Going to Yosemite!

[Nate P.]

OK, so next weekend we (my family and I) are going to Yosemite National Park. It is probably one of the gorgeous places on earth. And yes, I'm bringing my Canon 20D. Problem is, the only lens I have is the 50mm f/1.8. I'm going to borrow a 28-105mm from a friend for the trip, and get a new 2GB CF card. I have a tripod. What are some other accessories I can get that will make my photos/trip considerably better? Filters? Extra batteries? Name it. I was thinking maybe an extra battery and a polarizing filter. Can't be too expensive though, try to keep it under $50.

Thanks!

[[XC] 2long4u]

uv filter maybe?

[Magnj]

UV and Polarizer should be things you already have, make sure the thread sizes are the same though. Flash? is probably unnecessary but some don't leave home without one. Certainly extra batteries, and if your shooting in RAW(which you should be) 2gb might go quickly.

[Soulburner]

2Gb is worth only 164 pictures for me, slightly more with your 8.2MP camera. For me that wouldn't be nearly enough.

28-105 would be much better than your 50 but still lacking a real wide angle. 28 puts you at an effective 44mm. I'd consider renting a wider lens as you'll feel like you just can't back up far enough to get everything in the frame for landscape work.

Other than that, I'd definetely get a B+W Circular Polarizer. I get them in a kit with the Polarizer and UV from B+W (without the fancy expensive coatings). They are cheaper when bought together. My 67mm kit was $99.

[Yoxxy]

You already live in the prettiest place on the planet!

[Nate P.]

Thanks, I'll look into the filter kit and extra batteries. I think I can do without the flash for now. 2GB should be enough, as I'm bringing along my laptop and I can unload the photos each night. And where is a good place to rent lenses?

PG is very pretty, but gets old rather quick.:rolleyes:

[Nate P.]

Well, my dad got sick at the last minute so we are post-poning the trip. :(

[[XC] 2long4u]

I just got over that bug. :cringes:

[disruptfam]

looking forward to some pics

[smee]

Sorry to hear about your dad man, I hate colds. :(

So your going this coming weekend then though? Or at least planning on it.

Looking forward to pictures! I've been up to Yosemite several times, it is truly a beautiful place. Just taking a 20 minute stroll through the woods puts you in complete aww of the your surroundings..... You will have soo much fun taking pictures!

[systemviper]

wow, bad luck, you must go there.,

there is something about camping in Yosemite Valley, next to the rushing Merced river, "opps make sure your food is in the bear box."
and looking up at the 400 foot redwoods and the 4000 foot rockfaces, it's amazing. So i have been there twice , the first time we camped on the valley floor,
very very cool, but i said to my self that if i ever had the chance to get back there in the next couple of years, that would be a great spot to propose to my girlfriend, now wife.

Well wouldn't you know 3 years later, I have this great ring in my pocket and we are flying back there, really to washington and oregon, but took a side trip to Yosemite. Had a bunch of my family there and also my wifes brother, it just worked out like magic.

So as the fairy tale goes, we hiked to the base of bridalveil falls, I pulled out the ring, and with the mist of the falls in our faces, I asked her to be my wife...
Then the Champaign that was in our backpacks started poping. It was so very slick, I cought her by surprise and bridalveil falls will forever go down in the
hearts of us and our children.

Just one other note. Make sure you go to Glacier point and always stray a little off the beaten path, there are some spots that tower over the whole park, where you
feel like your looking at half of the world in one single moment. And hopefully at that moment, you will realize, just how small and insignificant we all are in the
scale of time and our planet. It is just so amazingly humbling.

\next year we are going to take our son there and prob do the grand canyon also..... Kinda makes the problems of the moment just melt away!

[Nate P.]

Ya, we plan on going during the summer.

[systemviper]

You'll love it, the second time we camped up inthe foot hills, it was called
twolomy medows, it was great....
Got to see a brown bear....but that is another story...
So much to see, nice1

[MaxxxRacer]

Welp, I've decided to go to yosemitie and then redwood forest for a few days. Need to take a vacation. Think I will rent the Nikon 12-24 to help capture the big stuff (aka all of it)

[Nate P.]

Sweet Max, have a great time!

[Soulburner]

Welp, I've decided to go to yosemitie and then redwood forest for a few days. Need to take a vacation. Think I will rent the Nikon 12-24 to help capture the big stuff (aka all of it)
I'll be interested to see the results...I thought I always liked real wide angles, but I came to find that they often look unnatural and my 17mm is wide enough. It appears as if I'm standing back farther than I am at 17mm. I have noticed in my own pictures that "zooming in" a bit to 20-24mm looks more natural and if a panorama were made from that it would look better. Of course this won't work if things are moving in the picture, but if its just people they can be cloned out.

That's my own experience, but it made me realize that I don't need to spend big money on a specialized lens.

[MaxxxRacer]

I agree that it doesnt look natural, but I like the look it gives. Getting up really close to the subject at 12mm with a distorted perspective is quite interesting.

the 12mm will be cool for doing portrait shots of the redwoods right at the base of the tree. so you can see the base of the tree and all the way up it in the same frame. It will make it look even more massive than it is.

[systemviper]

Sweet, yosomite and the redwoods..... Get us a good shot from glacier point!

have a great time//

Regards
Steve

[BlueAqua]

I love Yosemite. My dad and I hiked up Mount Dana(tallest point in the park) and it was beautiful up there. Only about a 4 hour hike too. We stayed in Tuolumne meadows for a week in the campgrounds. My dad used to really be into mountaineering and used to climb everything. He's climbed El Capitan in the moonlight(not the face, but the backside, still cool), My Rainier in Washington and Mt McKinley in Alaska. We did a week long rock climbing course in Yosemite too and had a blast. I did things I would have never imaged that I could possibly do. That was all about 15 years ago now but was one of my most favorite vacations. There are so many good places there, so much to explore. I would love to bring my SLR there and I hope more of you can experience that.

[[XC] 2long4u]

The Rubicon thread is going to have some pics unlike this one. :p:

[systemviper]

I love Yosemite. My dad and I hiked up Mount Dana(tallest point in the park) and it was beautiful up there. Only about a 4 hour hike too. We stayed in Tuolumne meadows for a week in the campgrounds. My dad used to really be into mountaineering and used to climb everything. He's climbed El Capitan in the moonlight(not the face, but the backside, still cool), My Rainier in Washington and Mt McKinley in Alaska. We did a week long rock climbing course in Yosemite too and had a blast. I did things I would have never imaged that I could possibly do. That was all about 15 years ago now but was one of my most favorite vacations. There are so many good places there, so much to explore. I would love to bring my SLR there and I hope more of you can experience that.


We also the second time stayed at Tuolumne meadows , we also almost took that hike but we did mirror lake and a little further.

that is such a beautiful place,

Nate your a lucky guy....

just make sure you bring enough memory cards for the camera....
also go to glacier point and snap a shot for me!

best regards
steve