What Lenses Should I Buy?

One of the questions posed frequently to myself as well as to the professors at AI is this one. The question is a tricky one to answer because there are a couple of factors to consider, such as how much money you can afford to spend and what your photographic style is.

If you shoot landscapes, then you want to buy a wise lens such as a 10-20mm or 17-40mm. Both Canon and Nikon offer a decent 18-55mm as one of their standard kit lens. Although the 18-55mm is a inexpensive one, they make very good images from my experience. Of course if money is not a major concern and you shoot Canon, you can go with either the EF 16-35mm or the 17-40mm L lens. On the Nikon side you have the 14-24mm which is an excellent, high quality lens that makes fantastic images.

For those that want to shoot wildlife or anything else that requires more reach, you can look at 70-200mm, which is an extremely popular zoom used by many professional photographers. At 70-200mm you have the most popular focal lengths in a single lens. Both Canon and Nikon make very high quality lenses in this range, as does Tamron if you are budget minded. This lens is also available in both a less expensive F/4 aperture and the faster, more expensive F/2.8. If you want the F/2.8 without spending $2,000-$3,000, then look at the Tamron, which runs around $1,000 and from every review I’ve read by pros say that it takes every bit as soon an image as the more costly ones made by Canon or Nikon.

                                   Portrait shot using Canon EOS 5D with 28-135mm @ 135mm

Your bread and butter will be portraits, then you want to get a prime portrait lens. The most common lenses for portraits are the 50mm, also known as the Nifty Fifty, 85mm and 135mm. When it comes to Canon, there are three of each the 50mm and the 85mm to choose from and again, it mostly depends on how much you want to spend. The 50mm F/1.8 is inexpensive at around $100 and makes really good images, the 50mm F/1.4 USM is around $400 and is much better build quality and takes even better images. The third is the 50mm F/1.2 L which is very expensive but also makes the best images. In the 85mm, Canon makes the $500 F/1.8, the 85mm F/1.2 L original and the newer 85mm F/1.2 L Mark II. The L series lenses are expensive, running around $2,000 and believe it or not, the less expensive F/1.8 makes much better images. The original L series 85mm had lots of issues with color fringing and the Mark II edition has AF issues. The third and final really good portrait lens on the Canon side is the 135mm F/2 L.

                                 Abandoned Rite Aid shot using EOS 6D with 17-40mm F/4 L

Regardless of what you are going to shoot primarily, it is always a good idea to have 3 or more lenses as you never know when you might need another focal length or prime. I love to shoot landscapes, but like most photographers, I know I need to shoot portraits as well as that is how most of us pay the bills. Since I need to do portraits as well, I own the 85mm F/1.8 USM and the 50mm F/1.4 USM. I am also planning to at some point down the road to buy the 135mm F/2 L so that I have a little more reach.

I hope this information helps you to make some choices on what you want to carry in your camera bag, now get out there and make some images!

Comments/Questions

Composition

For this week’s blog post I want to talk about composition in your photography. Good composition is making sure you have a strong image without a lot of clutter or unnecessary items in it that detract from the eye of the viewer.

Good composition means your images only contain the “meat and potatoes” as it were to make for an image that the viewer looks at and says “WOW!” When I look through my viewfinder, I am trying to de-focus my eye and attention and concentrate on only what I feel will make the image strong and then move my framing to fit that scenario.

When out shooting, especially landscapes you want to simplify your image and exclude any extraneous items that are not going to add to the image’s overall composition. Many times this will mean moving around both physically and with your camera to change the view and get the exact “picture” that others will look at and their eyes will stay engaged in that final image as long as possible.

                                          Broken Fence - Canon T3i 18-55mm IS kit lens

Many new shooters think that you cannot accomplish all of this with the crop sensor camera you buy through the school. This is not true, as although I prefer my full frame cameras for shooting landscapes, you can still get fantastic landscapes with a crop sensor body. Many of the crop bodies have fantastic wide angle lenses for shooting scenes with strong composition.

Many of the manufacturers have very good to high quality lenses for shooting landscapes even on a crop sensor body. Canon, for example has a really nice EF-S 10-20mm lens that makes fantastic wide landscapes!

