Help with Yellowstone Planning Requested

Zanotti

Dgrinners:

My family and I are going on a family tour of the upper West, from Yellowstone through to the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore. It a tour, where you stay in many of the national parks. There are 14 of us, so its a big crowd, a bit of a family reunion. The tour is by bus between, so control is at a minimum.

Anyway, I am torn by what equipment to bring. I have too much gear! I want to travel kind of light, but always enjoy good pictures. I am tempted to bring just my 50D and 24-105 zoom, plus a flash.

I sold my 70-200 f4 in favor of the f2.8, but miss the form factor of the smaller lens. I also have a 300f4, which is smaller and lighter, but might be just too much reach.

On the opposite side, I have a 10-20, but have never really taken to wide angle. I guess I just dont think that way. I took it out for the day yesterday and used it but didnt like the look of the photos. I did take a couple of scenery and they turned out better.

I am dispensing with the tripod, perhaps a mistake but heavy to carry and time consuming to set up. This isnt a photo vacation per se, but I usually end up making a book of the trip and send them to all the family - so many of the shots are perfect with the 24-105 ; family member foreground, scenery background.

A long winded way to ask if you could provide any advice? I have not shot out West with good equipment and wonder if my thinking is in line.

Thanks,

Z

Marcy

take the wide angle and the 300 both will be used - In Yellowstone - the telephoto will be your best friend for animals - and the wide angle will do for the landscapes - Mount Rushmore can be done with your 24-105 - If you can only take 2 lenses one long and your 24-105 will be the best

schmoo

Good luck on your trip! I hope you are able to get some great shots and I'm sure your book will be well-received.

What you take depends on how you shoot, but I've found over time that one wide, one zoom, and a tripod covers pretty much everything if you've got landscapes on the brain. The tripod will allow you to achieve unlimited wide-ness (via panos ) and the zoom lets you get portraits of your family, wildlife, the sunset over them there mountains, etc.

It's understandable not wanting to drag a huge tripod, especially if it's a family trip and you won't really be roughing it. Maybe investing in a smaller, lighter one for such occasions?

theNOIZ

Z,

We're doing a family/photo trip to Yellowstone in a few weeks too.

This is my plan, maybe it will help you, maybe not.

I'm going to be using my Tammy 18-270 for landscapes and Canon 100-400 for wildlife. For landscapes, I'm going to pre-plan those and use a tripod. I bought a window mount for my Manfrotto head to use for wildlife. And I haven't decided if I'm going take my monopod. For the family walks along the paths and boardwalks I'm going to have my camera on my R-strap. People walking on the boardwalks can cause them to bounce, so taking a tripod is pointless.

Good luck with your trip and post some pics when you get home!