Nature & Travel Photography by Justin Reznick

It’s simple really, don’t subscribe. I love Lightroom and Photoshop. They are a part of my workflow on every image that I create. Fortunately, Lightroom will stay independent of Adobe’s new subscription based model, and I look forward to purchasing and using each new version that is released.

As for Photoshop… plenty has been written on the negative aspects of Adobe’s new delivery method. I need to highlight just a few to make my point.

1) You are looking at an 80 – 100 percent price increase, depending on your normal Photoshop upgrade path. That is unreasonable by any accounts for an extremely expensive product to begin with! It is so sad that Adobe is claiming a cheaper price (with the assumption that you buy the standalone product at full price as opposed to most who upgrade at a reduced price, normally during a promotion).

2) What happens to your files if you no longer want to shoot and process for a couple of years? What happens when you go on a 6 month trip? I put Netflix on hold while I’m out-of-town, can I do the same with Photoshop?

3) Adobe claims regular updates but in reality, there has been very few changes since Photoshop CS4! Each edition has minor revisions. Why would this be any different? Why would I believe that all of sudden Photoshop is going to take off with radical new changes? The program is so robust, it’s extremely difficult to improve.

Photoshop CS6 is a fantastic product. It does everything I want it to do. I plan on using it for years to come. The new Photoshop CC may be tempting in a few years when the feature set grows, but the current upgrades or so minor, I would hesitate to upgrade at this point even if it where a standalone product. I think part of the reason Adobe is going this route is the monopoly they have on the industry. If there was a viable competitor, photographers would flock to it. I hope Google and the talented team at Nik Software are paying attention. If they could come to market in 12 – 18 months with a Photoshop clone (for photographers), price it at $149 – $199, there will be a market for it. If Apple could expand Aperture to have a complex layer and masking system, people would get excited. Adobe needs a competitor and they just left themselves wide open!

The annual top 10 list in chronological order. Thanks for having a look!

Phoenix Rising

Angel

Explosions in the Sky

Ice Figures

Tree of Life

Velvet Hills

Patience

Glacier by Night

Antelope Sky

Watchman Sunset

Wide-angle

Telephoto

I’m a gearhead, no doubt about it. Lenses are not only addicting to use and collect, but are also often a good investment. The sheer number of lenses in the photography world has grown immensely, with incredible variations in ability and quality. Tilt-sift, macro, telephoto, wide-angle and primes are used by many landscape photographers. I myself have owned lenses in each and every one of those categories. But here’s the thing: in order to create the kind of art I love… I only need two lens. That’s right, two lenses will cover it all!

I once watched a video of Art Wolfe doing a “What’s in the bag” feature and he highlighted a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II and a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS and that was it. For macro work, he uses extension tubes and for a trip with wildlife as a focus, he brings a specialized lens (600mm prime for example). At the time I thought it was pretty cool to see a professional photographer in the field that I respect and a photographer with an unlimited budget (and sponsorship from multiple camera companies ) only carry two lenses. It had nothing to do with money and a love of gear, but simply this – how can I create the art I’m interested in and not break my back? Camera gear is heavy and quality glass takes the cake. As a landscape photographer, I spend a great deal of time on the trail carrying my gear mile after mile. There have been plenty of trips where I wish a lens had stayed behind, especially if I didn’t end up using it.

Landscape photography is most interesting when a story is told that goes beyond our normal field of vision. That’s the beauty of the wide-angle and telephoto lens. They don’t see as our eye sees, and as a result, the images are often more compelling. That’s not to say that a great image can’t be taken from 35 – 70mm, but if you study your favorite landscape images, chances are most of them are on the wide or long end. I don’t own a 24-70mm or a 24-105mm. I just sold my 50mm f/1.4 today. I had kept it for a long time just in case I needed something in the 35-70mm range, but the reality is, I rarely ever do. It’s not worth carrying the extra lens when the chance of using it is so remote.

Prime lenses are impractical for landscape photography. It just doesn’t make sense to carry a lens with one focal length when you can carry a lens that covers a wider range. Although one could argue that prime lenses produce images of higher quality, zooms can be fantastic. Just ask anyone who uses a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 or a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS. Their quality is astounding, and their focal range is far more versatile than a prime.

