of the changes happened to them over that period of time.
# Your garden: If you are working on your garden, maybe planted a tree or some special flowers you can use time lapse techniques to document the progress of your work. Take a photo every fixed period of time, depending on the time it takes for the tree or plant to grow this can be a few days or a few weeks.

Professional photographers sometimes use special equipment that can automatically take photos every certain period of time. For most amateur usages manually taking the photos is good enough. Some things to care about when taking time lapse photos: try to take photos in the same time of the day and with the same lighting – this will intensify the effect as the difference between the photos will be mostly the changes that you care about and not other external factors like lighting that can draw unwanted attentio

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com – a site dedicated to photo printing.

Photograph © Andrew Dunn, 31 July 2006.

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Night Photography: Photographing The Moon In The Landscape by David Rose

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Photographers have been trying to utilize the light of the moon in their landscape photography ever since the photographic process was invented. It was not until World War II, however, that technology had improved enough to make night photography possible. Today, despite technological advances, knowing the phase of the moon during a nighttime photography shoot is important as it will affect everything from the type of equipment that you’ll need to the actual composition of your photos.When embarking on a night photography trip, there are standard types of equipment that you will need to take with you.


* A 35mm camera that will allow you to manually set very long exposure times is a must
* A good, sturdy tripod is mandatory
* A cable release
* A good carrying case or a vest with a lot of pockets for your equipment
* Extra batteries for your camera
* Many rolls of slow or medium film (60 or 100 ISA�NEVER use 400 ISA even if it’s what happens to be in your camera. Your photos will turn out much too grainy to be useful).
* Lenses with which you are already comfortable
* A stopwatch rather than a wristwatch to record exposure lengths is preferable. Stopwatches are more accurate and will give you more reliable information for future moon photography shoots.
* A notebook and several pens for recording exposure times and other important information
* A flashlight so that you can easily record your information

Remember that if this is your first attempt at night photography by moonlight, you will largely spend your time experimenting.

The resulting photographs and your records will help you plan your next venture more effectively. The best times for landscape photography without additional light sources, or looking at it in a different manner, away from city lights, is either when the moon is full, the two days before the full moon and the two days after the full moon. Any clouds in the sky will also affect the amount of light available for your night photography, just as they would if you were shooting during the day. You will have to experiment with your exposure times as so many elements will affect the outcome.

The degree of available moonlight; any other light sources; clouds; rain; light reflective surfaces; each of them can make a huge difference to the amount of exposure time needed. In general, during night photography, one can say that on a night of full moon, with optimum conditions, 8 seconds at f/8 using ISO 100 film will be about right. If there’s a crescent moon and conditions are also optimal, you’ll need as much as 10 hours on one shot! So you see, experimentation while photographing the moon is really the only way to go. Repeat your shots with different exposure lengths so that you can get a feel for what your camera will do for you.

A very nice composition for a moonscape might include the moon with beams bouncing off of a river, stream or creek. As the moon moves through its different phases, you can still enjoy landscape photography at night although you may have to bring some “extras” and move locations. Different moonscape compositions to experiment with during your moonlight photography shoot include:

* A waxing crescent, or a small portion of the moon, hanging in the sky over sparkling city lights.
* Bring a flash or a flash unit to your moon photography shoot in order to illuminate an abandoned house, use colored gels to get different color effects and have a muted last quarter moon lurking in the background.
* As the moon goes from full to new, you can play with light effects from the stars or allow car lights to streak through your composition.

When photographing the moon, be sure to record not only the length of time that you exposed your film, but also general weather conditions and what phase the moon was in. This will help you to produce better photos in the future. Night photography becomes easier when you’re able to plan properly so knowing how much natural light is likely to be available will help you pick the right time to go out and what kind of equipment to take. Nighttime landscape photography is a creative, rewarding challenge that every keen photographer should try.

David Rose is a nature photographer and the creator of QuickPhase Pro, a popular moon phase software program. Visit http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases to discover the fun and easy way to view the phases of the moon.

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Portrait Photography: Tips and Methods

Friday, February 16th, 2007

Portrait is defined as, “A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer, for example.” In the area of portrait photography there are some guidelines that you should consider when you go to take photos of people.

The different types of portraits are: close-ups, facial shots, upper body shots or environmental portraits. Environmental portraits are where you focus on the subject and on their surroundings that provide more character to the subject.

When people have a camera in their face it usually makes them nervous and they will try to put on a face that does not portray who they really are. The real skill to portrait photography is trying to capture photos when the subjects are comfortable and not worried about a camera.

Many professional photographers try to capture their subject’s true essence by using tricks. One example of this is counting to three so the subject prepares and then while they are relaxing after taking a planned photo the photographer will snap a few more unplanned photos. In most cases the subject won’t even know that more than one photo was taken but it’s usually the photos that the subject wasn’t expecting that capture their true essence.

