Holyday Sale

Hi, everyone

I hope you are having a great weekend. First things first. I’ve launched a holyday sale! Prints make a great holyday gift. Some additional amazing images coming over the next couple of weeks. I will try to get them up as soon as I can, so you can get them before Christmas and the New Year. Get 10% off of any print type until January 2nd by using code “HOLYDAYS2024” at check-out.

Dispatches from the Balkans Series: Intro

Check out the gallery!

I have recently returned from a two-weeks workshop with Esenko Workshops in the Balkans. We spent about a week in Slovenia (with a short detour into Italy) and another week in Bosnia and Croatia. In addition, I spent a few more days around Ljubljana (what an amazing city!). First of all, big thanks to Luka Esenko. He is a great guide. Because of his knowledge of what locations work best in what weather conditions, we were able to squeeze the maximum out of the experience. If you are looking for a photo tour in that area of the world, definitely check him out!

I wanted to go to that area of the world for probably more than twenty years. Well before I became serious about my photography. It offers an amazing selection of natural wonders and is well worth the visit.

Of Light and Waterfalls (Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia)

I came back with an insane 13,000 (!) images. Since returning, I’ve been busy editing as quickly as I can, but have only scratched the surface so far. it’s going to be a long process (probably longer than it needs to be given my slow editing speed :-( ). I will create a separate gallery for the images from the trip. Since, I will only include a small selection of images in the posts, be sure to check out the gallery. It will take some time to set the images up in the store, but in the meanwhile, if you are interested in any of them, just drop me a line and we can figure out what size and type of print you would like.

I plan to write a series of “definitely not blog posts” about the trip that will be called “Dispatches from the Balkans.” I was originally planning to write in more or less chronological order, but eventually decided against it. I settled on writing posts that would be focused on several themes during the trip. So, without further ado…

What is a Telephoto Lens and Why You Need It Badly as a Landscape Photographer

Before I begin, I have to say that this post is not intended as a review of any specific lens (although you might see me gush about mine :-) ). I was definitely not paid any money to promote any brand or even asked to review any brand lens. At the end of the post I will writ a short section offering several alternatives to my lens with a short description of pros and cons for each.

This disclaimer out of the way…

Lenses are generally grouped by their focal lengths (magnification level) into several families. The lines between those families are pretty fuzzy, so, don’t take the boundaries as gospel. The focal lengths below are in terms of “full frame equivalent” (35mm in film days) as the size of the sensor changes the field of view of the lens at any particular focal length (that’s why smartphone lenses are much shorter focal length, but have the “equivalent” field of view to full frame wide/standard/telephoto lenses).

Ultra wide — 10-24mm (there are wider lenses out there, but they are generally very specialized)
Wide — 24-35mm (typical “standard” lens on a smartphone is 24mm)
Standard — 35-70mm (these focal lengths are considered “standard” because they have lower distortion compared to what our eyes see)
Telephoto — 70-400mm
Super Telephoto — >400mm

In the Julian Alps. Wide angle shot at 22mm. Red circle indicates the area for the telephoto shot below

Of Light and Shadow. Telephoto shot at 400mm, picked out from the above wide image

A set of zoom lenses such as 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm (there are some variations on these lenses from different manufacturers and also based on what you are looking for) is generally considered the “holy trinity” of lenses. This is because they offer a good coverage of focal lengths from the ultra-wide and to a telephoto. There are versions of these lenses that are more appropriate for different genres of photography (for example, f2.8 constant aperture variants are the preferred tools for portrait and wedding photographers, while landscape photographers often prefer similar lenses with smaller maximum apertures because they are lighter).

As I described in this “definitely not a blog post”, I relatively recently switched to a new camera and got two lenses to cover anything from 20mm to 400mm. Since then I added a 16mm lens for ultra-wide and night sky shots. In addition, I got a back-up APSC camera (camera with a smaller sensor). It can use the same lenses, but because the sensor is smaller, the equivalent maximum range of my lenses is now 600mm (I am not going to go here into details of pros and cons of the smaller sensor. Suffice it to say, there is no free lunch and there are always some trade-offs. As a photographer, you need to know limitations of your equipment and how to work within them).

