This was a wonderful video Courtney. I too shoot with a Nikon D850 and often use my Tamron 100-400 for more intimate shots of flowers and such. By the way, I purchased that lens from MPB. I also just added a Sigma 150-600 from MPB, with the hope of capturing birds. Thanks again, your videos and your images are inspirational! I always look forward to both! I’m so jealous of your woodlands. Here in the Phoenix, Arizona area, in the US, it’s just bloody hot and super dry.
Hello my wonderful friend!!! I enjoyed the video!!! I love seeing your facial expressions as you describe each composition!!! I can tell you really love being out in the forest and taking photos!!! I have to admit that I love doing the same when I'm out taking photos in the woods!!! Your enthusiasm is very contagious, I don't do a happy dance when I know it's a fantastic photo! But I often think of you when I get a great shot!!! Great video. Please don't burn yourself out!!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
The most complimented landscaping lens that I have is an old Nikkor 80-400 D lens. There is something unique about the way it captures a woodland image. I cannot explain it, but I love it.
Auch ich verwende dieses Objektiv sehr häufig und gern für die Landschaftsfotografie. Genau genommen mache ich mehr Landschaftsaufnahmen mit Tele - Brennweiten als mit Weitwinkelobjektiven. Ich finde Tele - Landschaften reizvoller. Schon durch die geraffte Perspektive ergeben sich interessante Blickwinkel, die sich im Weitwinkel leicht verlieren.
Thank you for this reminder to use those lenses we use less for different perspectives. I did something similar a few months ago and hadn't yet gone back with a new eye to review my shots. I was trying a lot of exposure and focus stacking at the time, and the Seattle forest in the spring is something special. Those late afternoon beams of sunlight on wet moss and firs are fun to shoot.
You are one of the few photographers I follow on social media. I love your content, and as a 'semi-pro' photographer, I have learned much from you(mostly about composition). If I ever make it to the UK(I have MANY friends there), It would make my trip great to chat with you about the whole process.
Your videos are always so warm, relaxing and encouraging. Always a pleasure to watch them and see more of your thoughts and personality 😊. Glad I found your channel and subscribed 😊.
a tip Courtney, use a Monopod with this lens, if you are hiking, that way, as you 'travel' you use the stick as a hiking pole, and when shooting, its quick to setup(especially if you put the ball head on a sea stars QR system or the like, easing the transition from holster to ready to shoot), and if you are getting details of a canopy of Forrest, a wood knot high up, or even some fungus (mushrooms) from afar the lens is stable (as 1/125th is Minimum for stability with a 100mm focal lens, so more Magnification will certainly up this speed), so a support means your muscles don't work as hard holding the dead weight of the camera rig, Plus keeping everything still. ( I use a tele when I go shooting street scenes and seascapes, on a Hasselblad H1, 6x4.5 digital, and certainly put the HC 300 mm f 3.5 I have, on a set of sticks!!!; on my 500 C/M with a 120 mm and 180mm tele lenses, even then I use a cable release for anything less than 1/125 and if 1/15th or lower M_UP is essential, to stop excessive vibrations).
It's good to change it up every once in a while. Particularly if you're feeling uninspired or in a rut. Use a different lens than you would normally use for a certain kind of shot. Or just go out with a single lens which makes you more creative and see things differently. Here's to great adventures in the woods.
As always, Courtney, a pleasure to watch. Using the 100-400 in a forest setting can be challenging, but you side-stepped that easily. Great pics, especially the Runes. We're watching over your shoulder from Olympic Nat'l Park, Port Angeles, WA., USA! Carry on, be safe!
I use my 100-400mm for taking images across water which I do in summer to stop the photo being a blob of green. I walk around with a 24 -105, often use the long lens on a tripod for the main shot then keep it on on the way back. What usually happens is that I get a great wildlife shot which is better than the tripod shot.
It's always a pleasure to watch your videos.. telephoto definitely brings something new to the pass. I don't use my sigma 600 mm nearly enough.. thanks for another wonderful vlog.
You have such an amazing way of describing your creative thought process, thank you very much for sharing it. By far my favourite photography channel on RUclips.
I love your energy and approach. And totally agreed with the first panorama. I do it often myself - last week I had a fixed 600mm on and a bird was too close to fit whole in - the bird was not moving that much so I ended up with panorama of it from 3 photos - a bit over 110 Mpix :)
Thank you Courtney, it's been a while since I foraged into the forest, as we have plenty of moss laden trees here in western Canada, so I believe I'll try it again soon! As always, look forward to your next outing!
Courtney with a super zoom!! Great watching you, as always. My go to lens is a Sigma 60-600mm, just a bit of a lump. I currently have it on an old Z7 via the FtZ adapter. Previously on my D5 before I sold that. Thanks for all of your uploads.
