Photographyblog, David Noton, Great Travel Potrait

This month we’re going to Peru, via Laos, and back again, to talk about travel portraiture. It’s logical, trust me.

Well I started out down a dirty road at dawn, with the raw throbbing power of the Honda 50 beneath me as I trundled over the bridge in the half-light. It’s not quite Easy Rider, but I’m loving it. At the toll I fumble for the right note; 10,000 kip, about $1. I’m a millionaire here. A couple of bungees have secured my tripod behind and the Lowepro is on my back. It’s cool and fresh for now as rural Laos awakes and comes to life. Cattle are being driven along the lanes, children are cycling to school, the ubiquitous Lao tractors chug across fields and whole families of five or more cling to one moped en route to another day of scratching out a living in this sleepy south east Asian backwater. All around me the Karst mountains rise from the landscape; great lumps of forest clad hills dominating the horizon. It’s beautiful. But it’s also very hazy. Arrggh haze; it’s a landscape photographer’s greatest curse.

I’m in the countryside around Vang Vien, in northern Laos. It has to be said mankind has not been kind to this country. Laos holds the dubious distinction of being the most bombed country in the world, courtesy of the US Air Force in the Vietnam War. Mines still litter the countryside. I’m trying not to think about that too much when I trudge through fields in search of locations. And just to add to this patch of earth’s woes, the locals are burning the land. Whole tracts of countryside are being put to the flame routinely; slash and burn, to stimulate new growth presumably. The net effect is a scarred landscape and terrible air quality. Smoke hangs in the atmosphere like smog, and ash drops from the sky. It’s a bloody disaster of which the only upside is I feel considerably less guilty about my own carbon footprint. From the river at Vang Vien the incomparable view of the mountains beyond is lost in the murk. Much as I love south east Asia I have to admit I’m pining for the crystal clear light of the Coromandel Peninsula or the mood of the Isle of Skye.

So, what are my options? For landscape photography these conditions are hopeless. But the name of this game is being flexible and extracting the maximum photographically from any given situation, so I’ve just got to re-frame my objectives. If I can’t shoot landscapes I’ll shoot people, and thankfully Laos is a great place to do just that. The people are warm, friendly, relaxed and generally open to being photographed, it’s areal treat. And the hazy light is actually good for portraiture, particularly when it’s warm and soft at the beginning and end of day.

This trip I’ve an ace up my sleeve, which I’m itching to try out; a new Canon 24mm prime lens. Now I already own a 24-70mm f2.8, a 16-35mm f2.8 and a 24mm shift & tilt lens, so why on earth do I need another 24mm lens? Well, it’s a nifty f1.4 super fast optic. So what? I must admit up to now I’ve never really seen the point of such lenses. I mean the case for super fast telephotos is obvious; restricted depth of field for creative effect and big apertures to freeze action and allow hand held exposures. But wide angles generally go hand in hand with front to back depth of field, don’t they? Or do they?

Let’s talk out of focus backgrounds. With travel portraiture the background can make or break a shot; too much confusing detail will distract attention from the main subject. Generally speaking a medium telephoto is the lens of choice for portraiture, enabling a pleasing perspective from a convenient distance for a full frame head shot with the background dropped out of focus. I’ll often reach for my 70-200mm f2.8 when presented with a face that just cries out to be photographed. Let’s now just fly First Class from Laos to Peru. In the square in Pisac in the Sacred Valley of the Incas sat this wizened, distinguished lady. Fill the frame, shoot wide open, be bold with the composition and sweep your eye from corner to corner of the frame. Is there anything in shot that doesn’t deserve to be there? It’s a tried and tested approach that works everytime, and the elements that make the shot are the subjects face, the interaction between photographer and of course the lighting. The background is out of focus and devoid of irritations. Pity life’s not so simple. But sometimes a sense of place, a feel for the environment of the subject is desirable. That bustling market behind is all part of the scene; so how to use that in the shot without distracting from the foreground is the challenge.

In this case, going a bit wider will help. Still in Peru this shot of a lady in the market at Chincherro was shot with my 24-70mm at 70mm, still wide open at f2.8. The splash of colour of the out of focus lady in the background gives some sense of the setting, but my chirpy subject full of the joys of life is still dominant in the frame. Peru is such a great place for shooting travel portraiture. The people out in the countryside still wear the colourful native dress so synomonous with the Andes and like Laos there are few hassles about exposing them to pixels. In fact people often thanked me for taking their picture.