I know that sometimes, when shooting there are other objects that detract from an image that you really want, for example a really beautiful church steeple with a fantastic, colorful sky behind it at sunrise or sunset but there are power lines in the field of view and they sit right where it is hard to get around them. You can try moving to a different position, but maybe you cannot get that same sky from a different angle or side of the building, this is when you have to get creative. Try a longer focal length lens to get a tighter framing for the shot. It might not be the larger view that you originally wanted but at least you got the important part without the detracting power lines.

Considering limiting your objects in your view when shooting for your next assignment or shooting for yourself. You will find that your images will be stronger and you should get a better critique from that professor. Throw that final image on a site such as Student Stock or 500px and let other photographers view and rate it to see how you did, you may be amazed with the results.

Comments/Questions

It's Beginning to look a lot like...Time to get Holiday Shots!

Good Morning and Welcome to another Terrific Tuesday!

Yes, it is getting close to that time of the year, the chill is in the air, powdery stuff coming down in some northern states (Sorry, I live in Texas!), and with that comes the time to start taking images that we have to wait several seasons to take.

So, it is nice and cold, get out there anyway and take some images!  With the weather changing almost daily, we will have opportunities to take images of snow, different types of landscapes, ice sculptures, loved one in the snow, snow fights, etc...  This is the time of the year to go bananas and get outside to see the challenges that the season might present to us.  Don't forget the Christmas lights, decorations, as some people like to indulge in the planning, preparation and setting up of decorating lights, but remember if you take images of personal properties, ask for permission.  Once you get the permission, go ahead and take the images and share them with the owner, there you go, a Christmas gift that they will enjoy!  This week is also Thanksgiving, a time for reflection for some, football for others, but always picture opportunities for photographers, have at it and have some fun!

Before you go out, there are some things that you need to remember:

1.  Check your camera, read the manual and check the temperature limits!  Some cameras are sensitive and will not work efficiently on certain lower temperatures.
2.  Protect your equipment from the cold and the moisture.
3.  Protect yourself from the cold and moisture.
4.  Check weather forecast, check your vehicle, always be safe!
5.  Have fun, fun, fun!

So go ahead and start taking images out there in the cold weather, show us the beautiful areas that surround and inspire your wonderful winter wonderland images.

Take the images while you can, every season is going to be different.  As a photographer we are challenged and inspired to practice, and doing it in the snow provide different challenges.

Have fun and until next time, this is your Tuesday Ambassador wishing you a great Thanksgiving and a fantastic holiday season!

Photograpic Design

Good Morning and Happy Sunday... Today I wanted to touch on a few things that I have been going over in PH135 Photographic Design. The Principals of Design where we use Lines, Balance, Shapes, using Positive and negative space and camera angle to create an awesome photograph.  Over the past week, I have been searching for places and things to photograph that fit the assignment that I had to complete.  I went to several different places, I was down by the Delaware River in Philadelphia in a few of the river front parks and I found an old coal pier that is no longer in use and has graffiti all over. That place was amazing. I also went to some really great spots to take photos. On Wednesday I drove 2 hours to Hummelstown, PA, near Hershey PA to the Indian Echo Caverns, where I took some more photos for class as well as going to the  Antique Automobile Club of America where I spent a few hours.. 

The Image below was taken at Penn Treaty Park, located in Philadelphia right on the Delaware River, I chose this landscape and famed it to incorporate the lines of the rocks on the shore to the Ben Franklin Bridge, as well as use the negative space ( the sky) to help the viewer move around the photograph flawlessly. 

Photo taken By Wayne Salat

 This Photo was taken at Pulaski Park, it is also on the Delaware River not to far from Penn Treaty Park, with this photograph, I attempted to use the negative space and draw the viewer in with the angle and lines of the dock as well as using the water as negative space to try and create a balance. 

 Photo Taken By Wayne Salat

 Taken at Indian Echo Caverns this was quite a challenge, as there is little to no light. I attempted to use the lines of this lime stone as well as different angle to make this more appealing.

 Photo by Wayne Salat

 The old Port Richmond Coal Pier, has been defunct for many years, its not an easy place to find, but when you do, its a photographers dream place to shoot. Below I used the lines and framing to help make this photograph appealing to the viewer. 

Photo By Wayne Salat

That's all for today, Please feel free to make comments and ask questions.

 Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne