Trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs: Lens Selection

Hello everyone, I am planning a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in mid-June. Because the trip will also consist of some hiking, I would like to keep the weight of my gear to a minimum. Which brings me to my question: based on gear I own (see my "Gear List"), what would you take with you, particularly which lenses? I am in no position right now to add to my collection, so whatever I own will have to be it. My initial inclination is to bring 2-3 lenses with the 1.4X teleconverter. Please share your thoughts. What would you bring

Bring your 10-22, 24-105, and 70-200.

Like stickshift: Bring the 10-22, 24-105, and 70-200 and don't forget the 1.4 converter. Most wildlife is very easy to approach but for wolves and grizzlies you will defenitely want something longer. I found a 400mm even to short at those times.

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess those will be the three I will carry with me. I realize that based on the lenses I own I am very limited as to how close I can get to wildlife. But most of the shots I take involve landscapes and architecture, so I have never felt the need to invest in a really long lens so far. My only concern with the teleconverter on my 70-200 is that although I will be able to get a little closer, I will lose a full stop, so I will need to be extra careful with keeping the camera steady. I know that the tripod will not always be convenient to take shots of wildlife. Sometimes you only have a few seconds to immortalize the perfect moment.

For any of you who has visited these two parks before, from a photographer's point of view, what are those locations that are worth not missing? As I said, I will be able to do some hiking, so I would also consider some areas a little more off the beaten path. Between now and June I will be doing some research, but it would not hurt to hear from someone who's already been there.

You could get a monopod in that case, it should help quite a bit, and act as a walking stick if you need it

eagle94 wrote in post #11657347
For any of you who has visited these two parks before, from a photographer's point of view, what are those locations that are worth not missing? As I said, I will be able to do some hiking, so I would also consider some areas a little more off the beaten path. Between now and June I will be doing some research, but it would not hurt to hear from someone who's already been there.

I've spent a lot of time in Yellowstone (will be making my fifth trip there next summer). The obvious "cannot miss" spots are the geyser basins, but if you are into hiking you will definitely want to check out the Mount Washburn trail. I would suggest taking the northern Chittendon path, as you have a better chance of seeing wildlife on the trail. From the top of Mt. Washburn, you can see down into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, all of Hayden Valley, and on a clear day even the Grand Tetons. The Fairy Falls trail is also a favorite of ours.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone offers lots of great landscape opportunities. In good light, it is gorgeous.

Wildlife can be seen all over the park, but the central and northern areas offer the best opportunities for elk, wolves, bears and big horn sheep. Lamar Valley seems to be the best wolf viewing area, although we had great success in 2007 seeing wolves between Canyon and Hayden Valley.

Definitely take your TC with the 70-200 lens, but you will still come up short in focal length at times. Last time, I had a 70-300mm lens on a crop body and still wanted more focal length. This trip I will have a 100-400L, and I know I will still want more. You will see more 500mm and 600mm primes in YNP than you ever have before in your life.

Scott M wrote in post #11657514
Definitely take your TC with the 70-200 lens, but you will still come up short in focal length at times. Last time, I had a 70-300mm lens on a crop body and still wanted more focal length. This trip I will have a 100-400L, and I know I will still want more.

Yeah, like Scott said, you will always need more length. Some animals are close, but many are not and Yellowstone is a big place, especially when you get into places like Lamar Valley. We saw wolves there several times, but they were so far away that my 500 mm was useless. Luckily, we were lucky enough to have some "wolvers" allow us to look through their spotting scopes to at least see what was going on.

Yep. I told my family about that before we went. I have a Sigma 150-500 that, while a nice lens, is not in the same league as the glass you will see in the parks. Sure enough, we came across a scene where a mother black bear and her cub were hanging around Tower Falls and the scene was impressive.

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eagle94 wrote in post #11657347
For any of you who has visited these two parks before, from a photographer's point of view, what are those locations that are worth not missing? As I said, I will be able to do some hiking, so I would also consider some areas a little more off the beaten path. Between now and June I will be doing some research, but it would not hurt to hear from someone who's already been there.

Well, there are so many classic photo locations in Grand Teton that it is hard to list them. Basically, you want to hit places like Oxbow Bend, Mormon Row, Schwabacher's Landing, Jenny Lake and the Snake River overlook. You will find stunning views of the Tetons all along Highway 191 or the Teton Park Road. The mountains are lit in the morning and (obviously) backlit in the late afternoon so your photo opportunities change as the day progresses.

Yellowstone is less scenic than Grand Teton, but that can be said about most places in this world! The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is breath taking. Get there very early to catch the morning light. The thermal basins present many, many photo ops. The colors of the thermophiles in the hot springs is unlike anything I have ever seen elsewhere.

Enjoy your trip. Those are two great national parks.

Tim

Orogeny wrote in post #11657697
Some animals are close, but many are not and Yellowstone is a big place, especially when you get into places like Lamar Valley. We saw wolves there several times, but they were so far away that my 500 mm was useless. Luckily, we were lucky enough to have some "wolvers" allow us to look through their spotting scopes to at least see what was going on.

Tim

The "wolf watchers", as well as other regulars, are usually very friendly and willing to let you look through their spotting scopes, as Tim said. We also ran into a couple in the canyon who had a spotting scope on an osprey nest.

While you will probably see wolves in Lamar Valley, chances are they will be too far away for a good photo, no matter what lens you are packing. You will have a better chance of getting a wolf photo if you are lucky enough to run into one in the Canyon or Madison areas. Here is one from our last trip, and this was as close as we ever got (shot at 300mm on a Rebel XT, no cropping):

I'm planning a vist there in July as well, can't wait. I'm hoping my 300/2.8 with a TC will be long enough. Do you guys suggest polarizors for the landscapes out there?

Thanks guys, those are all great suggestions. I'll make sure to hit all the stationary subject you have listed. With regard to wildlife, I've always ended up with the greatest shots when I least expected, usually close enough to get a good picture. I am not sure, though, I'd want to be faced with the same situation when it comes to grizzlies and wolves

eagle94 wrote in post #11658189
Thanks guys, those are all great suggestions. I'll make sure to hit all the stationary subject you have listed. With regard to wildlife, I've always ended up with the greatest shots when I least expected, usually close enough to get a good picture. I am not sure, though, I'd want to be faced with the same situation when it comes to grizzlies and wolves

Well, you might actually have that situation. We had a grizzly walk in front of our car, probably no more than 10 feet from me. I wasn't interested in rolling down my window for a photo, but then again, I already had about 150 photos of this bear, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything.

This was just before he crossed the road.

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The bears and the bison do have a tendency to wander wherever they please -- hey, who's going to stop them? The wolves, though, tend to keep their distance from the human wildlife.

This was the closest grizzly / human encounter we have witnessed in our trips there. A momma with two cubs is nothing to mess with!

I took only a 7D, 28-300L, along with a Kenko TC with me to Yosemite in September. Reach wasn't a problem, but I missed the wide angle, especially from the top of Half Dome. Thinking about picking up a Sigma 8-16mm before going back.

My advice would be take as few lenses as possible, because, as someone else mentioned, the best shots will come when you least expect it, and you'd have to not have a chance at it because you're busy playing around with lenses. A highly cropped shot of a grizzly is better than no shot of a grizzly.

I only had 2 lenses with me during our trip - a Sigma 17-70 and a Sigma 150-500. I kept the Bigmos on the camera most of the time. In fact, I only took it off when I knew I would be doing only landscapes, only to almost miss a photo op with a family of badgers.

Tim