That certainly was the case with Marina, this shepherd girl who I came across on the misty Pampasmojo at dawn. For this travel portrait her location was integral to the shot. So still with the 24-70mm but at 50mm this time I shot again wide open, but the lonely mountain side setting is a much more significant element in the frame, as is the cool sombre sky. Now when skies start intruding on portraits things start to get complicated. It’s difficult to expose for the face while holding the drama of the sky. Normally I’d use a grad to hold detail in the clouds, but in this case with the figure of Marina breaking the horizon it’s not an option. Neither are multiple exposures, as I’m working hand held here with a rapidly evolving opportunity. Luckily two factors come to my aid; the low contrast nature of the light and the exposure latitude of the RAW image. I managed to expose ensuring the highlights in the sky were retained and the balance between her face and the heavens was balanced with multiple RAW conversions of the same frame and a bit of buggering about in Photoshop with layers and the eraser tool.

So as I go wider with my focal lengths the background becomes more and more of a feature. The key consideration is how much detail I want in the background. There is a time and a place for isolating the subject from their surroundings, equally injecting a sense of place can be very effective. Back in Laos the sun is coming up and I’ve parked my Big Bike with an embarrassing basket over the front wheel by a ford near a village. It was a location I shot as a landscape the previous dawn, but the light was so hazy it didn’t really work. I did however note just what a thoroughfare it was for passing peasants, so here I am, hanging around shiftily, waiting for Something to Happen. The backdrop of mountains and river is quintessentially Lao, a perfect setting for some environmental portraits.

Preparation is everything in photography. Have some idea of how you’re going to tackle a subject before it happens. Don’t wait until the moment is upon you. Think, use your eyes, imagine. So I’m planning this shot before I know who or what my subject is going to be. I want to use the river setting as a backdrop, but out of focus. How out of focus? Well with my 16-35mm wide open at f2.8 there’s still quite a lot of detail evident in backgrounds, which is why I’m keen to test this new 24mm f1.4. I’ll shoot wide open, using single shot auto focus. I’ll need a 0.9 ND grad on to hold the sky, but I’ll have to be careful with the composition to avoid a “grad head” situation where the effect of the gradation intrudes on the crown of the subject. ISO? At this aperture 100 is plenty fast enough. I do a test exposure, and dial in +2/3 exposure compensation. I’m ready.

All I need is a subject, but in the rural backwaters of Asia I’ve rarely long to wait. Take one obvious westerner with a big camera, plonk said homo sapien down by a ford in Laos and very quickly I become an object of curiosity to the locals. It works every time. So before I know it I’m shooting kids as they pass by on their way to school. A few frames are exposed and they all jostle around to see the glowing image on the monitor; shrieks of recognition and laughter, how did we do this in the film era? There’s much gesturing and fingers behind heads, it’s all part of the game but not really the shot I want. But the image will come to me, I can feel that. The light is great; soft, directional and tropical. One girl stands apart from the group, watching me intently, seriously. She is the face of Laos. As I kneel down to position her in the frame her expression changes not a bit, her eyes boring into my lens. At this focal length I need to be uncomfortably close but it bothers her not a bit. I half depress the shutter, lock focus and recompose. Done. Five frames, all virtually identical, with that slightly haunting look.

I ride back to Vang Vien, thoughtful. In the market rats and Ritz crackers will be on offer. The backpackers will be watching endless repeats of Friends in the bars. For me the future’s bright and orange as we’re moving on to Luang Prabang, the Monk Capital of Laos. I like this 24mm lens. It’s super sharp and fast. Wide open the coverage isn’t uniform, unsurprisingly. A touch of vignetting is apparent, but it’s a relatively easy factor to dial out at the RAW conversion stage. Actually, with this shot I chose not to, the slight “tunnel” effect of the darkening of the corners helps to concentrate the attention on the subject. I’m realising I’m developing an expensive taste in super fast lenses, but you just can’t beat that fuzzy background feel in life and photography.

Biography

http://www.davidnoton.com

Born in England in 1957, David spent much of his youth travelling with his family between the UK, California and Canada. After leaving school David joined the Navy in search of further travels and adventures – and it was while sailing the seven seas that his interest in photography grew. After several years at sea he decided to pursue his passion for photography and returned to study in Gloucester, England. After leaving college in 1985 he began work as a freelance photographer specialising in landscape and other travel subjects, which over the last 25 years, have taken him to almost every corner of the globe.

