tips

hi very new to photography I am off to sri lanka on holls at the end september has any one got any tips or advice for me? i have saved up all year and managed to get a canon 100-400 lens and i have the 17-85 that came with the 40d and will have to make do with these two lenses for now.

Shoot in RAW, so that you can make the most of your shots when you get back. Concentrate on composition (take care of distractions in the background), and try very hard to hold steady when you shoot. Don't be afraid to raise the ISO to keep shutter speeds from getting too long. Don't run out of battery power or memory cards. You can always edit later. Good luck, and post your best in the forum.

Make sure you have spare memory cards and take lots of shots. It's better to delete shots you don't like than regret not taking enough once you've got back.

Buy another battery or 2.. http://sterlingtek.com has great prices

Don't be afraid to shoot at higher ISOs, if you are outdoors you might want to use ISO400 with the 100-400 if it is slightly overcast, for example. Read up on the shutterspeed/focal length rule and try to shoot faster then the rule for sharp photos.

+1 shooting RAW (which means you will have to use one of the manula modes- P/Av/Tv/M). Also means you will use more memory (just under 400 pics on a 4gb if I am correct) so stock up.

Most of all have fun!

Get away from "Auto" anything as soon as possible. Start with this:
Need an exposure crutch?

Why?
Post #47

+1 Shooting in RAW
+1 raising your ISO, you're going to probably still run into problems with the 100-400
Get a tripod, get a decent tripod,...saying that you'll have to make do with the two lenses you have, as far as focal length goes, is a big overstatement, you have pretty much the whole range covered there other than super wide and super telephoto.
A decent tripod is one area where people try to skimp for as long as possible, in a lot of cases, next to glass, a tripod should be 2nd on your gear list,...that's right even above a decent body. I shoot with a 350d but I have a pretty serious tripod under it pretty much any time I put my 75-300 on. This frees me up from having to shoot at ISO 1600 or having shots that will give you motion sickness. Don't skimp on the pod,...you'll thank me, for years to come.

Thanks for the advice every one. I did get 3xbatterys and 3xsandisk cf cards 4g, do you think I have enough ? I have been looking at my bags, my slingshot 200 I can not get my 100-400 lense in, so I was thinking of the fastpack 250 but I am getting nearly 7kg and thats all I can have for hand luggage.

You didn't say whether you were planning on shooting people or landscapes. Some people like to carry graduated ND filters and circular polarizer filters for landscapes.

Hi, a bit of wildlife, birds, and landscape is where I have interest at moment

I would:

1) Read lots about the places you're going. Try and work out where the good opportunities will be ahead of time.

2) Talk to locals and try to get matey with someone who'll show you some of the less well-known sights (I don't do this enough, but when I have it's worked a treat!)

Travel Insurance.

It lets you shoot more and worry less.

Hi do you think I will have enough memory cards I have sandisk extreme 3x4gb for shooting in raw format for 2 weeks

cruso wrote in post #8605908
Thanks for the advice every one. I did get 3xbatterys and 3xsandisk cf cards 4g, do you think I have enough ? I have been looking at my bags, my slingshot 200 I can not get my 100-400 lense in, so I was thinking of the fastpack 250 but I am getting nearly 7kg and thats all I can have for hand luggage.

3 batteries will be plenty, as long as you pack your charger, although the batteries will last quite well.

Hard to say whether 12 gig of memory is enough...probably but memory is pretty cheap these days so a bit more wouldn't hurt!!

Have you tried removing the lenses and packing the items in the bag separately? I now this could be a pain in the @ss but it could work.

sounds a good idea with the lense in the bag

My advice is to make sure that taking the photos is secondary to experiencing the vacation and enjoying everything.