Winter in the Tetons: Tips for travel and photography

[Mike Jackson]

Hello Y-Netters,
I spent all of last night and part of the morning adding a new Feature Post on my blog site called Winter in the Tetons: Tips for travel and photography
It has at least 23 winter images, both landscapes and wildlife and lots of information about access and road closures in GTNP during the winter months.
Here's the link:
http://www.bestofthetetons.com/2013/...d-photography/

[kiwi_outdoors]

Mike - your photos are outstanding, as a hiking camping person I love these images. Now, do you think that I could come usefully close to your images using the new Nikon P7800? I ask because I really don't want to haul (D)SLR stuff around again - been there and done that with Canon years ago, and I don't miss the weight and bulk. I do think that the EVF on the P7800 will make it easier to compose the images - I never really liked the back screen on my P310 for composing - though it was good for all the other aspects.

[Mike Jackson]

kiwi, I don't have much knowledge of the P7800 cameras. My wife has a pocket sized camera and she loves it for what she does. There are two schools of thought on some of the shots I take. One group likes to buy the largest zoom lens they can afford to bring an animal or object up really close--as if they were standing right next to the subject. The other group had rather stay back and shoot with a shorter lens to get an animal in a "scene". The point and shoot cameras do a great job of the latter. I'd have loved to have a big bull elk bugling in the top shot, but that opportunity would be few and far between. Conversely, if I had been a long way from the cluster of moose and was taking them in a big scene, there wouldn't be the same impact. So, it is a balancing act between subject and distance and using the equipment at hand. MJ

[kiwi_outdoors]

kiwi, I don't have much knowledge of the P7800 cameras. My wife has a pocket sized camera and she loves it for what she does. There are two schools of thought on some of the shots I take. One group likes to buy the largest zoom lens they can afford to bring an animal or object up really close--as if they were standing right next to the subject. The other group had rather stay back and shoot with a shorter lens to get an animal in a "scene". The point and shoot cameras do a great job of the latter. I'd have loved to have a big bull elk bugling in the top shot, but that opportunity would be few and far between. Conversely, if I had been a long way from the cluster of moose and was taking them in a big scene, there wouldn't be the same impact. So, it is a balancing act between subject and distance and using the equipment at hand. MJ

Mike - the P7800 lens is the equivalent of 28-200 in old terms, and very good - the P7800 is way at the top end of P&S cameras - and priced accordingly. I used to carry a 24mm, 35-70mm and an 80-200mm for my Canon AE1 program. And a spare camera body (AL-1). And a 2X extender. Not any more, but the P7800 (or P7700) is about the only P&S that takes a filter (polarizer in my case), which I used to use a lot outdoors.

[Mike Jackson]

It has been a long time since I posted this thread. Since then, my wife purchased a Nikon P7800 and she loves it. It is a value packed little camera. MJ