Digital Photography

2013 Serengeti Safari

We are going back again to the Serengeti to see the babies being born and the big cats. We went there in 2009 and 2011 it was such a good trip. If you click on the gorilla picture below you will see the 2011 Serengeti trip. Contact me at Carlp@me.com and I will send you the brochure.

We also plan a trip to Borneo (again) in October of 2012 to visit our orangutan friends. This trip is already full, but we might go back in the summer of 2013.

Lenses

The most important part of your purchase in a digital SLR camera setup is the lens. You should budget for a high quality lens before the camera body. All too often a nice camera is used with a mediocre lens, negating the potential of the camera.

Canon makes a series of nice consumer grade lenses. The 75-300, 100-300, 28-135, 55-250, and the 18-55 all give you a nice picture. If you want to get the most out of your expensive camera you need to upgrade to Canon's L series of lenses. This is their professional lens series, and will give you pictures of better quality.

You will notice the following lenses all have a red ring around the front of the lens. This denotes Canon's professional series lenses, and are also called "L series" lenses in the Canon world. When it comes to lenses, the axiom "you get what you pay for", certainly applies. It is not uncommon for a professional sports or action photographer to spend up to $10,000 for professional lenses. Lenses can be a fixed focal length or a zoom.

The fixed focal length lenses (also called prime lenses) sometimes produce a higher quality photo. An example of a popular prime lens is 300 mm. This is equivalent to 6x. It is only 300mm, and you have to personally move farther or closer to your subject if you need to change the composition. Sometimes this is easily remedied by changing the fixed focal length lens rapidly to one of more or less magnification. This assumes you have the money to purchase several lenses, and the inclination to carry them around. Also, in a dusty environment like Africa, removing the lens from the camera while you are changing it can cause problems for the camera. I must admit to missing many a good picture while changing one of these lenses because the wildlife action does not stop while you are changing lenses.

The zoom lenses are more flexible, and you won't miss as many photos because now you can zoom in and out and not have to personally move to change the composition. Since most of us are not shooting for professional publications and don't need that extra minor difference in quality, the quality of the zoom lenses will more than suffice and will yield amazing photos.

Canon announced a new lens that we hope will be available soon. It is a 200-400mm f/4 IS USM with a 1.4X extender built in. This has the potential to be an outstanding wildlife lens.

Canon has recently released a lens that might be of interest to someone that needs one high quality lens for all of their photographic needs. This has the advantage of being able to travel lighter and still get great photos as compared to bringing several lenses. It is a compromise at the wide angle side and the telephoto side, but it focuses instantly, produces a tremendous quality photo, and has the latest image stabilization. You might want to give it a test before you get too involved with lots of expensive and heavy wildlife lenses. This is not the lightest lens in the Canon arsenal. Don't underestimate the importance of weight when you are trudging for hours with heavy camera equipment in rough terrain.

Its the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM

Following are some recommended lenses:

Canon 24-105mm f/4 Image Stabilized (IS)

This relatively lightweight wide angle zoom has great image quality when you need to get a wide field of view. I used it often on my Tsavo trip, Antarctica trip and in Galapagos. Whenever I am shooting I always leave the house with this lens, no matter which camera I have or my subject matter. It is awesome on the 5D, 5D II, and 1Ds Mark III because it gives you a wide angle, yet it can zoom to 105 mm.

Canon 135mm f/2.0

This very high quality prime lens is used when you want pictures of tremendous sharpness. I use it for many of my portrait shots. It excels in low light situations because of its f/2.0 aperture. When you are using flash at night the big aperture gives it more power to illuminate further in the distance.

The photo at the top of this page with the lion over the cape buffalo was taken with this lens. It was a night shot, and since we didn't dare get too close to this lion and his kill, I had to shoot from a distance that was at the maximum range of my flash. Having the larger aperture (f/2.0) of this lens gave me enough flash power to get the photo properly exposed.

Many of the gorilla shots were with this lens because we were in the darkness of the jungle and were not allowed to use flash. This lens saved the day on this trip. It is also great at concerts, museums, churches and plays when flash is not allowed.

This is a good time to touch on flash photography. If you are interested in wildlife or sports photography you need a good external flash. I keep mine available at all times when I am shooting, even in daylight. I use professional external flashes (also called strobes) on all my workshops and will teach everyone how to use it in daylight and evening. When you want additional reach, and are using a lens of 300mm or longer, the Better Beamer will help extend your reach.

The primary flash is use is the 580 EX. It has significant power to reach those
elusive animals that hide in the trees and bushes.

One of those elusive night creatures you can surprise with a flash like this and a good lens. Do you know what this creature is?