Here is the point where I gush about my telephoto lens (Tamron 50-400mm). I’ll give a little more details in the last section on equipment. Until now, I mostly used it for occasional wildlife shot, and for some more standard shots. This was really the first time I put it though the full range of use.

To make the long story short, it is excellent. It also has the great advantage of being relatively light and compact for what it is (it is still pretty big). This allowed me much of the time to shoot handheld with it. Using such a lens handheld offers much greater level of flexibility compared to being always on a tripod (this was especially true in the conditions we encountered). In addition, it has lens stabilization, which is pretty good, allowing me to shoot relatively long shutter speeds handheld. With the two camera bodies I have, it offers insane flexibility that I will show in this post. It is also plenty sharp for real world conditions.

Telephoto Heaven at Saint Thomas (Sveti Tomaz) Church

Saint Thomas Church (Sveti Tomaz) is famous location in the Julian Alps, where a beautiful church stands on a hill against a backdrop of beautiful mountains. The location offers spectacular view, especially during inversion when the valley is filled with mist.

We came to the area about half an hour before sunrise on our first morning in the workshop and it didn’t disappoint. What a start to the workshop!

Above the Mists. Saint Thomas Church in the Julian Alps, Slovenia. 63mm

As the morning mist flowed and changed in the valley, I put one of my cameras to shoot a timelapse and took out my Tamron lens handheld. The flexibility of being able to capture relatively wide shots (down all the way to 50mm), coupled with telephoto images all the way up to 400mm is everything I needed in such conditions.

Saint Thomas Church in the Julian Alps, Slovenia. 117mm

First Light. Saint Thomas Church in the Julian Alps, Slovenia. 154mm

Importantly, such conditions are heaven for a telephoto lens. It offers the option to pick out details that simplify the composition and focus the eye on beautiful minimalistic images.

Mist and Clouds in the Julian Alps

We spent the next few days in the Julian Alps near Lake Bled, and then in the Triglav National Park. The conditions were made for a telephoto lens, with roiling mists in the valleys and low clouds swirling around the mountain tops.

Hidden Valley. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 20mm

This short (ish) post can’t do full justice to the many locations and beautiful conditions we encountered. On several occasions I set up my main camera for a wider shot or a timelapse to capture the beautiful changing conditions. I used my back-up (Sony a6700) camera with the Tamron lens to pick-out details.

Window. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 93mm equivalent

In the Halls of the Mountain King. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 504mm equivalent

Mountain Tops. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 261mm equivalent

Mountain Slopes. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 103mm equivalent

It should be noted that a telephoto lens is not reserved for detail shooting only. It offers a unique opportunity to produce large scale panoramic images with the level of details that cannot be obtained in a single shot. Below, for example, is a panoramic image produced from a series of images with equivalent focal length of about 100mm. Althou the camera used for this image has “only” 26 megapixels, the full resolution panoramic image is approximately 150 megapixels of detail.

On our way back to Ljubljana, we stopped in a few more locations to capture some amazing images. There are too many to include in this post, and I have many more that I haven’t gotten to editing yet. In the very last location we stopped, I used my a6700 with the Tamron lens to capture one of my favorite images of this trip.

Cross above the Clouds. Julian Alps, Slovenia. 600mm eqivalent

Minimalistic Monochrome

The misty conditions in the mountains also lend themselves to very minimalistic black and white images. Here is a selection.

Mountain Peaks 1. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 102mm equivalent

Mountain Peaks 2. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 241mm equivalent

Mountain Peaks 3. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 217mm equivalent

Mountain Peaks 4. Triglav National Park, Slovenia. 600mm equivalent

Cross above the Clouds in Monochrome. Julian Alps, Slovenia. 600mm eqivalent

In Short, this trip, especially the portion of the trip in Slovenia, gave me a wonderful opportunity to take full advantage of my telephoto lens. It is really an indispensable tool in the arsenal of a landscape photographer and offers opportunities to create unique images.