David is now established and recognised as one of the UK’s leading landscape and travel photographers. His images sell all over the world – both as fine art photography and commercially in advertising and publishing. He has won international awards for: British Gas/ BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards in 1985,1989 & 1990 and also writes regularly about landscape and travel photography for a number of national and international magazines. David has worked for numerous clients including British Airways, Sainsbury’s, Geo, Toyota, Qantas, Sunday Times and the Telegraph. During the last twenty years he has also worked extensively for the National Trust covering much of the UK’s landscape and coastline, which has featured in many high profile publications and several highly acclaimed photographic exhibitions. Most notably:

‘New Vision’ Contemporary Art Photography – AOP Gallery
‘The Coast Exposed’ – Maritime Museum Greenwich and the Lowry
‘Climate Change – in Britain’s Back Yard!’ – London, Nottingham, Wales, Belfast, Bristol

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Photographyblog, Perfect Long Exposure with David Noton

There’s not much I miss about shooting film. It’s the pictures that matter in the end and the waste, the cost, the bracketing, the scanning, the wait to see the results; all of those film hassles seem increasingly like distant memories. I am a complete digital convert, I love the flexibility, control and quality I’m now achieving. I am not saying I’ll never shoot film again, I still have the big 6x17cm pano monster and it was taken out of mothballs briefly this summer, but it has to said it’s not seeing the light of day much.

I’ve just printed a shot from my recent Canadian trip made on the 1Ds mkIII up big, to over 1.1 metre wide, and looking at it now I’m wondering why anyone would bother with large format film. Crisp detail, sharp and noiseless with lovely evenness of tone and colour gradation; considering it’s enlarged from what we always thought of as a 35mm format it is truly remarkable. Nope, there’s no going back. But there is one major thing I miss about exposing large pieces of light sensitive silver halide emulsions; long exposures.

Using movement in landscapes, in fact in all photography, is an essential technique in a photographer’s repertoire. Trees blowing, grass swaying, water lapping, people bustling, clouds scudding and leaves rustling; we live in a world on the move and a bit of motion blur often transforms an image. How much motion to emphasise is of course completely down to the photographer, but often its difficult to slow exposures down enough to recognise discernible movement, particularly with modern DSLRs with default ISO settings of 100 or even 200. This is where large format film really scored. On my Fuji GX617 loaded with Fujichrome Velvia I started with an ISO of 50. Factor in a 1 stop centre weighted ND filter necessary with the 90mm lens to even out the coverage, then take into account an aperture often down at a miniscule f32 to get the depth of field necessary on such a large format.

Sunflowers blowing in the breeze at dawn with Montagne Sainte-Victoire beyond, nr Puyloubier, Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence, France. Canon EOS 1Ds mkIII, 24-70mm lens @ 27mm, ISO 50, 6 secs @ f22, 0.9 ND plus 0.6 ND grad filters.

Usually with landscapes I’m working at Happy Hour, that magical time before and after sunset or sunrise when the light goes through such wonderful transformations but is also losing much of its strength and already we’re talking about exposures in the tens of seconds. Then take into account reciprocity law failure, when the silver halide crystals start getting rebellious and stop behaving in a logical manner and hey presto it’s quite normal to be contemplating exposures of 30 seconds or longer. So using movement when shooting large format film is almost unavoidable. I couldn’t fight it so I ended up using it as a defining look to those images. With say a two or three stop ND to slow things down further the world really was my oyster in terms of bolting the camera down and letting the world sway in front of the lens. Now though, shooting digitally, I’ve been struggling to achieve that look, until now.

So, take an DSLR, say for example my Canon 5D mkII. I’m in a sunflower field in Provence (above) and the flowers are swaying nicely in the breeze as the sun comes up. I want to use this movement to get all arty and impressionistic, but the breeze is gentle and the sunflowers are only wafting languidly. On this camera I can dial in an extended ISO range which allows me to go down to 50. I can use a 3 stop neutral density filter to slow exposures down more, and I can dial in a minimum aperture of f22 on my 24-70mm f2.8 L lens. But I’d rather not. Diffraction at this aperture robs the lens of its optimum performance quite noticeably. Up big pictures shot at this aperture look just a little soft. It’s irritating and I do lie awake at night worrying about it. But to get a long exposure in this situation on this camera I have to. Even with all this the shutter is open for only 6 seconds; it’s not enough. I want more.

