Friday, August 17, 2007

hiking/biking and photography

For the moment, I have two lenses for my camera: 18-55 and 55-200mm. I was considering buying just a camera body and one 18-200mm lens, but I had problems finding a place that would sell just a body of Nikon D40 - it always comes "in kit" with a lens (usually 18-55, occasionally 18-135). Moreover, 18-200mm lens is very expensive and its demand significantly exceeds supply, which means that after you place your order you have to wait for it 1-3 months. That's why I decided to go for two-lens solution.
Now I kind of regret it. I lost few good shots (of wild animals) because I did not have my telelens handy enough or I was too slow in changing it. Also during hiking carrying two lenses with you in the way that you could easily access both of them is really tricky and not very practical.
I learned my lesson: next time I go hiking I will only take the 18-55 lens with me. I will only carry both lenses with me when I will go somewhere with a specific aim of taking pictures. The same will apply to other lenses that I will potentially buy in the future (I decided that I will only buy a wide-angle or macro lens when the quality of my photos with the current camera/lens set up will justify further investment in photography).

Today I went biking with my camera, and finally having a telelens with me paid off. I had time to exchange the lenses and take this picture of (1) Palace of Fine Arts in the foreground, (2) Alcatraz in the center and (3) the coastline in the background:


The fog is slowly approaching:


Golden Gate Bridge from the west:


Golden Gate Bridge from the east: