Reader “Paul” asks about gear for backcountry photography and how it may vary from trip to trip:
Dan, I’m curious. On your trips, what percentage of your pack is reserved for anything photographic in terms of weight? And what percentage is camping? Or does that change with your experience and knowing ahead of time what your photographic expectations are?
Great questions, Paul. The answer gets a bit complicated, but let me try to get to the heart of what I think is a question about how much weight/stuff to carry for various sorts of backcountry trips. (A longer article — My Backcountry Photography Equipment — goes into even more detail.)
A solitary sunrise angler stands on shoreline rocks at an alpine Sierra Nevada lake reflecting a nearby peak
As you imply in your question, the answer varies — sometimes a lot — depending on a bunch of factors: how fit/young you are, the terrain you’ll cover, your willingness to bear weight for photography, whether your focus is more on miles covered per day or the photography itself, what you’ll do with the photographs after the trip, and more.
This is the first of what will be a series of articles looking at steps you can take to improve your chances of producing compelling photographs.
A recent stay in Yosemite Valley during my Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency reminded me again that while many aspects of photography are out of our control, there are things we can do to increase the odds of success.
On this visit I had three late April spring days to photograph in the park, which mostly means “in Yosemite Valley” at this time of year when the high country is still snowed in. By non-photography standards, the Valley was beautiful — if a bit crowded. The sun was out, the sky was blue, temperatures were comfortable, rivers were full of early snowmelt, the waterfalls were flowing, there were hints of green in the seasonal vegetation, and too many tourists were already showing up!
I did the usual things: I got up before dawn to find the early light. I stuck around until the last light faded. I returned to subjects that I knew from past experiences to be promising. I considered where the light would be at different times of day. I went looking for new subjects in likely places. I wandered. I kept my equipment with me at all times. I made photographs, and some of them are even pretty good, but at times it was hard to “see” something special in these conditions.
What’s not to like, right? From a photographer’s point of view these are not ideal conditions for photography. As pleasant as nice weather is for hiking and camping and picnicking, it can be hard to find exceptional photographs in such everyday light. I and many of my fellow Sierra photographers prefer interesting and unusual conditions — precipitation, broken light, mist and clouds, some haze.
On the final morning I was up and heading into the Valley well before sunrise. The light was unspectacular, with thick overcast cutting off the morning light. But then I caught sight a bit more light in the east, and soon I saw some breaks in the clouds. Within fifteen minutes the conditions opened up and I was treated to an exceptional spectacle of light and clouds and landscape that lasted for several hours, during which I photographed continuously. I made more interesting photographs during these few hours than during the rest of the visit.
The morning sun breaks through clearing clouds above Merced Canyon
To state the obvious, “exceptional” and “unusual” conditions are not the norm. The blue-sky “blah” light is. If you show up on ten randomly selected days, nine of them are going to be, literally, unexceptional, and if you are looking for something unusual and beyond-the-norm you aren’t likely to find it.
Note: I originally published this article under the title, “Thinking About Travel Photography Gear.” Since I’m planning a separate article about travel photography camera options, I have renamed this article to acknowledge its focus lenses.
Recently I’ve noted people trying to determine what gear will work well for photography while traveling, and especially wondering about what lenses to take. I do a fair amount of travel photography, and I’ll going to summarize a few approaches that can work.
But first, since what follows will mostly focus on lenses, let me say a few things about cameras, while recognizing that this will be far from an in-depth consideration.
Cameras
What is “the best” travel camera? That is a tough question, and it might be better rephrased as “what is the best travel camera for me?” Is photography your main reason for traveling, do you simply want to record the experience, or something else? Are you traveling alone, with other photographers, or with others whose interest in photography doesn’t match your own? Do you prefer to travel “heavy” — multiple bags and checked luggage — or you an ultra-light traveler who prefers to stick to carry-on only, even for long trips? Do you think of yourself as a scenic photographer, a people photographer, a street photographer, or something else?
