I really enjoyed shooting with the Nikon 14-24mm AF-S f/2.8G ED lens which was released as part of Nikon’s foray into full-frame cameras along with the D3. It takes incredible images and was a pleasure to use. But for most of us it has several drawbacks which make it a difficult acquisition. First is price. At $1800 for the US version it is a large investment for a lens that typically gets used a lot less than a mid-range zoom. Second, it is large and heavy. If you lug your gear with you the 2.2 lb. weight and 4”x5” size create quite an impact on your photo pack. Finally the “domed” front makes it difficult and expensive to use filters with it (an expensive add-on adapter is needed).

Grand Prismatic, Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Nikon D700, Sigma 12-24mm Lens at 12mm, f/22@1/250s, ISO 800
Going ultra-wide is the only way to get the full scene, as the moving steam rules out a pano

For anyone not used to getting up early, landscape photography can be a real chore. Most sights are best photographed near sunrise and sunset. In June and July in particular those can be pretty far apart! So it was refreshing to finish our morning adventures yesterday in Yellowstone National Park with one of the wonders of the world which really looks its best in mid-day in mid-summer…

I was reminded repeatedly on my recent trip to Yellowstone that metering in snow scares people. Any time we were near other photographers you could hear the timid “now snow is +1, right?” call out to a companion. From reading his latest BT Journal my friend Moose Peterson heard plenty of the same when he was there. But as Moose points out, snow can be your friend…

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I’m just back from a great trip with my friends Will & Lawrence to Yellowstone and southern Montana. Due to scheduling issues we almost missed the winter season but got there just in time for some good snow scenes and plenty of animals along the roads…