Elk Pic taken with a Canon EF 600mm f4.0L IS from 150 yards.
I loved being able to use the big boy (600mm f4.0), but unfortunately we were only able to pull it out one time on this trip. The wildlife was just not wanting to be photographed. But I was able to use it for about 30 minutes one day. The big lens coupled to the Wimberley gimble mount coupled to the Manfrotto carbon tripod made this 12lb lens easy to maneuver. I could not imagine ever hand holding this lens. A monopod would be doable, but you would have your work cut out for you!
I read somewhere that you should always have a back up plan. When you plan a photography trip, you have many items in which you control: where you go, you can create a list of places to visit and shoot, pick your base camp , select your glass. One thing you cannot predict is the weather. When I say it rained most of the time we were there, it did just that! One of the rangers up in the park commented that he had never remembered a July like this one on over 15 years. What do you do when it rains? You don't give up. We spend one day driving up on the old falls trail dirt road. Due to the cloud cover and lower light it made it absolutly perfect for water fall pics.
Taken with a 14mm f2.8L lens Exposure 30 Sec, F22
The good news is we did get one good morning of shooting in. On the last morning, we got up at 4am (thought it was 5am but the cell phone did not adjust to the one hour time difference) and headed for some lakes we wanted to hike into. We drove at night to the Bear Lake parking lot where we got our gear ready for about a 20 minute hike. We set up initially at Nymph Lake for initial sun rise, and then hi-tailed it to Emerald Lake for the remainder of the good light. We had a blast (and due to the 3 mile hike) were exhausted. I do need to hit the treadmill more! I loved being able to use the big boy (600mm f4.0), but unfortunately we were only able to pull it out one time on this trip. The wildlife was just not wanting to be photographed. But I was able to use it for about 30 minutes one day. The big lens coupled to the Wimberley gimble mount coupled to the Manfrotto carbon tripod made this 12lb lens easy to maneuver. I could not imagine ever hand holding this lens. A monopod would be doable, but you would have your work cut out for you!
I read somewhere that you should always have a back up plan. When you plan a photography trip, you have many items in which you control: where you go, you can create a list of places to visit and shoot, pick your base camp , select your glass. One thing you cannot predict is the weather. When I say it rained most of the time we were there, it did just that! One of the rangers up in the park commented that he had never remembered a July like this one on over 15 years. What do you do when it rains? You don't give up. We spend one day driving up on the old falls trail dirt road. Due to the cloud cover and lower light it made it absolutly perfect for water fall pics.
Taken with a 14mm f2.8L lens Exposure 30 Sec, F22
Emerald Lake Photo taken with the Canon EF16-35mm f2.8 Lens
Nymph Lake - Taken with the EF 14mm f2.8L Lens
All in all it was a good trip. If you notice some of the "fall color" looking trees, this is actually due to a beetle problem. These are all evergreens in which have been killed due to this beetle infiltration. The trip was an all in all success. The purpose of the trip was to learn, grow, and gain more experience as a photographer. I would say for myself it was a success.