Lake Wakatipin, nr Queenstown and the peaks of Remarkables rearing above South Island, New Zealand. Fuji GX617, 90mm lens, Fujichrome Velvia, 0.9ND plus 0.9 ND grad filter, 2 mins @ f32

So, how much movement is necessary in a landscape? Well, sometimes the more the better. Clouds streaking through the sky can be a very tantalising effect, giving an other world look to a landscape, as of course can moving water. With this shot (above) taken on the shores of Lake in New Zealand an exposure of 2 minutes at dawn has streaked the clouds nicely. To record movement in skies the two factors that will determine how blurry your cumulonimbuses are will be the strength of the wind and the length of exposure. Generally speaking I find an exposure of at least 30 seconds on a breezy day is necessary to get a blur up top, but longer is often better; something like 3 minutes works a treat.

Water is different. Long exposures on the Dorset coast with water lapping around the rocks isn’t exactly cutting edge stuff any more; it’s a tried and tested technique and look. It is of course great fun though and done well can be very effective. Ever since as a student photographer in 1984 I went down to Portland Bill and got myself and my OM1 doused with salty spray I’ve been secretly hooked on this game. I try and avoid it now, I think it has been done to death, but every so often I get the calling and can’t resist, as with this shot on La Digue in the Seychelles one balmy tropical dusk (below). In this case an exposure of some 4 seconds keeps some detail in the water.

The look of a long exposure on surging waves resulting in a dry ice or sea of mercury look is another approach. To achieve this exposures in excess of 15 seconds are necessary. I have done 30 minute exposures before. On a Cornish beach on a winter’s evening I could almost open the shutter, go for a pint and a pie before returning to close the shutter. Nowadays I think I prefer to see a bit of texture to the surface of the water, some sort of form. For this effect exposures of about 1-10 seconds are the order of the day. But it all depends on how angry the seas are and is completely subjective. For this image of Scobbiscombe in South Devon (below) a 90 second exposure has produced the dry ice effect, whilst the waves breaking on the beach at Durdle Door (below) leave a pleasing sweeping signature with an exposure of 10 seconds.

Twilight over Praslin from the northern tip of La Digue, Seychelles. Canon 1Ds mkII, 16-35mm lens @ 17mm, ISO 50, 2.5 secs @ f22, 0.9 ND plus 0.6 ND grad filters

Clearly a photographer needs in an ideal world to be able to use exposures ranging from several minutes to thousandths of a second to creative effect, but with modern DSLRs it is difficult to achieve the really long exposures. It shouldn’t be this way. Now I hope that the engineers beavering away in Japan on the next 1Ds mkIV or D4x are reading this, cos what a lot of us people who spend our lives shuffling by tripods waiting for the light really need is not ever increasingly sky high ISOs but the ability to dial in a really low value like ISO 4 and get really slow. OK, we can stick NDs in front of the lens and stop down to f22, but it’s a crude solution. Even doing this it’s really difficult short of waiting for nightfall to achieve exposures longer then 30 seconds. Are you listening Messrs Canon and Nikon?

Twilight at Scobbiscombe, Devon, England. Fuji GX617, 90mm lens, Fujichrome Velvia, 0.9 ND grad filter, 90 secs @ f32

My life has just changed though. I have a 10 stop ND from B&W filters, and its ace. OK, you can’t see a thing through it, and is only available so far as a 77mm screw on, but it is so, so useful. Kimmeridge Bay (main picture) on a November afternoon. The sun’s dropping over the Jurassic Coast behind a layer of cloud that marches in relentlessly from the west. I frame up my shot, take an exposure reading in manual mode then mentally calculate an extra 10 stops of exposure; 6 minutes at f11. Fit the 10xND, position a 0.9ND grad by eye in front to hold back the sky, set the camera to bulb setting, then open the shutter, and pace for 6 minutes. This is jus like the old days; mentally calculating exposures with filter factors and applying running adjustments during the exposure as the light changes. Eventually I release the cable release lock and check the image’s histogram; too dense. Open up, go for a walk, chat to a few people, stroll back to the camera 10 long minutes later to close. Look at that image glowing on the camera’s monitor in the gathering gloom. It’s like magic.