Another more common strategy professionals use is to tell funny jokes that make their subjects genuinely laugh or smile. I’m sure that you have probably experienced something like this yourself.

CLOSE-UP PORTRAITS

These usually have the subject’s shoulders and head or less. They are framed around the face. These are the most common and best at capturing expressions and glamour shots. For these it is very important to have the light coming from a good angle. To accent wrinkles or small details you should have the light coming from the side or from the top. To create flattering pictures you should choose a cloudy day or try to create diffused light so there are hardly any shadows. Also make sure the subject is brighter than the background to reduce distraction.

For close-up portraits you should use a wide aperture (low f/stop) to make the background out of focus and therefore less of a distraction. Professionals commonly use a fixed telephoto lens that’s 90 mm or higher for portraits in order to de-emphasize the subject’s nose or any other unflattering feature. It works because at that distance the nose or any other feature does not seem closer to the camera than the rest of the face.

UPPER BODY OR MIDRANGE PORTRAITS

These are easier to capture because the subject is probably more relaxed because it’s less personal. These include a little more of the background than close-ups. These are commonly used for both single subjects and multiple subjects. This is the kind of portrait used to mark occasions such as graduation, yearbook, birthdays and other parties. The ideal lens would be about a 90 mm fixed telephoto or more wide angle depending on how many subjects there are.

ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS

These are the portraits that let you into the life of a subject. They might include the whole subject in a scenario or the subject participating in some hobby that they enjoy. These are best for telling a story to the viewer about the subject. They are almost always used by photojournalists to look into the lives of interesting people. They also make great Black and White pictures.

Use this information to develop what kind of portrait style you would like to take, and then practice it before dealing with any serious clients.

Richard Schneider is a digital photography enthusiast and founder of http://www.picturecorrect.com/ which offers tips and news about digital photography, digital camera reviews, photoshop tutorials and computer wallpaper.

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Photography how-to

Saturday, February 3rd, 2007

Shadows – The Forgotten Element That Can Make (or Break) A Photograph
As photographers, we obsess over light. How much of it, the direction it’s coming from, the color and so on…

An Introduction to Macro Photography
Exploring the world of miniature objects with a macro lens is a special and exciting area of photography, and once you start, you will quickly become addicted.

Time Lapse Still Digital Photography Technique by Ziv Haparnas
Time lapse photography is a technique that allows to quickly and visually convey processes that take a long time in real life.

Night Photography: Photographing The Moon In The Landscape by David Rose
Photographers have been trying to utilize the light of the moon in their landscape photography ever since the photographic process was invented.

Portrait Photography: Tips and Methods
Portrait is defined as, “A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer, for example.” In the area of portrait photography there are some guidelines that you should consider when you go to take photos of people.

SLR and not SLR cameras overview
First of all, almost all the cameras can be divided into two groups : mirror and not mirror cameras.

Golden section in photography
For many centuries, to build a harmonious compositions artists from the “Golden Section”.

Digital photography RAW format
Digital cameras typically offer multiple formats save the image : JPEG, TIFF, RAW.
The JPEG algorithm uses data compression, which is an irreversible loss of information (which was, incidentally, to a certain level compression these losses almost invisible, but the file size is produced relatively small).

Cameras and Lenses – A brief description of cameras and lens choice
35mm fixed lens cameras – Thanks to today’s technology there are many fine “point and shoot” cameras on the market. Compact and lightweight, with auto-focus and auto-exposure they are well suited to travel photography. If possible, use one that has a manual override for the exposure settings. However, be careful of the auto focus. Make sure it is focusing on your subject, and not another area of the photograph.

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SLR and not SLR cameras overview

Friday, January 26th, 2007
First of all, almost all the cameras can be divided into two groups : mirror and not mirror cameras.

Mirror (SLR)

SLR-Single Lens Reflex – i.e. one-objective mirror.

Not especially pressing in technical details – difference of these cameras from going below that you look at object of shooting through an objective of the camera. The Parts of the world are reflected in the case of the camera from inclined a costing mirror and transferred in the view-finder of the camera (thus you see that the camera “sees”), at shooting the mirror rises, opening access of light to a shutter of the camera and a film. Optics (objective), as a rule, replaceable. It enables to adapt the chamber for any kind of shootings. More in detail about that what there are objectives. Not replaceable optics have only small group 35¼¼ the mirror cameras which are let out by firm Olimpus-IS–100/200 and IS-3000. Usually mirror camera gives greater of opportunities for the creative approach.

