Hi everyone,
I thought I’d step away from the location advice for a second and offer up a suggestion on what lenses to bring to the Canadian Rockies and why. Obviously, most of you will be bringing your biggest, baddest 400mm or 500mm telephoto lenses if it’s wildlife you’re interested in, but I wanted to point out the benefits of using a 70-200mm lens more than your big gun.
The first key advantage to having a 70-200mm lens (or a similar zoom) ready to go in the mountain parks is that it allows you to snap quick shots much more easily than a big lens does. It can be sitting on your front seat right beside you, always ready for whatever opportunity may pop up in front of you.
Secondly, it’s an easy lens to handhold and if you’re jumping out of the car for a quick shot of the giant bull elk, it’s far easier to do so with a smaller zoom than it is with a big telephoto.
And finally, the key reason for using a 70-200mm in the Rockies is that it allows you to get a lot more of the Rocky Mountain habitat into your shots with your wild subjects, making it much more likely that you’ll get home and see some pictures that definitely remind you of Banff and Jasper, and most importantly, don’t look as if they could be from your local zoo.
Happy shooting!
John
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