Tilt-shift lenses are a lot like primes to me: not versatile for what they accomplish. You can create fantastic panoramas with tilt-shift lenses, but you can do that without them as well. You can create  great depth of field with a wider aperture with tilt-shift lenses, but with the advances made in focal blending and high ISO performance, great depth of field can usually be captured with a standard lens as well.

Macro lenses are a little different for me. I enjoy shooting macro, and while it doesn’t happen often, when it does I love having a dedicated macro lens. If I know I’m going on a trip with potential macro subjects, I will carry the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. It is phenomenal. I have had so much success with the Tamron, I hesitate to go to extension tubes. Having said that, if I can leave the macro lens home, I often will.

If you’re starting out, chances are you will also go through a similar lens progression. Just don’t be surprised if you end up with two lenses in the end.

Recommendations:

Canon full frame:

Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS

Canon crop sensor:

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS

Nikon full frame:

Nikon 16-35mm f/4

Nikon 70-200mm f/4

Nikon crop sensor:

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Nikon 70-200mm f/4

Sony full frame:

Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss

Sony 70-300mm f/4 -5.6G

Sony crop sensor:

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Sony 70-300mm f/4-5.6G

 5 items over $100 that every landscape photographer would love to have!

#1 B+W Polarizers $100 – $300

The polarizer is the most under used tool in the landscape photographer’s toolbox for creating stunning images. I prefer high quality from B+W that won’t break the bank. If the polarizer is for a wide-angle lens, make sure and buy a slim mount filter!

#2 Canon 5D Mark III $2,999

We get a welcome price drop on an incredible camera. Durable, with an incredible design, the Mark III will never get in your way of taking incredible images. Canon’s sensor technology is behind Sony’s currently, but in terms of camera design, the Mark III is phenomenal.

#3  L-Bracket for your DSLR $140

L-Brackets are great for switching between landscape and portrait mode on your tripod, ensuring a more stable setup and maintaining the current composition. They also make the body more durable by providing protection on two sides of the body.

#4 Sony NEX-7 $1098 with Sony 10-18mm f/4 $848

We’ve been waiting for a high quality, ultralight system for landscape photographers in the backcountry and those who emphasize ultralight gear. The NEX-7 is the obvious choice with the best in class 24.3 megapixel APCS-C sensor;  without a wide-angle lens it wasn’t an option…until now! The wide-angle lens is out and we have your ultralight system!

#5 Landscape Photography Workshop $795

There is no better way to improve as a landscape photographer than to attend a workshop led by a passionate instructor. What can I say, I love what I do!

First up, 5 items under $100 that every landscape photographer needs!

#1 Giottos Rocket Air Blaster Large $9.95

The rocket air blaster is absolutely essential, and the go to tool for cleaning dust and water droplets off lenses, sensors and filters. I use it every time my camera comes out. In fact, I went ahead and attached it to a lanyard so I can wear it around my neck. That way, I never lose it and it’s always accessible.

#2 Hoodman Loupe 3.0 $79.95

I was slow to adopt the Hoodman Loupe and boy was I missing out. After shooting in the glaring sunlight in the Palouse, I finally made the investment. And now, I can’t live without it. Once you find the composition with the viewfinder, the LCD screen becomes the viewing area for your images. By using the Hoodman Loupe, you can eliminate everything but your subject, just like looking through your viewfinder. You can also see the LCD in any weather condition and check for sharpness in your images more effectively than with the naked eye.

#3 Remote Shutter, brand of your choice, Canon RS-80N3 $44.95,  Nikon MC-30A $64.95

Landscape photographers use remote shutters for all their images, and those shutters get lost and damaged on a regular basis. Every workshop I run results in one lost or damaged remote shutter, guaranteed! I highly recommend that every landscape photographer carry two with them at all times. If you’re getting one as a gift from someone, you don’t have to worry about whether or not they already own one!

#4 Filter Wrench Package of 2 $6.99

The filter wrench is so simple and effective. It barely weighs anything and it costs so little. Yet you can’t live without it! Filters get stuck, and during every workshop, I find myself unscrewing a stuck filter!

