1
18-200mm A popular focal range
among travel photographers, the
super-zoom gives maximum versatility
of composition, from wideangle to
medium telephoto. There is a trade-off
in image quality, with overall
lower sharpness and
the widest settings
often displaying barrel
distortion, however thi
is the perfect lens for
trying many different
framing possibilities.2
Super-wide Often a 10mmlenscan
prove too inclusive of unwanted
foreground detail, so unlessyouhave
found good points of interestinall
frame areas, a standard lensisbetter.
However, if you need
to carry one lens
and plan to shoot
both wide and
standard frames,
shoot at 10mm
and crop multiple
options later.3
StandardA 35mmor50mmoptic,
onAPS-Candfullframecameras
respectively,providesa perspective
similartohumanvision.Theselenses
arealsousuallycompactandgreat
choiceswhentravellingon
scoutingtripstomultiple
locations.Whilea
primelensisnot
themostflexiblefor
varyingcomposition,
theyaregoodtools
forvisual‘note-taking’.Choose lenses for scouting
The lenses you choose for scouting trips may differ from those youuseforyourmainphotoshoot
When conducting a first visit to a new location there are certain markers you maylookfor,toprovidecreativeideasandconfirmit
as a place to revisit. While the images you make on such a shoot may be portfolio-worthy,thekityouuseshouldprovidethebest
opportunity for capturing photographic ‘sketches’ rather than final pictures. Whilenotessential,youmayfindthatusingthe‘wrong’
lens for a final composition actually gives more usable, informative reference shots.Left
Beyondtheobvious
Byresearchinga locationusing
onlineresourcesbeforevisiting
youcanseekoutpotential,
uniqueimagestotry,saving
timelaterduringyourshootAbove
Newopportunities
Evenatwell-knownsites,extensive
investigationpriortoa shootcan
revealnewelementstofocuson
thatmaynotreceiveasmuch
attentionfromphotographers,
© John Erwincreatingnovelimages© John ErwinMASTER LOCATION SCOUTING