In turn mirror cameras share on some kinds:

1. These are mechanical cameras
These cameras assume manual operations such as: translation on following the staff, manual adjustment for sharpness, manual installation of endurance and a diaphragm. These cameras in the big honour at professional photographers. Photographing by such cameras assumes presence of the certain skills and experience. The most known mechanical cameras: NIKON F3, NIKON FM2, Minolta X–370/x-9, Minolta X-700, Pentax K-1000, Pentax P30t. Some cameras are completely mechanical and do not depend on the power supply, the some people are considered electromechanical as possess operated electronic shutter.

2. Autofocus cameras
As a rule completely automatic cameras. Their nomenclature is huge. Have system of an auto focus: the special device allowing to define distance up to removed object and in appropriate way to adjust an objective. The distance up to object is calculated on contrast. Speaking easier the auto focus in the mirror cameras is arranged as follows: on frequent strips from a photosensitive material (a matrix of an auto focus) the image which has been last through an objective gets. If object not in focus – the image is washed away – next “strips” are shined almost equally; if object in focus – the image precise – the difference of illumination of the next strips is significant. The microprocessor of the camera analyzes the received information and adjusts an objective before reception of the contrast image, the objective informs the camera distance up to object, the device calculates necessary parameters of shooting.

Autofocus cameras share in the class as on two groups

1. Cameras with replaceable optics (you can put any objective which approaches for your camera. For example MACRO for shooting fine subjects the, TELE for shooting removed objects, WIDE for shooting the nature).

2. Cameras with the built in objective (you can change parameters of an objective only by application of special adapters) to concern. To these cameras first of all known series IS of firm Olimpus. For example IS–100/200 or IS-3000 the Successful combination of quality and opportunities of the mirror camera to carelessness of “soap trays”.

Not mirror cameras

You see object of shooting through the special view-finder, not dependent on an objective, the scale of the image and border of the staff in such cameras usually coincide with real, but there is the phenomenon of a parallax (displacement) connected with some distance between an optical axis of the view-finder and an objective. Also it is impossible to supervise such parameters as depth of sharpness or accuracy of focusing that brings the certain uncertainty in end results. In chambers about a zoom the scale of the image in the view-finder is coordinated by an objective with a current focal length of an objective

Not mirror cameras are subdivided on:

1. Cameras with the built in (not replaceable) objective. Such cameras the overwhelming majority. This type of cameras usually strongly limits opportunities of management in parameters of an exposition. During too time compact cameras possess small dimensions, and qualitative models provide quality, compared with quality of mirror chambers.

2. Range-finder cameras (usually replaceable optics). Good range-finder cameras allow to operate parameters of an exposition. Due to absence of a mirror (that is fair and for compact cameras) the sizes noticeably less, than at mirror chambers.

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Golden section in photography

Friday, January 26th, 2007

For many centuries, to build a harmonious compositions artists from the “Golden Section”.

Golden section – division AC line into two parts so that more than half of the 12th to a lesser AB, as a period of the BC is AB (ie, AB : BC = AC : AB). The ratio is approximately 5:8. 5:8 ratio is very close to the party standard frame (24:36 mm 5:7,5 = = 2:3).

An example of the “Golden Section” – location of the main components of the frame in the special spots-visual centres. These points only four, and they are located at a distance of 3 / 8 and 5 / 8 from the edges of the plane.

The example shows how to build a frame in accordance with the golden section. Man has always focused its attention on those locations, regardless of the aspect ratio or picture.

And see what is a breach of the rules. The last frame of a series of a crop.

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Digital photography RAW format

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

Digital cameras typically offer multiple formats save the image : JPEG, TIFF, RAW.
The JPEG algorithm uses data compression, which is an irreversible loss of information (which was, incidentally, to a certain level compression these losses almost invisible, but the file size is produced relatively small).
TIFF format using compression without loss but the price for that is high-TIFF files occupy too much space (for example, the camera Nikon D100 image in JPEG format is 3.2 megabytes, while the same image in TIFF almost 18 MB!) . In addition, the format supports TIFF not too many cameras. And, of course, the more the size of the file the smaller pictures posted on flash-carte memory.
So, we are faced with the dilemma of either the quality of the picture, or file size.
Decision in this case becomes RAW format. This format contains even more information than TIFF, occupying a much smaller volume (with the same Nikon D100 – 9 MB).
Unfortunately, the format does not support all digital cameras. However, most SLR cameras, fortunately, work with him know.
The vast majority of digital cameras with photosensitive matrix-covered filter organized as a template pages. Cell Matrix “see” only gradations of grey. Much better perceive matrix color depth of 12 bits (some even 14-bit), or 4096 degrees grey.
How black and white turns into RGB? To that end, every cell matrix “covered” color filter (red, blue or green), which transmits primarily “its” color. So light on the unit falls if the color of the beam coincides with the color filter. Cell, “covered” red filter sees red component of the image, green-green component, and so forth.
But that is not RGB image. It was necessary to interpolate RGB degrees neighbouring cells. This is a complex process, which may be carried out on different algorithms.