Durdle Door, Dorset, England: Fuji G617, 105mm lens, Fujichrome Velvia, 0.9ND ND grad filter, 10 secs @ f32

Biography

http://www.davidnoton.com

Born in England in 1957, David spent much of his youth travelling with his family between the UK, California and Canada. After leaving school David joined the Navy in search of further travels and adventures – and it was while sailing the seven seas that his interest in photography grew. After several years at sea he decided to pursue his passion for photography and returned to study in Gloucester, England. After leaving college in 1985 he began work as a freelance photographer specialising in landscape and other travel subjects, which over the last 25 years, have taken him to almost every corner of the globe.

David is now established and recognised as one of the UK's leading landscape and travel photographers. His images sell all over the world – both as fine art photography and commercially in advertising and publishing. He has won international awards for: British Gas/ BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards in 1985,1989 & 1990 and also writes regularly about landscape and travel photography for a number of national and international magazines. David has worked for numerous clients including British Airways, Sainsbury's, Geo, Toyota, Qantas, Sunday Times and the Telegraph. During the last twenty years he has also worked extensively for the National Trust covering much of the UK's landscape and coastline, which has featured in many high profile publications and several highly acclaimed photographic exhibitions. Most notably:

'New Vision' Contemporary Art Photography – AOP Gallery
'The Coast Exposed' – Maritime Museum Greenwich and the Lowry
'Climate Change – in Britain's Back Yard!' – London, Nottingham, Wales, Belfast, Bristol

“l'm still passionate about photography. All aspects fascinate me; from capturing the first light of day on a frosty landscape or making the most of a bustling market in Vietnam to portraying the dignity of a wrinkled face in China.”

David spends much of the year travelling with his wife Wendy. When not travelling they live in England, near Sherborne in Dorset.

DAVID NOTON'S CHASING THE LIGHT ROAD SHOWS
David has confirmed the first in a series of inspirational evening events – billed as 'an evening of photographic discovery' - taking place at the Olympus Theatre, WISE Campus, Filton College in Bristol, on 9th & 10th September. So to see David in action and find out more about his photography, book your tickets online now at http://www.davidnoton.com/roadshow.htm

All images in this article © David Noton

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Photographyblog, Lens by David Noton

What would be your dream "money no object" photographic system? Let's just forget about the actual cameras for a bit. In an ideal world with no mortgages, tax demands or gas bills to contemplate what lenses would you have in your bag? I remember as a fledgling photographer looking at the Nikon lens brochure and drooling over the purposeful black beauties with shining, bulging optics; I wanted the lot. I was reminded of those days recently on one of our workshops where I met a guest who owned every lens Canon makes. By his own admission many had never seen the light of day. I had visions of him on a glorious day umming and ahhing over which glass to load in the Lowepro, endlessly pontificating and never actually making it out the door. For me now after a quarter of a century (!!!) as a pro the allure of the hardware has dissipated, lenses like cameras and all the rest of the gubbins we accumulate are tools which must earn their keep. And at the end of the day you can only carry a chosen few on your back up that hill at dawn.

So what do we actually need, and how do we choose from the bewildering array available, and crucially how do we get the best out of them? This month I'll be looking at what to consider when putting together a system starting with the mid range optics, then next month I'll consider the world of long lenses, and then finally we'll go wide. When deliberating over lens options tough choices and compromises have to be made, and make no doubt about it making the most of the expensive optics you already own is more complex then initially meets the eye.

Now we all know that the most important pieces of kit we own are our eyes, and no amount of expensive equipment is going to make our pictures better; that has to come from within. Also I would always suggest that if there's a choice between spending your hard earned spondoolies on going off on a photographic trip or buying a new L series optic going for the experience over the hardware is the way to go; its far better to do things rather then own things. But let's be honest, we all love lenses and photo stuff; we can admit it to each other. And if I know you, you're going to do both. So we'll consider your options.

