Scotland Camping Trip, July 2015 - Equipment

Christopher Hooper

Christopher Hooper

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Chris
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Hi all, this is my first post on the forums, please be gentle! :)

I am a burgeoning amateur on a limited budget, and have just splashed out on a 100D with a 18-55mm STM kit lens and a 55-250mm STM zoom. I also have a 58mm Hoya circular polarizer in the post.

We are heading off the Scotland for a 10day camping trip and I am trying to decide if i need the 10-18mm wide angle STM lens, and possibly some ND filters for waterfalls etc. I am keen to get into landscape photography, and worry that I will be missing out on some opportunities (although would prefer not to spend the money at the moment!).

Any advice gratefully received, thanks.
 
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Have a look at lensesforhire.co.uk - you will be able to hire a Canon wide angle lens for that period which could be more economical than buying if you don't need or want one for a while after.

ND filters you'd have to buy and can be reasonably expensive. Have a look at Hitech filters for a cheaper option than Lee.
 
18-55 is a good start, wide angle is nice of course! Maybe first learn to master your camera before investing in expensive gear...even with a kit-lens you can make nice pictures.
ND filters will come in handy, GND too for the high contrasts, especially in Scotland.
A good steady tripod is a must have!
 
If you are getting interested in landscape photography, or think you may do, then maybe most important first "extra" is some sort of a tripod. You wont be able to do long exposures during the main part of the day without ND, but using a small aperture and low ISO you may be able to extend the exposure time to half a second or more which will give a decent effect to the waterfalls. At dawn and dusk you may get an exposure of several seconds. But for both cases a tripod is a must, and if you are going to use ND for longer exposures you will need a tripod anyway. I would advise not going the cheapo tripod route as they are pretty much rubbish, I speak from experience, but there are decent ones for not that much and the forum members can impartially advise you which.

Your 18mm end of the zoom is enough for a lot of landscape photography, of course it has the restriction that you may well want to go wider, but for a start, its enough.

I would certainly recommend getting some experience with your camera, and finding what part of landscape photography you enjoy most then it will become apparent what your current setup cant do for you, and what you will need to go further.

Ive spent the last year experimenting with lots of equipment, and what I have learnt most is that landscape photography is more about making the effort of finding and getting to the locations, often, and usually best at horrible times of day - dawn and dusk. Plus having an eye for a composition, and keeping the other eye on the Histogram.

Good luck, have fun, a camera and a will to do it are really all you need.
 
Scotland in July & you're asking about lenses .... I'd be asking about midge netting and other repellent strategies! Unless you're the impervious types ...
 
droj said:
Scotland in July & you're asking about lenses .... I'd be asking about midge netting and other repellent strategies! Unless you're the impervious types ...
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+ some way of keeping that expensive equipment dry. ;) The rain has been non stop this summer.
 
You haven't said where you are going in Scotland?
Ive just been to IOSkye and a wide angle was perfect...10-20 and my 24-105 was useful...a zoom was rarely used..
Hope thats helps.
Importantly, have a great time, and think about composition and the available light
 
IMO, if you are new to photography stick with what you've got.

Too much gear will potentially frustrate you.

As said above a good tripod is a must for landscapes.

Cheers and enjoy you trip
 
Never sure why a tripod is such a "must have" for a beginner... a monopod really helps steady the camera and is MUCH easier to carry. Need the tripod for long exposures, and multiple exposures (focus blend, HDR etc), but otherwise a reasonable camera, grads, and a good (or at least developing) eye for composition are surely most important?:thinking:
 
posiview said:
IMO, if you are new to photography stick with what you've got.

Too much gear will potentially frustrate you.

As said above a good tripod is a must for landscapes.

Cheers and enjoy you trip
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Gotta agree with this ^^^

I often shoot all day with just my 17-55 and one camera - no filters and no tripod

Tripod is great for slower shutter speeds, waterfalls are often under foliage so you can get slow-ish anyway, but a ND filter will really help slow it all down

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the Polariser but it sounds like that's too late now, and they can be more useful with water than skies

Grads are pretty much a waste of time, money and an annoyance if you have any decent post-processing software (i.e. Photoshop)

If weight is an issue, leave the 55-250 at home

But - as posiview says - enjoy yourself and don't kick yourself that you haven't the right gear or don't know enough yet to get the best from whatever you're shooting - its supposed to be fun after all :)

Dave
 
DG Phototraining said:
Grads are pretty much a waste of time, money and an annoyance if you have any decent post-processing software (i.e. Photoshop)
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REALLY? :puke:

I must be doing everything very wrong then.
 
Yes because there'll be a tree in the way that you didn't want making darker..
Using RAW and Lightroom alone does away with any real need for grads most of the time.
They are just one more thing to fiddle about with while you miss the fleeting light, and get bitten by midges (they are especially bad this year).
I would say just take what you have and look for good compositions while avoiding the photographer honeypots.
A tripod is OK but one more thing to fiddle about with.
You can very often just set the camera on a stone or something which is almost as good.
 
4wd said:
Yes because there'll be a tree in the way that you didn't want making darker..
Using RAW and Lightroom alone does away with any real need for grads most of the time.
They are just one more thing to fiddle about with while you miss the fleeting light, and get bitten by midges (they are especially bad this year).
I would say just take what you have and look for good compositions while avoiding the photographer honeypots.
A tripod is OK but one more thing to fiddle about with.
You can very often just set the camera on a stone or something which is almost as good.
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you must be all using Phase One and Hasselblads if you are making such statements. You simply can't recover 3-4 stops from shadows and print A1 with any reasonable gear. So please stop this.
 
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