I'm a freelance photographer. With the exception of planned photography, I have been using all my lenses for whatever environment I happen to be in. Figure where you want to shoot. Then push yourself. Choose the "next in line" lens of whatever size you have. By doing that, it makes you think and see things in a different perspective. Who knows, the next lens just might be the perfect lens. If It's not, still use it. I've shot landscape with a fisheye and other times with a 100 power spotting scope that I designed a mount for since there wasn't one on the market. When I saw you using the 100 to 400 mm lens, I thought you were doing a great thing. I'm sure you understand.
Nice video Courtney and very nice images. I also see that when you photograph hand-held or walk around with the camera in your hand, you don't wear a carrying strap. This combination of camera, l bracket and the large 100-400mm lens will certainly weigh quite a bit to handle. I also travel a lot myself and regularly take photographs by hand, but when I do it is always with a carrying strap, which is also safer I think. When I work from a tripod, I first quickly disconnect my carrying strap so that the wind cannot play with it. Keep up the good work Courtney, I find your videos very inspiring and educational. Greetings Alstamarisphotography.
Intimate landscapes are what I photograph most often actually. It is a lot of fun to pick out those details you find interesting. Great video as always Courtney.
Loved The Fern and the Birch. Nice video, makes you think about the beauty around you if you look for it. Great idea when you’re out taking pics. Thanks.
Good video and a good exercise on using a telephoto to change perspective. One thing you might try in the future is to shoot similar images in black and white to highlight the shapes of the branches a bit more.
Greetings from Puerto Rico, I congratulate you for your photography videos. I am learning with your tutorials. The only thing is that I don't master English, but by watching you can also learn.
I enjoyed the video as usual Courtney. As you say woodland can be a difficult place to photograph, what with separation of the trees etc. Great image's as usual. Look forward to the next one.
I love my Nikon Z 100-400 - it probably gets used more for medium to short range, love it to get fairly close to small things - has a cracking minimum focas distance
I have the 100-400 for my Z camera's but before I converted I used the 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 ED VR lens on my D500. A lot. Light, sharp, excellent colour rendition. Just a really nice lens; you may want to try one out sometime. For forest work the 70mm would help you out, as well as the lighter weight and over all ease of use. I think it''s Nigel Danson that uses his 100-400 for landscape; while up in the hills looking down. Digressing into mirrorless, I picked up the 24-400 (everyone else seems to choose the S 24-120) makes an excellent walking around lens; especially if you're on vacation. Not sure what the F mount version would be.
The vast majority of my pictures of any genre are taken with lenses in the range often called "portrait" focal lengths, about 85..135 mm (preferably close-focus capable). I'm more one to spot details to begin with, and often work not with wide landscapes but little patches of nature in and around the city. A narrower field of view makes it easier to control what's in the frame; not just in the subject area but in the background as well. You generally can more easily avoid distracting backgrounds not only because of the typically shallower depth of field, but you need only a narrower area behind the subject that's uncluttered, the desired brightness/color/texture etc.
I use the nikon coolpics 950 for walking in the woods rather than a huge 600mm lens, and i get 2000mm with the 950. Love your picture's and your videos
I have a 150-450 I use for bird photography, astrophotography, isolation shots (close-up from far away) and upper body workouts without going to the gym.
Lovely walk in the woods. Interesting that you focused on "landscape" flora using the super tele. Nearly all images were in the 100-200mm range. Did you choose to avoid including fauna and higher zooms? Thanks for taking us along.
Oh to have some trees to photograph. Living in southern New Mexico there aren’t a lot of trees… I have a Nikon 100-400 which I thought would be a good lens for my purposes. Unfortunately a good many of my shots are not acceptable due to blurring. Perhaps it’s my lack of experience with the D850/100-400 combo… These last couple of years have been lacking in photography outings, too many home chores for my liking… Always enjoy your videos, very relaxing.
I like using my 100-400 (or even my 200-800) on forest walks, because I really like subject isolation and I typically don't take too many wide-angle shots in the forest (although I usually have a wider angle lens as backup). Both the lenses I mentioned above also have good minimum focus distances (especially the 100-400), so they work as pseudo-macro lenses in a pinch.
I prefer a standard to mild telephoto for woodland (35~135), I have the occasional shot at 200+ but it's rare. The Nikkor 70-300 AF-P is very good if you want a lighter tele.
I do wildlife/bird photog and most often have long tele lenses on my Cam and waiting for the birds, can be time consuming. Thanks your video gave me some food for thought while I'm sitting there doing nothing. I need to look for Interesting compositions not just the birds. Got it..
I've tried using my 70 - 200mm lens in the forest and it's my most difficult lens to use in that environment. I will suggest a shot for you. When it is a bit windy try shooting a tree(s) with either a 6 ND filter or a CP polarizer and 3 ND and see what you come up with. PS: my favourite forest lens is my 24mm on my FF camera. I do have a 16 - 35mm and my 24 - 105mm lens but I usually use the 24. In fact I was using my 24mm a lot over many visits to a particular forest. I swapped out the 24mm for my 24 - 105mm lens, got so caught up in a particular composition, I continued shooting the zoom, but never zoomed forgetting I had made the swap. My zoom became my prime. PPS: Did you get a Godox flash?