#5 Therm-a-Rest Z-Seat Pad $14.95

This is a little out of the ordinary for a photography gift, but I love carrying a seat pad for when I’m shooting in any kind of kneeling position. It’s also great for laying your gear on when you don’t want it touching the ground. And finally, the non-photographer will be very excited when you offer them a seat while you’re shooting!

The D800E has become all the rage in landscape photography. While leading numerous private tours and workshops this fall, my clients continually show up with the latest and greatest from Nikon. There have been many converts from Canon in the landscape world as well. Bottom line – it’s become a very popular camera amongst landscape photographers.

Let’s get the sensor talk out of the way. It is the best sensor in the DSLR market with incredible dynamic range and resolution. That’s not debatable. This article is about usability, not image quality. If image quality trumps the usability of the camera, than there really is no argument, get the D800E. If you want a camera that’s a joy to use and doesn’t get in the way of creating images, consider other bodies like the Canon 5D Mark III.

Nikon has never taken live view seriously. Even relatively recent bodies still have live view buried in a dial that also controls burst mode and timer remote. These are obvious features you would want to pair in many situations. The D800E has a dedicated live view button, but the live view is inadequate. The screen resolution is 921,000 dots per inch. The Canon 5D Mark III has a 1,040,000 dots per inch screen. The forward thinking Sony A99 comes with a whopping 1,228,000 dots per inch screen. Nikon is last in this category and while 921,000 is plenty usable, there is a green tint on the screen that is so strong that you lose all sense of the colors of the scene before you. When shooting a scene next to a client, he would look at my LCD (Mark III) to review images he was taking with his D800E! Worst of all, the live view has a live depth of field feature that gives you an accurate reading based on your aperture. This is a monstrous engineering error. When photographing in a dark environment like the Narrows of Zion National Park, you have to change the aperture to f/2.8 or f/4 to even see the image in the screen! Smaller apertures show up as pure black on the screen. How often do D800E users forget to change the aperture and end up shooting wide-open? There is a depth of field preview button on my Mark III. I can CHOOSE to see the depth of field preview on the LCD if I want to. At the time of writing this blog,  I have read a firmware release will be coming to fix this issue.  Glad to know that Nikon is addressing it!

I have been harping on live view quite a bit, but here’s the thing – landscape photography has evolved to a point where nearly all landscape photographers use live view on nearly every image they take. The viewfinder is for composing, live view is for shooting. If any of my clients don’t use live view, I do my best to convert them. It really makes the DSLR a much more efficient tool. I will discuss the many benefits of live view in a future blog post. Nikon needs to recognize this trend and take live view more seriously. Even a recent model like the D700 is almost useless with live view due to battery life.  If you are shooting live view on the D700, you will go through a battery in less than 2 hours! The D800E has poor live view battery life as well, but it is much more useable.

This first issue with the D800E has nothing to do with the sensor but simply the engineering of the camera. My second issue is a product of the size of the sensor and will likely still be an issue in the huge megapixel cameras coming from Canon and Sony in 2013.

Nikon recommends that an aperture of f/11 is as small as you should go to maximize quality and avoid diffraction. They are not kidding. I use f/13, f/14, and f/16 a lot, and even f/18, f/20, or f/22 on occasion. Diffraction on a sensor with less megapixels is minimal in comparison. I have shot the D800E at f/14 with a blurry background (a result of diffraction). For me and my workflow in the field, the limitation of f/11 is crippling. It slows me down and forces me into focal blends. I’m comfortable focal blending and I teach it to all my clients, especially D800E owners, but it is time-consuming and if I know I can use f/16 to maximize my depth of field, I want that option. It’s a sacrifice to obtaining incredible resolution and thus the ability to create large, detailed prints, but I’m not sure all D800E owners are aware of it, and whether or not they in the market of creating large fine art prints.

I have some bias towards the Canon ergonomics, including how the camera feels in the hand and the incredibly tactile feel of the click wheel on the back. The Nikon joystick is a mess in my opinion. Obviously those view are very subjective. I am not loyal to Canon. I took a hard look at the D800E upon release, I’m intrigued by the Sony A99, and will go with the right tools to create the images I want to make. I’m simply not impressed with the usability of the D800E during my time with it, and I thought it was worth sharing my findings.