Pacific Northwest bound

[Barracuda]

Vacation approved, flight booked, car booked, and at worst we’ve got a place to crash with my folks in Newport, but hoping to split time between there, the wine country, and a day (or at least afternoon/evening) in Portland.

So, of course I’m taking the DSLR, trying to decide on which lenses to pack and/or rent for the trip.

Current kit:
18-55mm 3.5-5.6
55-250mm 4-5.6
50mm f.1.4
100mm f2.8 Macro

I could probably get all four of those in my bag fairly easily, but also tempted to rent a 17-55mm f2.8 ef-s and leave the kit lens at home, but wonder if the extra size and weight of the 2.8 would be worth it. Given the locations I’ll be I suspect that a better landscape lens would be the best thing to rent. I also have the vintage Nikon 135mm and 300mm primes that are full manual adapted to the XSi, but I’m not sure if packing those will be worth the weight and space.

[bender16v]

What kind of bag do you have? I know I jam everything I’ve got in mine when I travel because I never know if I’ll be looking for wildlife, landscapes, or general stuff. My tripod is about the only thing that I usually don’t take when I travel, but I have a small one I have into my checked suitcase before. Traveling sometimes makes me want to get an 18-200 or a 28-300 so I can just take one lens.

[Barracuda]

It’s the Clik Elite ProBody Sport. Right now I keep one lens on the camera and the two other lenses in the lower section of the bag, I should also be able to keep the 100mm macro in that compartment as well where I currently have the 55-250’s lens hood. If I get a lens case or something, I can also keep a lens up in the upper section of the bag as well. I’ll be taking my tripod, it should easily pack into the luggage somewhere, and it attaches to the side of my ClikElite when I’m out and about.

but yeah, I hear you about the 18-200 for one lens ease of use. Then again, I’ve learned enough about lenses to know there are trade offs to be made there compared to multiple lenses.

[olavf]

If it’s Canon, rent the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 It’s really well worth it for those wide-angle shots. I’ll try and dig up some shots from my Death Valley trip last fall later tonight.

[olavf]

Oh, sorry – didn’t see Nikon.

Still, having a super-wide is something you should consider.

[Barracuda]

Actually, I do have a Canon camera, the two old Nikon lenses are mated to the XSi with an adapter. Works pretty well, especially with the 135mm, the 300 is a bit more temperamental to get a good shot with. Thanks for the recommendation on the Tokina 11-16 f2.8.

[nobigdeal]

If it’s Canon, rent the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 It’s really well worth it for those wide-angle shots. I’ll try and dig up some shots from my Death Valley trip last fall later tonight.

The Tokina 11-16 is available in the superior brand also. I had one. Nice lens but I sold it in favor of the 10mm fisheye.

[Yugoboy]

I’m not sure what else you’re packing to go with you, but when I went to Italy, I stuck my camera bag (small backpack-style) into the small duffel bag I used for the carry-on, which also allowed me to cram my tripod in and a couple books and a change or 2 of clothes. It fit in the overhead bin, but also under my feet. I may not have used all my equipment while I was there (there area few filters I haven’t used in years), but I was damn glad to have it, because I never once said “I wish I had my…” in relation to camera stuff.

If you’re intentionally going to somewhere to do some shooting, you’ll kick yourself at some point for not packing “X”. Unless there’s some other considerations I know nothing about (and there could be) and all your equipment normally travels in one not-too-huge bag, why you’d leave anything home is a mystery.

But that’s just me… we don’t have kids, and we almost never have to travel to visit family.

[Barracuda]

Ended up getting the Tokina 11-16 from BorrowLenses.com, arrived today. Pulling down a few test photos right now that I took tonight. Tomorrow I have a ride in the morning, then I need to get my OBO for next week’s contest over to Kestrana who was kind enough to offer to post in my absence. I suspect I’ll be 99% w/o internet connection for the entirety of my trip, just the way I need it.

All my Canon lenses, the Tokina and my speedlight pretty much fill my camera bag, but I should be able to safely travel with all of it. I’ll probably stash one of the lenses in the carry-on suitcase since it’s a really tight fit in the bag to be bumping around a full day in airports and such.

