Shooting the Southwest With the Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD LensCheyenne L. Rouse inspires her viewers with the spectacular landscapes right in her own backyard. |
Article by Jenn Gidman Images by Cheyenne L. Rouse |
Cheyenne L. Rouse doesn't simply take photos - she creates replicas of her life experiences to share with others. "Every day I like to think: What's going on today, what's relevant? What can I create that will draw somebody in?" she explains. She tries to post images daily to her Facebook and Twitter feeds, whether it's from right in her neck of the woods in Scottsdale, Arizona, or from the road during her travels through the American Southwest. |
One of the newest lenses in Rouse's photographic arsenal to help her achieve this goal is the Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD lens. "You need to have great glass to get great images," she says. "I don't care if you're shooting through a shoebox with a pinhole - invest in your lens. I wanted to add one whose range fell between that of my wide angle and long lens, and the 24-70 was perfect. It's tack-sharp, always quiet, and that F/2.8 aperture lets me get really creative when I want to blur out the background. It's also a great portrait lens. The 24-70 really takes everything up a notch, and I know I'll have it in my camera bag forever." |
Read on for Rouse's tips on using the 24-70 during her Southwestern adventures, whether she's photographing the Granite Dells of Arizona, the red rocks of Sedona, or a spectacular fireworks show. |
Think about aperture while shooting your images. |
Experiment with auto white balance for interesting effects. |
The first fireworks shot here, for instance, has more of a warm tone. To get that orange, glowing effect, I set my auto white balance to "Cloudy." Then, to offset the lights on the buildings, I set the auto white balance to "Tungsten," which gave it more of a colder, flatter, bluish tone. They're both pretty in their own way, and they each evoke a different feeling.
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Use HDR judiciously to liven up your pictures. |
In the end, though, you can make your HDR images as subtle or as surreal as you want. When I shot the aspens, for instance, I just added what I call a "light" coating to make the image a little more vibrant. I'll turn it up a little bit for other subjects, though. For example, I visited the Granite Dells at Watson Lake, near Prescott, Arizona, which are basically exposed boulders of bedrock and granite. I used HDR on those images to really bring out a sense of the place. |
The same goes for shooting the red rocks of Sedona - it's such a magical place, and the HDR brings out the red rock and the cactus. Using that 24-70 lens gave me a magical new perspective, too. I had my wide-angle lens on for many of my photos of the red rocks, but then I said, "Let me try the 24-70" for some of the shots. I put it on my camera and simply loved the effect it produced. |
Craft a thoughtful composition. |
When I shot in Sedona, for instance, I saw a beautiful contrast between the red rocks, the puffy white clouds and the cactuses, so I really concentrated on that. I stopped down to F/11 on the red rocks shot, because I really wanted the cactus to be the showstopper of the image with its texture and detail, with that prickly feel it offers. There's a lot going on in that picture, with all the shadows and colors and textures and feelings, and it really came out exactly as I wanted it. |
Look for the details in a landscape shot, and time it right to get those details. |
With the reflection shot, for instance, when you first look at it, you might think, "Why would someone break out just that little piece of rock to photograph?" But it's exactly those details, when you zoom in to show all the intricacies of the rocks and the lines, that make the shot. |
Timing's important, too, in showing those elements. The sun was just about to go down when I took this shot, and the light was so warm. Earlier in the day it would have been difficult to capture, because the reflection from the water would have blown out the colors a little bit. |
Slow down and find your own photographic "voice." |
To see more of Cheyenne L. Rouse's images, check out her website, blog, and YouTube channel. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter. |