With all of these possible variations, the right answer could be anything from your smart phone camera to a large, multiple lens system with tripod, or any of a number of intermediate options.
Chinatown, New York City
As a photographer, I’m not ready to give up good quality equipment that allows me to shoot my preferred subjects and make large prints from the images I bring back. Yet I also prefer to travel light, going “carry-on luggage only” even for multi-week overseas trips. The best solution for me has turned out to be a 1.5x cropped sensor mirrorless body with a small selection of lenses, mostly primes sometimes augmented by a zoom.
There’s a lot more to say about camera choice, but here I”m going to focus primarily on lenses you might use with a full frame or cropped sensor system. (Watch for another article focusing on camera options.)
Lenses for Travel
Rather than trying to answer the “what lens should I bring?” question, I’ll suggest a few approaches and briefly describe some pluses and minuses of each.
One zoom lens
A single zoom lens that covers sufficient focal length range, preferably with IS and a f/2.8 aperture might be all you need. While such a lens is not small, it is quite versatile. Especially if the lens — or your camera body – has image stabilization (IS) it will work in relatively low light in many situations, and it can work for everything from casual portraits to wide-angle photographs in constrained spaces. A “mid range zoom” lens can do the trick, whether it is one of the ubiquitous “kit zooms” or a more expensive f/2.8 zoom.
Pluses
One lens stays on the body all the time.
IS helps with handheld shots in low light.
The lens covers focal lengths most often needed.
Good image quality. Weight and bulk are less of an issue if you stick on only one lens.
Minuses
These lenses are not small.
You will give up some ultra-wide and telephoto options.
A big lens can make you look like a “photo tourist.”
Largest apertures not as big as you could get from primes.
No backup lens if this lens has a problem.
If you will only use one lens, you could get a smaller camera with a built-in zoom
A woman walks into an alley past a smoking bicyclist, Florence/Firenze, Italy
One zoom lens with large focal length range
Some zoom lenses cover a very large focal length range (18-300mm!) with variable aperture. As with the first option, this provides a great deal of versatility for folks who want a larger selection of focal lengths, but who don’t want to mess with multiple lenses.
Pluses
One lens stays on the body the entire time.
Decent (but probably not stellar) IQ.
Excellent focal length coverage for diverse subjects.
Minuses
Not the best lenses in optical terms, though may be good enough for many purposes.
Lenses can be relatively large.
Poor low light options. (Use flash?)
Big lens can make you look like a “photo tourist.”
No backup lens if your lens has a problem.
A single prime
Before the era of zoom lenses, it was not unusual for photographers to head out with only a single prime lens with a decently large aperture. (This could be an interchangeable lens camera with a single prime or a rangefinder style camera with a fixed focal length built-in lens.)
Pluses
The ultimate in simplicity and light weight.
Excellent image quality.
Good low light coverage with a large aperture.
You may look less like a tourist.
Minuses
No focal length flexibility. (Though some systems allow add on telephoto and wide angle converters.)
No backup lens if your lens has a problem.
A man making soap bubbles for the crowd in London
A few primes
Pluses
Can be small and light.
Good low light coverage.
Excellent image quality.
You may look less like a tourist.
Minuses
A few small primes may add up to the weight/bulk of one zoom.
Need to switch lenses more often.
Less focal length flexibility than a zoom.
Multiple zooms
Pluses
Lots of flexibility.
Good zooms provide excellent image quality.
Minuses
System quickly balloons in size and weight.
Probably need speciality photographic bag or backpack.
You not only look like a tourist… you look like a tourist carrying lots of expensive stuff, which is not always ideal.
Zoom(s) augmented by a large aperture prime
One zoom can cover ranges where flexibility is desired, and a smaller prime can provide a larger aperture option.
Pluses
You get the flexibility of a zoom.
You get the large aperture of a prime.
Fine image quality.
Minuses
Do you take a prime in the focal length range of your zoom (for low light) or a different range (covering different uses.)?
Multiple lenses to juggle.