The Athabasca River at the Meeting of the Waters, with Mt Hardisty beyond, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. Canon 1Ds mkIII, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 38mm

Where to start? What focal lengths to choose; zooms or primes, fast or slow, and at what cost? Instantly we're being forced to make difficult decisions. Let's just get a few things straight. I'm going to be making an assumption that we're all talking about using full frame DSLRs. So for those with the small sensor cameras the principles remain the same but the focal lengths will be different. A medium wide angle on a full frame camera is a standard on a APS-C/DX frame cameras. That's because the angle of view of a lens is determined by its focal length and the image area; the physical sensor size. And a standard lens, the one that equates closest to the perspective we actually see with our eyes, has a focal length that equals the diagonal dimension of the image area. So a bigger sensor has a wider angle of view for a given focal length. That's a Big Issue. It's why landscape photographers such as I without a shadow of a doubt need full frame sensor cameras like the Canon 1Ds or 5D and the Nikon D3 series to be able to really exploit all the wide angle options, and its why wildlife and sports photographers often opt for APS-C or DX cameras such as the Canon 1D series to give their long lenses extra reach. But I'm going to nail my colours to the mast here and say that I've never seen half frame cameras as anything other then a cropped down image area, so for the purposes of this piece we'll stick to talking about full frame optics, otherwise we'll all get in a horrible fuddle.

Imagine you are starting with a clean sheet and putting together a new SLR camera system from scratch. We'll not get too sucked into the debate about what make you're going for; we don't really want to get into that endless Nikon v Canon holy war. Suffice to say these two giants dominate the world of DSLR photography and consequently have comprehensive lens ranges. There are other pretenders; Sony, Olympus etc, but really, for now, in the professional world at least it's a two horse race. I'm wedded to the Canon system, and am one of those sad types who watch major sporting events on TV to try and count the ratio of white to black lenses in use in the photographer's pit. I came over from the Dark Side some five years ago as a result of Nikon's then insistence on sticking with small sensors, but now things have evened out somewhat and they both offer superb high-resolution full frame sensor cameras. So let's look at the lens options in generic terms and try and get a handle on what decisions will have to be made, because there are a fair few.

First things first you'll have to consider what your camera is for. Sounds obvious, but will it be a general tool for tackling all sorts of things from summer holidays with barbecues under grey skies to family portraits and your son's football matches? Or are you a wildlife specialist looking forward to spending long lonely hours hunched in a damp hide waiting for an owl to do something? Or are misty dawn patrols shooting ethereal landscapes your bag? Immediately you've a decision to make; do you need a flexible general-purpose system or a specialised one? For me it's the former. I am a landscape devotee, but I also regularly stray into travel, portraiture and reportage, plus occasionally wildlife and even sport, so I have an arsenal of lenses some of which are general purpose and others more specialised. But how ever many lenses you have compromises have to be made, both on choice at the time of purchase and then in the field. Life is complicated.

What would be ideal? Well lets start with say a 16mm to 500mm zoom, optically perfect from wide to tight, with no distortion, small and compact with tank like build quality and a super fast maximum aperture of say f2 with Image Stabilisation thrown in. Oh, and the auto focus needs to be bang on too, all for a reasonable price of a few hundred quid. Sounds good? Dream on. Immediately we've identified a few dilemmas. Let's start at the beginning with zoom range.

Sunflowers and vegetables on a market stall in Aix-en-Provence, Provence, France. Canon 1Ds mkIII, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 38mm

OK, 16-500mm is a bit extreme but there are zooms available with very wide ranges such as 28-200mm. That is a range that covers most situations, so for many one lens would more or less do, surely? The trouble is I'm not that keen on being called Shirley, and any lens that tries to do it all is inevitably going to be a jack of all trades, master of none. It's a trade off between convenience and quality, and in a nutshell the wider a zoom range is the more compromises the manufacturer has had to make with performance. Compromise; that word is just going to keep cropping up. You see a zoom that performs well as a medium telephoto is unlikely to deliver the same quality at the wide angle end of the world, and vice versa. How will this be apparent? Barrel distortion, flare, soft corners, unsharpness to name a few; all these nasties creep in when all is not right optically. Of course, this is all relative. There are some very clever people making lenses in Japan. But if you want to get the very best from your £2k+ camera this is something to ponder. How important is it to you? Only you can decide. By definition zooms contain a lot of glass, many elements that not only refract light as they're supposed to but also bounce those rays around internally causing flare. By contrast prime lenses; those of fixed focal length, contain a lot less glass. Few compromises have to be made in their design so they're lighter, optically superior and easier to make. But they are lot less flexible.

