Article & Images by Jon Sienkiewicz
There are two kinds of tourists in the world, those who take photos when they travel and those who travel to take photos. No matter which of these you are, bring back some great shots of your trip by taking along a triplet of Tamron lenses.
My Trio
My work has always required substantial travel. When I'm on a photo or writing assignment that places me on a quest for a specific subject, I take whatever I think I may need to succeed. But when I'm traveling for pleasure—or for the pleasure of capturing personal photos—I take along these three Tamron lenses: a 17-50mm f2.8 with Vibration Control, a 16-300mm zoom, and a 60mm f2 Macro.
The 17-50mm (full name is SP 17-50mm f2.8 Di II VC) is my go-to lens for street scenes, building interiors and general shooting. The fast f2.8 aperture allows me to shoot in low light and gives me greater control over depth-of-field. It's great for portraits, too; the range is about 25mm to 75mm on my Nikon and I find the 75mm to be portrait perfect. Sharp? No worries there! It's a Tamron SP lens. SP lenses are consistently exceptional in sharpness and overall optical performance.
My long zoom, the 16-300mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro, gives me the equivalent of a 450mm telephoto but is not much larger or heavier than a small can of Campbell's Pork and Beans when retracted for travel. At the wideangle end it's equal to a 24mm, which is professionally wide in anyone's book. I've had great success with this lens, and if I were forced to pack only one piece of glass for a month-long excursion, this would be it. Think about it; 24mm to 450mm of sharpness in a handsome, compact package. It focuses close too, down to 15.3 inches. The VC in its name stands for Vibration Control (more on that later). The PZD means it has Piezo Drive (piezoelectric AF motor) which focuses quickly and precisely and is extraordinarily quiet.
The fuzzy unsharpness caused by slight camera movement is the number one cause of unpleasant photos. I've seen many great shots that were poor photographs because even though everything else was perfect, the image was slightly unsharp. If you can't visualize what I'm talking about, close your eyes and imagine yourself using a pair of high power binoculars while standing up an a tipsy rowboat. Jittery, huh?
VC, or Vibration Control, is Tamron's proprietary image stabilization system. It's very effective at all focal lengths and is particularly beneficial in the two situations where camera movement is more likely to occur: when using telephoto lenses or when shooting at moderate to slow shutter speeds as required by lower light levels. Two of my Tamron Travel Trio lenses have VC-this 16-300mm and the 17-50mm. But you'll find many more Tamron lenses with this feature on their website.
Doing double duty as a fast portrait lens (with equivalent focal length of 90mm) and a true Macro is the 60mm f2, which you'll find listed as SP 60mm f2.0 Di II 1:1 Macro. The "1:1" designation means that this lens (like all other Tamron Macro lenses, including the 90mm f2.8 for you full-frame DSLR users) has special features. It focuses close enough to render the subject "life size" which means a stamp 2 cm wide in reality is recorded on the camera's imaging sensor at the same dimension. The "1:1" is the ratio between the subject size you see and the way the camera sees it.
Your Trio
The ideal lenses for you may be different. If you're all about architecture, for instance, you may want to pack a super wideangle, like the Tamron SP 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II that lets you get the shot even in tightly cramped quarters. If you have a full-frame digital SLR like a Nikon D800, then consider the new Tamron SP 15-30mm f2.8 Di VC USD for a guaranteed new perspective on things.
Safety First
The first rule of travel safety is always the same: use good judgment. Common sense should prevent you from wandering out alone in unfamiliar territory at midnight. For normal daytime excursions, carry a gadget bag that's nondescript and doesn't scream, "Hey – I'm full of expensive cameras!" Some seasoned travelers use diaper bags instead of higher priced camera bags because-hey-who wants to steal a bag full of baby stuff?
I also recommend that you do not carry your room key, passport, wallet, phone, medicine or memory cards in your camera bag. Keep them on your person. I know that bag manufacturers think they are doing you a favor by equipping many travel bags with organizer-pockets that are designed to hold those personal items. Instead, fill it with a paper notebook, pen, moist towelettes, Band-aids, microfiber cloth and a couple heavy-duty 30-gallon garbage bags. The garbage bags are indispensible if you encounter a sudden cloudburst or need a ground cover for an impromptu picnic.
Golden Hour
Much has been written about that special time of day when the sun's rays are less intense and a little more reddish-orange. This occurs in the evening, generally 30 to 40 minutes before sunset. A similar phenomenon happens on cloudless mornings, although the sun is not as red. By all means, take advantage of favorable light, whenever you can find it. If it means adjusting your meal schedule, that's a small price to pay for great photography.
Personally I find the early morning hours the best for several reasons. Even in normally crowded cities like Tokyo and Manhattan, the dawn's early light usually finds the streets empty and inviting. There's a fresh and adventurous feeling that comes with being up early and being out while others sleep. Sometimes you can witness the things that only morning people are privileged to see; messengers on their bicycles, revelers napping on a bench before staggering home, policemen shaking off the drowsiness that accompanies working the midnight shift. If you're into photographing people, start early in the day and be patient-the throng will appear soon enough.
Practice Makes Perfect
Some argue that successful photography is little more than luck. Nonsense to that. Opportunity without preparation is just another blown chance that the nonchalant probably won’t even notice. I maintain that photographers should practice (in the sense of rehearse) their craft to improve their results. If you live near a major metropolitan area you have an advantage, but even if you don't, you're probably surrounded by photogenically fertile hunting grounds. Practice at farmer's markets and flea markets, arboretums and nature centers, your local Audubon Society or zoo. See? There really are several places near you where you can hone your travel photography skills.
Up One Side and Down the Other
Because it's fun to include many different perspectives in a day's shooting, I change lenses frequently. When working my way through a relatively small area I often use one lens for my first pass through, then change lenses and make a second pass. When shooting bazaars and city scenes, I often use one lens while walking up the street and a different lens when walking back. Typically it's my Tamron 17-50mm and 60mm Macro lenses that I use in tandem this way. I get a rich mix of wide, portrait and close-up shots using this method. If I'm wandering close to home, I may use both lenses and two camera bodies, but in practice it’s still the same-up one side and down the other, switching lenses (and perspectives) in between.
Return to Port
Take advantage of social media to share photos with your friends and family even before you get home. Post travel pictures to your Facebook page or personal website, but use some discretion. If your employer thinks you're having too much fun, for example, they may wonder if you're really traveling on business. And if your house is empty while you're gone, refrain from telling the world that you're planning to stay 3,000 miles away for the next few weeks.
Memory cards are big and cheap these days. High quality, high capacity SD cards can be had for literally a few dollars. I recommend that you download all of your travel images to your computer and save a safety copy on a back-up drive. Then put the card away—with the images intact—for safe keeping. Sure, it's cheaper to format the card and use it again. But in the long run it might be wiser to have that extra back-up copy of your sojourn to Sweden on an SD card in your sock drawer.
Travel safely and take lots of pictures. Catch my weekly blog on Shutterbug magazine's homepage: http://www.shutterbug.com/category/jon-sienkiewicz-blog