Weight and bulk increase a bit.
The Karl Theodor Bridge, the old bridge, the Heiliggeistekirche, and portions of Altstadt-Heidelberg, Germany
Primes augmented by (most likely one) zoom.
For example, take primes for core use, but add a zoom telephoto.
Pluses
Good image quality.
Small and light system with primes for most photography.
You look less like a tourist when using the primes.
Focal length flexibility in range covered by the zoom.
Minuses
Not as small and light as primes-only system.
The not-a-tourist impression is lost when you attach that zoom!
The Answer
I know you’d like The Best Answer… but there isn’t one! No solution is perfect, and each photographer will likely balance the pluses and minuses in a different way.
What I do
Even though I use a full frame Canon DSLR system for most of my non-travel photography, these days I always rely on a smaller mirrorless system for my travel and street photography. This system mostly is built around primes of moderately wide to moderately long focal lengths, with lenses that are fairly small. In some cases I augment this with a single longer focal length zoom. The entire kit, plus my small laptop and a few other items, fits into a medium-size messenger bag that goes under the seat on flights.
UPDATE: As of 2020 I am no longer posting annual updates concerning this subject — and I am editing older posts on the subject in light of the need to be more responsible about not encouraging the onslaught. I also no longer recommend going to the Valley to see it. Unfortunately, too much exposure (yes, I played a part in it, unfortunately) has led to absurd crowds, traffic jams, littering, destruction of areas in the Valley where too many people go to see it… and the park has increasingly — and appropriately — cracked down. Parking options have been eliminated, at least one viewing location has been closed. Good news! The rest of Yosemite Valley is still there and often exceptionally beautiful at this time of year.
Horsetail Fall, Early Evening
Every winter, for roughly a week or so starting just after mid-February, the sun and various geological features line up so that sunset light falls on the seasonal and ephemeral Horsetail Fall near the east end of the face of El Capitan. Sometimes the light of the setting sun may illuminate this waterfall from behind and briefly make the waterfall and its misty spray glow in sunset colors.
Since it is that time of year again, I’m going to briefly share a few bits of information and perspective about Yosemite Valley’s Horsetail Fall. For more, see an earlier article.
But before you get too excited…
This is another extremely dry winter in California, with Sierra snowpack far below normal. There is very little snow in the drainage the feeds the fall, and forecasts suggest that it will remain dry. In other words, there probably won’t be enough water to start the fall.
The “event” has gotten out of control as thousands of people showed, parking everywhere and trampling through forests. The park service decided that something has to change. This year access to the typical viewpoints will be more difficult, with extremely limited parking (by advance permit only), and roads near the viewing area will be closed to parking or shut down completely. If you don’t have one of those permits, you have a long walk ahead of you… and probably a long return walk in the dark.
Third, what you see in photographs (including my own) is not what you are likely to see in person.
My best advice this year? Probably don’t bother. Between the uncooperative weather and the access restrictions, you are perhaps more likely to experience a #HorseFailFall than Horsetail Fall.
Also, while seeing this phenomenon can be special, it is but one of many, many special experiences to be found in the Sierra. Too often these days, social media convinces use that such experiences are Super Mega Peak Astonishing Ultra Wonders. This poses some dangers, and you should consider resisting. It falsely transforms quiet, contemplative experiences into the equivalent of a sports event, unfortunately creating greater distance between observers and the experience they crave. It also brings crowd that threaten the very places that they come to see.
Perhaps consider something else?
Fortunately, winter in Yosemite Valley has a whole lot to offer besides this event. Fog often forms in quiet meadows at dawn, clouds frequently float among cliffs and peaks, you might get lucky and see some snow, some wildlife is much easier to see in winter, the crowds are generally a lot smaller, and some interesting events take place, such as the Yosemite Renaissance Exhibit opening near the end of the month in the Visitor Center Museum Gallery. (I’ll be in the park during this period as a Yosemite Renaissance “artist in residence,” photographing and attending the opening of the exhibit.)
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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