Back in the mists of time I used prime lenses only; I didn't trust zooms to give me the optimum crispness I demanded. But then sometime in the early Nineties in the hills near Chiang Mai, fiddling with filter threads, I realised I was spending a huge proportion of my life bending over my camera bag getting back ache swopping filter rings from one lens to the other. By then lens technology had advanced such that the perceived notion was the quality differential between the best zooms and prime lenses was almost imperceptible. That was of course in the film era. Now the evolution of 20+ megapixel sensors has put the spotlight back on this debate. There is no doubt that if optical quality is your sole criteria then prime lenses are the way to go. But the difference in many cases is so minimal in my view it isn't worth losing sleep over. Up close and personal to an A2 sized print you'll see sod all difference. Zooms are so useful, offering focal lengths and cropping flexibility unachievable with even the most comprehensive array of prime lenses. They also save time and compared to carrying multiple optics, weight. Weight; we'll come back to that. And the time issue isn't mere laziness creeping in; when gorgeous light beams are painting the landscape in momentary visions of wonder the difference between a few seconds of zooming and recomposing and a hasty fumbling lens change with cold fingers can represent the fine line between a masterpiece on a memory card with subsequent euphoria and a desolate evening of remorse. But for now let's just try and come to a conclusion on zoom range.

The best of the zooms with relatively modest ranges deliver highly impressive performance. We'll be looking at wide angles and long toms in the next columns but for now lets look at mid range options. The narrower the zoom range the better the performance. In the Canon range for example the 24-105mm f4 loses out at the wide angle end performance wise to its more modest ranged brother the 24-70mm f2.8. The latter is a lens I would never be without, endlessly useful. But then you may think the trade off in quality to get the extra range is worth it. Compromises again.

Optical performance has to be at the heart of all lens decisions. Now we can all enlarge our images up to 100% in Photoshop and analyse corner sharpness to the N'th degree. Actually I get the impression there are some in the twilight regions of the world wide web who do nothing else. It can be a bit obsessive and we have to remember that doing so is analogous to standing with our noses pressed against the margins of an exhibition-sized print. We are right to be meticulous, but at the same time we need to remember that no lens however good is quite as sharp in the corners as it is in the centre, so a sense of pragmatism is necessary. Sensor resolution had surpassed the ability of some lenses to match. There seems to be a bit of catch up going on now with new models and updated lenses being constantly announced. But it is possible to become a bit of an anorak about it all. Ultimately we need to make decisions on what to use then just get on with the business of making pictures.

The next dilemma we need to confront is the bulk of our lens. Size matters. Us landscape photographers routinely need to march over the hills and far away in search of the definitive view. Trudging up slopes with a heavy bag and tripod on the shoulder is what we do, our penance to balance the joys of being in the perfect spot at the most magical times of day. But clearly anything we can do to cut down on weight is handy. Here we have another compromise to contemplate. Fast lenses with maximum apertures of f2.8 have large front elements and are consequently bigger and heavier. The advantages of fast lenses are tempting; bright viewfinder images, differential focus effects, quick to focus, superb in low light and with fast moving action. Lenses with front elements like dinner plates are beloved by sports photographers for these very reasons. They are marvels of lens technology and a joy to use, if you don't have to cart them far. Let's face it most sports photographers only have to walk from the car park to the touchline. (I guess that sweeping statement may generate a few e-mails!) But for us mortals reliant on foot power we have to ask is the speed worth the extra weight?

The round tower rising out of the mist at dawn at Glendalough, Wicklow Mountains, County Wicklow, Ireland. Canon 1Ds mkII, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 45mm

And there is another major downside; fast lenses cost a fortune. Solely for landscape work it would seem fast expensive heavy lenses are counterproductive. But the annoying thing is to just muddy the waters further; fast lenses tend to be optically better then slower ones. And once you've used a fast lens there's no going back, they are addictive. Nothings ever simple, is it? I use f2.8 or faster lenses throughout my range. I just have to live with the weight on my back. And in a dark crowded Marrakesh souk the advantages of a fast lens become immediately apparent as I drop the background pleasingly out of focus. At least in the mid range focal lengths we're talking about this month fast lenses aren't too mammoth. Predictably my 24-70mm f2.8 is my most used lens. For landscapes, reportage, portraits, whatever, I can't imagine a single use that this lens wouldn't be handy for. Longer or wider lenses may be sexier but few have earned their keep as this one has. Nikon, Canon and all the independents make their own variants of this ubiquitous zoom.