Tokina 11-16 @ 11mm, f11, 2.5s shutter:

11mm, f22, 30sec:

(still working some on this image, not quite satisfied with how it came out of Lightroom just yet)

[fluffybunny]

Hey ‘Cuda,

Wishing you the best of times up in the NW. It is one of my favorite areas of the country. Spent a few years there and wish I could figure out how to get back.

I think you’re going to like the Tokina. I have the Canon version and it is one of my top three (Tamron 17-50 f2.8 for “normal”, Sigma 100-300 f4 for “long” [used to be Canon 70-200 f4 which I still have but use in a more limited way] and the Canon 10-22 for wide). You can put some interesting perspective on subjects with a lens like that which no other can touch (not even fisheyes).

I considered the Tokina at great length for its f2.8 when I was researching but decided that the extra range was more important (fewer lens swaps). In practicality, at the wide end you can easily shoot 1/20 sec exposures free hand without blur because of the (1/focal length) thumb rule, so the f2.8 doesn’t have the same value for me as it does in a lens with a range like 17-50 mm. Also, I switched to the 7D around that same time so I got a bump in high ISO performance. YMMV, IANAL, OMGWTFBFFBBQ, and so on.

/If I remember correctly, the Tokina may work on full frame so if you have plans for migration that may factor in,…

[bender16v]

I’m envious of your trip. I’ve only been to Seattle once for a meeting before but didn’t get time to explore. Yesterday my flight home from SoCal was supposed to go through Atlanta but got delayed so I rebooked to connect through Portland back to Detroit. I was watching out the window most of the time since I don’t know that area and upon landing I decided that I need to schedule a trip there someday. So I’m really looking forward to seeing your photos from the trip.

[Barracuda]

Coastal part of the trip complete, but the valley is having a heat wave so we will probably head back to the coast tomorrow. Posts of fog and wind on the coast so no real good views out to sea to be had.

[Yoyo]

I’ve been known to cram all 6 of my lenses and body into my camera bag (which has space for exactly that amount), and then pack that inside my duffle bag. This past 5 week road trip however just found everything dumped into my car. Camera in front seat, tripod in backseat, and backpack with accessories in the trunk.

For daylight landscapes, I got great results from the Canon EF-S 18-55/3.5-5.6 IS II. It sharpens up fine by f/8, and even then I could easily overexpose the sky. The views are so long range, I rarely felt the need for anything wider than 18mm. The only time I needed a fast lens was getting twilight shots of beavers, and the 85/1.8 was a perfect choice, so I would recommend packing the 50/1.4, and leaving 100 macro at home. The 55-250 came in handy for the wildlife.

Regarding accessories, I did pick up a spare battery before Yellowstone, since Glacier really demanded a lot of picture taking. It went like this: stop the car, take battery off charger, install battery in camera, take some pictures, remove battery, place battery on charger, swear I’m not going to stop again along Going To The Sun road, drive around the next corner and do it all again. And today, after exposure bracketing most landscape shots I picked up a 2 stop graduated-neutral-density filter.

Chatting with the shop owner in Albuquerque, he confirmed my suspicion that New Mexico has much clearer skies and less haze, even without Idaho burning and smoking out Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.

Finally, if you haven’t been to the Chinese garden in downtown Portland, then I recommend it.

[Barracuda]

Started going through the shots, uploading the best, deleting the worst, everything else staying unprocessed for the time being. Debating looking into an HDR specific software package or doing my best with Gimp and the HDR plug in I’ve found for it. I have about a dozen bracketed shots that I took specifically for HDR processing, but those are at the end of the ‘todo’ list right now. I made use of every lens I brought, including the 100 Macro, both for macro shots of some of the local flowers, the bumble bees at the cabin, and as a medium telephoto for some landscapes from the hillside where our cabin was overlooking the valley. The 11-16 came in most handy at the Evergreen Aviation museum, but also got some nice landscapes with it as well. Made heavy use of the polarizing filter, some use of my ND filters as well. Look like I’ve got some 1200+ photos to get through, maybe a 1/3 through my first pass.

(photo difficulty: hide the line of people at the front of the lighthouse, and steady myself against 90-100 MPH wind gusts!!)

edit:

More photos being posted here: http://farktography.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3617

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