Landscape Photography…with a Wildlife Lens?

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Landscape photography at 500mm...with rooftops as the foreground?

The other morning I was out for a walk with my wildlife lens (I intended to photograph a heron) when I happened to notice, for the first time, this view from the top of the hill near our house. I'm looking north over the top of several neighborhoods; I never knew I could see beyond them. Even when I showed this photo to other people in my house they couldn't quite orient themselves toward this scene. Where was I standing? Where was I looking?

This shot wouldn't have been possible had I not been carrying that big lens. Below is another photograph I took with it on the same walk.

There's a pretty big gap between the focal lengths of my lenses. I have a lens that goes up to 120mm. And then I have my 500mm that I use primarily for birds and wildlife. I also have a wide-angle. I've heard many landscape photographers talk about how much they love the range from, say, 70mm to 300mm. More and more, I see what they're talking about. It's not in the budget to add that lens to my kit anytime soon — and there's no shortage of subjects to photograph with the gear I do have — but I admit I'm looking forward to having one of those mid-range lenses someday.

Location: Silverton, Oregon

Exposure: 1/125 second, f/11, ISO 450

Focal Length: 500 mm

Gear:

  • Camera: Nikon D850

  • Lens: Nikkor 500mm PF ED VR

Okay, and here is the other photograph I took with my wildlife lens that morning. I was struck by how this one branch full of leaves was hanging over the path, a chandelier lit by the early morning sun. This scene was across a street, across a pond and uphill from where I was standing. 500mm ended up being the perfect focal length.

Location: Silverton, Oregon

Exposure: 1/125 second, f/5.6, ISO 800

Focal Length: 500 mm

Gear:

  • Camera: Nikon D850

  • Lens: Nikkor 500mm PF ED VR

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