The mid range lens choice should be the first and arguably most important acquisition. Get it right and the other options both longer and wider will fall into place. A mid range zoom is an obvious starting point, but there are alternatives that are more compact and faster; standard primes. The trusty 50mm lens that used to come as standard with all SLRs is obviously not as flexible as a zoom but is lighter, optically superb and affordable. The angle of view and perspective of a standard lens gives a pleasing, natural balance between foregrounds and backgrounds. The bog standard variants of these lenses are also fast, typically f1.8, and super fast variants up to an incredible f1.2 maximum aperture are available. Use a lens this fast for the first time in a market in Bolivia and life will never be the same again. I have a slightly longer then standard 85mm f1.2 piece of glass. For intimate portraits with a sense of place in crowded and bustling environments there's no optic like it. The super fast aperture delivers outstanding low light options and differential focus effects, but at a price; size, and cost. For its focal length it's a bulky beast and the F1.2 aperture increases the Bad News to six times the price of its f1.8 brother. Worth it? It's all about compromises.

A woman nr Vang Vieng, Laos. Canon 1Ds mkIII, 85mm 1.2 lens

Clearly portability, convenience, performance, flexibility and size are all factors to consider along with the crucial optical quality. So too is build quality and the bottom line, price. Generally the old adage that you get what you paid for is true in the photographic world, although with the wealth of information and test reviews we now have available to us on the internet there's no need to take that as read. The big question is do you go for camera brands or independents? Significant savings can be made by going for lenses made by Sigma, Tokina or Tamron over the likes of Canon or Nikon. And it would be wrong to think that the performance of the independent's optics is inferior; in some cases they're superior. I am however going to stick my neck out here and assert that generally the build quality of the Big Boys is more rugged then the independents. The fact that most pros use Canon or Nikon pro spec lenses says it all. How important to you is that? My gear has a hard life, in out of planes, lashed by wind, sand, snow and rain, up mountains and bouncing around in the back of 4x4s. Say no more. But no pro is impervious to the cost of equipment. If it's not earning its keep, it goes. Generally the way I look at it now is that the money I used to spend on film and processing every year now goes into continually updating my system with replacements and additions. I now only use one system so all the available resources can go into ensuring that it is a comprehensive and flexible system. I am continually blown away with the quality available from the 21 MP full frame sensor cameras like the Canon 5D mkII and 1Ds mkIII, but to get the very best results impeccable technique and optical quality is crucial. So if you are contemplating acquiring some new glass your options are clear. Cash in on your bodily organs, auction your parents on ebay, pawn your lady's jewellery or flog your bloke's car and sell off the kids for medical experiments; just make sure you get the best lens you can.

Next month we'll be looking at long lenses and considering some of the specific dilemmas presented when choosing them. I'll also be examining how to make the most of these long toms and what pitfalls they present when using them in the field. And the following month is all going to be about wide angles. It's a real lens feast.

Biography

http://www.davidnoton.com

Born in England in 1957, David spent much of his youth travelling with his family between the UK, California and Canada. After leaving school David joined the Navy in search of further travels and adventures – and it was while sailing the seven seas that his interest in photography grew. After several years at sea he decided to pursue his passion for photography and returned to study in Gloucester, England. After leaving college in 1985 he began work as a freelance photographer specialising in landscape and other travel subjects, which over the last 25 years, have taken him to almost every corner of the globe.

David is now established and recognised as one of the UK's leading landscape and travel photographers. His images sell all over the world – both as fine art photography and commercially in advertising and publishing. He has won international awards for: British Gas/ BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards in 1985,1989 & 1990 and also writes regularly about landscape and travel photography for a number of national and international magazines. David has worked for numerous clients including British Airways, Sainsbury's, Geo, Toyota, Qantas, Sunday Times and the Telegraph. During the last twenty years he has also worked extensively for the National Trust covering much of the UK's landscape and coastline, which has featured in many high profile publications and several highly acclaimed photographic exhibitions. Most notably:

'New Vision' Contemporary Art Photography – AOP Gallery
'The Coast Exposed' – Maritime Museum Greenwich and the Lowry
'Climate Change – in Britain's Back Yard!' – London, Nottingham, Wales, Belfast, Bristol

“l'm still passionate about photography. All aspects fascinate me; from capturing the first light of day on a frosty landscape or making the most of a bustling market in Vietnam to portraying the dignity of a wrinkled face in China.”

David spends much of the year travelling with his wife Wendy. When not travelling they live in England, near Sherborne in Dorset.

All images in this article © David Noton

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