July Newsletter: Travel Photography
Lensbaby Labels: newsletter, Travel Photography
Nothing excites the creative juices like being in exotic and fascinating places. Berger Bros. customer, Catherine Grey sent us the wonderful desert photo above. It is a great example of how striking foreign vistas can be and how talented some of our customers are.
Of course, travel photography also puts us in the midst of different cultures of which we may know little. A case in point is a story related to me by another Berger Bros. customer, Marcy, who also travelled to Morocco.
While in Morocco, an expensively dressed and jewelled American woman was shooting up close in the faces of veiled Moslem women who were clearly unhappy about it and were trying to avoid her unsuccessfully. In their defense, Marcy went up close to this would be paparazzi and took her photo. The woman freaked. Marcy stood there quietly and said nothing. The woman's husband, however, got the message and led his wife away saying, "come with me dear and I will explain it to you."
Enjoy your travels this summer. Be prepared with extra memory cards, storage back-up devices, spare batteries, multi voltage chargers and adapters but also be a considerate
traveller sensitive to other culture's attitudes.
Versatile Lenses Ideal for Travel
All of the compact lenses below are suitable for a wide variety of shooting situations ranging from wide-angle landscapes to portraits, action and close-ups. These lenses are ideal walk-around lenses - just right for travelling into the unexpected.
- Nikon 18-135mm F/3.5-5.6 G ED IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor - Extra Low Dispersion Glass, Silent Wave Moter, Internal Focusing, 13.5 ounces - $349.99
- Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM Zoom - Image stabilized, 18.9 ounces - $429.99
- Pentax SMC DA 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 ED, AL, IF Zoom, 16 ounces - $499.99
- Olympus 18-180mm F/3.5-6.3 Zuiko Digital Ultra Zoom - 15.4 ounces - $439.99
- Sony (Alpha) DT 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 IF ED Zoom - Extra Low Dispersion Glass, Internal focusing, 15.5 ounces - $549.99
- Sigma 18-200 F/3.5-6.3 DC Zoom for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Minolta mounts - 14.4 ounces - Special Order Item, Allow 3 days for store pick-up - $379.99
- Tamron SP AF 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-ll LD ASPH (IF) Macro Zoom for Canon, Minolta, Nikon and Pentax mounts - Internal focusing, Low Dispersion Lens. Incredible versatility - just 15.2 ounces - $499.99
JOBY GORILLAPOD SLR-ZOOM 
This is a uniquely usefull tripod to take along on any trip. The SLR-ZOOM model is the largest of three models and can support up to 6.6 pounds of camera and lens yet it is small and surprisingly light - just 8.5 ounces and less than 10 inches long.
It has sturdy legs with flexible joints that can bend and rotate 360 degrees so you can fasten it to a steering wheel, fence or pole for a rock steady shot. Also accepts professional tripod heads which I would recommend to make it fully functional - $49.99
A Lensbaby is a cleverly designed 50mm coated lens in a flexible barrel that can be moved to selectively pin point an area in the image to be in sharp focus while leaving everything else blurry.
For those who enjoy building an image in the viewfinder, this lens can be a lot of fun. While it might be possible to imitate this selectively sharp and blurry effect in Photoshop, it would not be easy. The lens must be used manually and the aperture is set using magnetic rings with different diameter openings that stick to the front of the lens. Whether you take pictures of flowers, portraits or landscapes, the Lensbaby will add a creative new look to your imagery. The Lensbaby 2.0 is $149.99
The Lensbaby 3.0 works the same way as the 2.0 but the desired effect can be locked in place mechanically for more precise control. The Lensbaby 3.0 is $269.99
Considering this camera's very high rating in a recent Consumer Report issue, I felt it was worth mentioning again. The E510 is a 10MP digital SLR with Live View, an effective Dust Reduction System and a 2.5 inch HyperCrystal LCD that lets you see the screen with amazing clarity in bright sunlight and from angles up to 176 degrees.
Another clever design feature is the use of two memory slots - one for a compact flash card and one for an xD card. You can even transfer images in camera from one card to the other. This is an excellent all-around, travel, children, sports camera.
There is real value here. The E510 D-SLR two lens kit 14-42mm & 40-150mm is just $649.99