RAW-interpoliace

RAW-interpoliace is reconstruction algorithm missing flowers to RGB-image.
For JPEG and TIFF files interpolation made directly by the processor cells. In order to reduce processing time are only 8-bits group of tonal information cell, and a 4-bits balance dropped. That is, from 4096 degrees grey is only 256.
How is it that RAW files contain 12-bit color information, and then make more compact? The fact is that RAW-file is a floppy white (!) Data from the sensor.

The picture shown upper, is a result that is produced in a cell after recording images from the photosensitive matrix. In considering enlarged section shows that the image pixels differ from one another only in brightness. This form of data and stored in RAW-format, making it possible to significantly reduce the file size.

The next picture we see the same picture, but here each pixel has the same name as the color of his situation in the star pattern. That is, while maintaining brightness of the pixels of color assimilated green, blue or red light.
The image pseudo-colors and prishchuriv eye can even imagine that parero (ie clothing) in the center are yellow. But in the enlarged section shows that all the image pixels are only three colours-green, blue and red, but vary in brightness of the colors.

Then begins the process of transforming pseudo-colors image. This process is performed in a chamber in order to preserve data from the photosensitive matrix as JPEG or TIFF. This software analyzes camera color of their cell matrix, and complex algorithm calculates color value for each pixel image.
In considering enlarged site interpolirovannogo images can be seen that all pixels have different colors, and the image has brightness and clarity.
For RAW format interpolation within the chamber is not implemented, and for the transformation of the image in colour using special external programs converters.
The drawback RAW-files (although we do not think that the lack of a long) is the only thing that they could not immediately processed or printed, although many programs can open and view files (and Photoshop including, but with a special honor plug-in Adobe RAW ).
For different types of cells, various programmes for the conversion RAW-files. For example, Nikon’s conversion can be carried out at least four programmes, in addition to Photoshop-plugin Adobe RAW :

  • Capture One DSLR
  • Bibble
  • Nikon Capture (own program run by Nikon)
  • Qimage

For other cells (such as Canon, Kodak and Olympus), there are other programmes. We basically use Bibble for Nikon’s files and Capture One DSLR for Canon’s. And plugin Adobe RAW is for fast and the rough result, or the images for publication on the Internet.

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Cameras and Lenses – A brief description of cameras and lens choice

Thursday, January 25th, 2007
35mm fixed lens cameras – Thanks to today’s technology there are many fine “point and shoot” cameras on the market. Compact and lightweight, with auto-focus and auto-exposure they are well suited to travel photography. If possible, use one that has a manual override for the exposure settings. However, be careful of the auto focus. Make sure it is focusing on your subject, and not another area of the photograph.35mm fixed zoom cameras – These are a wonderful choice for travel photography. The addition of a zoom gives you the advantage of many different focal lengths in one lens. We recommend a lens with a minimum 35mm to 90mm range for general photography.

Disposable 35mm cameras – These cameras come in a variety of choices. Basically a box of film with a lens added, they can produce quite acceptable results. Available most places where film is sold, they are perfect when you find yourself without a camera. We especially like the panoramic camera. The waterproof model is wonderful for pools and shallow snorkeling. If you will be using one indoors be sure to purchase the model with the built in flash.

35mm and larger format cameras with removable lenses – By being able to change the lens, and thus the view, these cameras offer the widest range of choices for the photographer. We’ve found that having a wide angle, a normal, and a telephoto lens will cover almost any situation.

Normal Lens – This lens will give you the angle of view that you normally see with the naked eye. A 50mm lens on a 35mm camera is considered a normal lens.

Wide Angle Lens – Especially good for landscapes, as well as large buildings, they also add foreground to your photograph. For a 35mm camera, anything smaller than 38mm would be considered a wide angle. Best choice is a 24mm to 28mm.

Telephoto Lens – These come in a variety of lengths, starting at 150mm and going up to 500mm. They are useful when you need to bring the subject closer. For most purposes a 150mm or 200mm lens is recommended. The longer focal lengths are used for wildlife and sports photography where you must stay a long distance from your subject. If you are shooting with an extremely long lens be sure to use a tripod and a fast shutter speed.

Zoom Lens – Because they offer a range of focal lengths, these lenses are perfect for travel photography. They are very useful in isolating specific elements within your photographs. Zoom lenses cover a variety of focal lengths. Most common are a wide angle to a medium, such as a 28mm-80mm lens. Or a medium to a long, such as a 70mm-210mm lens. If you have a normal and a wide angle lens, we recommend the addition of a 70mm to 210mm zoom. This will give you a nice range to cover most situations.

Macro Lens – Macros come in a variety of fixed focal lengths or as a zoom lens with macro capability. This is a great lens to use when shooting close-ups of plants, flowers, or other small objects.

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