Below are my few suggestions for gear options for those who are interested.

A Short Note About Gear

As I mentioned, I am using Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD (that’s a mouthful) as my telephoto lens (and, yes, I had it before Mads Peter Iversen :-) ). It is, obviously not the only choice you can make. Here I will make a few suggestions. As you probably figured out by now, I am using Sony E-mount as my cameras (both full frame and APSC). Other manufacturers have more or less equivalent lens choices (the Tamron is more or less unique in the Sony system because it goes to 50mm on the wide end). In this day and age, all the big manufacturers offer excellent quality cameras and lenses, and you really can’t go wrong with any of them. Some will be marginally better than others, but additional considerations such as weight and cost might sway you towarsds a specific choice.

It should be noted here, that I do not recommend 70-200 f2.8 GM II lens as an option here. Don’t get me wrong, it is an amazing lens with probably the best image quality in this focal range, but in my view, it is more of a portrait/wedding lens as it offers a f2.8 aperture. In my opinion, landscape photographers would be better served with a lens that has more reach.

For the same reason, the recent 70-200 f4 G lens would probably not be my first choice. Again, it’s an excellent lens, offering image quality almost as good as its GM cousin at about half the price. It is significantly lighter than the GM, making it a very good travel lens. In addition, it has a good macro capability throughout the focal range. In short, excellent lens, but I would prefer a longer focal length.

Weight and Budget Options

Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS and Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD offer a good lightweight option for a telephoto lens. Based on the reviews I’ve seen (I have not tried either of these lenses), Sony is marginally better in terms of image quality, but it is more than double the price (it is, however the most budget friendly option if you only buy OEM). These two lenses (and especially the Tamron version) are on the slow side in terms of aperture, but it is generally not a big deal for landscape photographers who use tripods and stop down their lenses anyway. The possible exception for this would be handholding, but with current generation of cameras and noise reduction software it is not an issue in the vast majority of cases.

It should be noted that if you are exclusively an apsc shooter (or shoot telephoto only on apsc cameras such as a6XXX series), Sony E 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS would be the better choice compared to the previous two. It is designed for apsc specifically, and thus is even lighter than the others. It also offers excellent quality and just a tiny bit more reach.

A Little More Reach and Still Budget

Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary is an excellent budget option with a little more reach. When I got my Tamron, I was seriously considering this lens. It is almost the same size and weight as the Tamron and is significantly less expensive. From the reviews and comparisons I saw, image quality on the two lenses is almost indistinguishable on a lower resolution body such as my Sony a7 IV (Tamron is marginally sharper on a higher resolution body such as Sony a7R IV or Sony a7R V). It is doubtful that any such difference would be obvious in real world results. I finally chose the Tamron because of the extra reach on the wide end and better weather sealing.

Best of the Best, but You Have to Pay

Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS offers a slight advantage in terms of image quality over the Sigma and the Tamron. Since it is an OEM lens, it also offers higher frame rates on camera bodies that support shooting more than 15 fps (though it is not a feature pof huge interest to a landscape photographer unless you dabble in wildlife as well). The Sony is a bit bigger and heavier because it is an internal zoom lens, but offers the best weather sealing of the bunch because of that.

Long Reach Heavy Options

Sony ecosystem offers several options that are geared more towards the wildlife and bird photographer, reaching to 500-600mm. These are too heavy for my taste, but if you are ok with that, they offer even more reach. Out of the bunch Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports is the most versatile, but also the heaviest.

In short, Sony shooters are really spoilt for choice in terms of telephoto options for almost any budget and preference. And who can complain about that!

I hope you enjoyed this first installment of Dispatches from the Balkans. Check out the gallery!

Have a great rest of your weekend andh holyday season!

Dispatches from the Balkans. Part 1: Unleash the Power of Your Telephoto Lens

The Year That Was. Favorite Images of 2023. Part 1: Shooting Locally

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