Canon 400 mm f/5.6

This prime lens has great image quality and is relatively light for 400 mm compared to the other telephoto lenses. Its a great wildlife lens when you are walking around and weight is a factor. When coupled with the 20D / 30D / 40D / 50D / 60D / 7D or Rebel series it is equivalent to a 640 mm lens on a 35 mm camera.

It is not image stabilized, which might be a problem in low light if your camera does not take noise free pictures at higher ISO's. It is a bargain if you travel for your wildlife photography or any time weight is an issue. It goes with me on all my trips and workshops because of the image quality and light weight for 400 mm.

Here is an example of a handheld shot with the 400 capturing a Forster's tern streaking by

Canon 300 mm f/2.8 IS

Optically speaking professional photographers feel this is the finest lens in the Canon arsenal. It is highly prized for outdoor sports photography because it focuses rapidly, the large aperture can blur the background and the pictures it produces are outstanding.

Lenses like this one, and the following one, take practice to learn how to use them properly. They are larger than the lenses most people are used to, and need steady support like a tripod or monopod in many cases, although you can hand hold the 300 mm easily for short periods of time. Keep in mind that 300 mm is oftentimes not enough power for wildlife, and this lens is commonly used with the 1.4X teleconverter to make up for this deficiency.

I used this lens on the Antarctica trip to take the picture of the whale tails. I also used this lens to take the hummingbird picture above.

Version II of this lens is available and promises to give and even better quality photo with substantially less weight.

Reddish Egret taken with this lens and a 1.4X TC

Canon 500 mm f/4 IS

I purchased mine used, although it was barely used and in mint condition. These lenses hold their value, and even purchasing it used it still cost $5000.

I use it for all my wildlife work when I am not hiking, in which case I will use the 400 mm f/5.6 described above. I also purchased it so all of the attendees of the Yellowstone and Africa trips and workshops can get a chance to use such a superb wildlife lens. If you are going to Africa and want to come back with outstanding photos this is the lens of choice.

I sometimes use it with a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and a Wimberely or sidekick head. This tripod is light, very strong, and can easily hold the weight of this lens. The Wimbereley head makes the lens "float" on the tripod, and is a joy to use. When I travel with it I bring a lightweight Gitzo tripod and use an Arca Swiss ballhead and the Wimberely Sidekick.

The optics are outstanding, and it is the wildlife lens of choice in the Canon world. Canon also makes a 600 mm lens which some would argue is the wildlife lens of choice. It is a monster in size and weight compared to the 500 mm, and I doubt many of us would be thrilled to lug such a large lens through the airport, lug the heavy tripod needed to use this lens, and then set it up in the field.

To me the 500 mm is a much better compromise in size, weight, and power. Canon also makes an 800 mm f/5.6 lens. I have used it and it is awesome for wildlife. It is lighter than the 600 mm, and will be a tremendous wildlife lens if you are willing to spend well over $10,000 for a lens. Since most people find this just a little bit outside their budget, we will stick with the 500 mm.

All of this will change in the near future as Canon brings out new versions of these lenses that are lighter, optically better, and unfortunately, dramatically more expensive. They are called version II and hopefully will be here soon once the effects of the Tsunami in Japan have allowed Canon to get back to full production.

I bring the 500 on all my Africa trips for everyone to use. It has Image Stabilization (IS) so you can hand hold it on occasion, although a tripod or steady support are recommended. We will almost always be using it from the Land Rover without a tripod since we can easily steady it (as long as the other people in the vehicle are not moving around) with a bean bag. You can see this if you link to the 2007 Masai Mara page.

Version II, an much lighter version of this lens should be available soon (for a much higher price unfortunately).

Striped Kingfisher taken with the 500

Canon 100 mm f/2.8 macro

For closeup (called macro) photography you need a specialized lens. I use the Canon 100 mm f/2.8. You will need to practice with this lens because focusing can be difficult due to the limited depth of field. A tripod is highly recommended.

Flash is important in macro photography. One of the best ones regarding portability, ease of use, and cost, is a ring flash.

This type of lens lets you bring to life a world we rarely notice. With the flowers swaying in the wind and the insect constantly moving you need to practice if you want any keepers.

Macro photography can be lots of fun

Introduction

Upcoming Polar Bear Trip 2012

2013 Serengeti Safari

My Equipment

Lenses

Canon 70-200mm f/4 Image Stabilized (IS)

Canon 24-105mm f/4 Image Stabilized (IS)

Canon 135mm f/2.0

Canon 400 mm f/5.6

Canon 300 mm f/2.8 IS

Canon 500 mm f/4 IS

Canon 100 mm f/2.8 macro