100-400mm, in the woodland I'd be inclined to attach a " Close Up " diopter lens to it, and do some macro 😅 😊 I frequently use my Minolta 80-200 apo +Diopter in similar situations ,
At times, I find a telephoto can help to simplify the chaos in a forest. Looks like you found the same. Incidentally, any thought of trying "Ink Blot" as a monochrome image?
Courtney, you have a strong power of observations and beautiful photos. Someone said, "cameras are useless. First, you must learn to see."
Yay my weekly therapy session is here!
A beautiful person is one who discovers beauty in everything and truly touches it
Woodland photography is the hardest, in my opinion… that’s when a telephoto comes handy to isolate subjects… love your videos!!!
This was a wonderful video Courtney. I too shoot with a Nikon D850 and often use my Tamron 100-400 for more intimate shots of flowers and such. By the way, I purchased that lens from MPB. I also just added a Sigma 150-600 from MPB, with the hope of capturing birds. Thanks again, your videos and your images are inspirational! I always look forward to both! I’m so jealous of your woodlands. Here in the Phoenix, Arizona area, in the US, it’s just bloody hot and super dry.
"nailed in" is gorgeous
And now my weekend is complete, with a video from our favorite forest goblin 😊. Love your work 😊
It's always a joy to watch your videos.
Hello my wonderful friend!!! I enjoyed the video!!! I love seeing your facial expressions as you describe each composition!!! I can tell you really love being out in the forest and taking photos!!! I have to admit that I love doing the same when I'm out taking photos in the woods!!! Your enthusiasm is very contagious, I don't do a happy dance when I know it's a fantastic photo! But I often think of you when I get a great shot!!! Great video. Please don't burn yourself out!!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
The most complimented landscaping lens that I have is an old Nikkor 80-400 D lens. There is something unique about the way it captures a woodland image. I cannot explain it, but I love it.
Auch ich verwende dieses Objektiv sehr häufig und gern für die Landschaftsfotografie. Genau genommen mache ich mehr Landschaftsaufnahmen mit Tele - Brennweiten als mit Weitwinkelobjektiven. Ich finde Tele - Landschaften reizvoller. Schon durch die geraffte Perspektive ergeben sich interessante Blickwinkel, die sich im Weitwinkel leicht verlieren.
Thank you for this reminder to use those lenses we use less for different perspectives. I did something similar a few months ago and hadn't yet gone back with a new eye to review my shots. I was trying a lot of exposure and focus stacking at the time, and the Seattle forest in the spring is something special. Those late afternoon beams of sunlight on wet moss and firs are fun to shoot.
You are one of the few photographers I follow on social media. I love your content, and as a 'semi-pro' photographer, I have learned much from you(mostly about composition). If I ever make it to the UK(I have MANY friends there), It would make my trip great to chat with you about the whole process.
Hi Courtney, I've just found your videos and as an amateur photographer your videos are really useful and helpful, thank you
Your videos are always so warm, relaxing and encouraging. Always a pleasure to watch them and see more of your thoughts and personality 😊. Glad I found your channel and subscribed 😊.
a tip Courtney, use a Monopod with this lens, if you are hiking, that way, as you 'travel' you use the stick as a hiking pole, and when shooting, its quick to setup(especially if you put the ball head on a sea stars QR system or the like, easing the transition from holster to ready to shoot), and if you are getting details of a canopy of Forrest, a wood knot high up, or even some fungus (mushrooms) from afar the lens is stable (as 1/125th is Minimum for stability with a 100mm focal lens, so more Magnification will certainly up this speed), so a support means your muscles don't work as hard holding the dead weight of the camera rig, Plus keeping everything still. ( I use a tele when I go shooting street scenes and seascapes, on a Hasselblad H1, 6x4.5 digital, and certainly put the HC 300 mm f 3.5 I have, on a set of sticks!!!; on my 500 C/M with a 120 mm and 180mm tele lenses, even then I use a cable release for anything less than 1/125 and if 1/15th or lower M_UP is essential, to stop excessive vibrations).
You like the same type of trees I do, Courtney!! The gnarly twisted branches always have said something to me.
It's good to change it up every once in a while. Particularly if you're feeling uninspired or in a rut. Use a different lens than you would normally use for a certain kind of shot. Or just go out with a single lens which makes you more creative and see things differently. Here's to great adventures in the woods.
As always, Courtney, a pleasure to watch. Using the 100-400 in a forest setting can be challenging, but you side-stepped that easily. Great pics, especially the Runes. We're watching over your shoulder from Olympic Nat'l Park, Port Angeles, WA., USA! Carry on, be safe!
I use my 100-400mm for taking images across water which I do in summer to stop the photo being a blob of green. I walk around with a 24 -105, often use the long lens on a tripod for the main shot then keep it on on the way back. What usually happens is that I get a great wildlife shot which is better than the tripod shot.
I love a tele lense in the forests, it really changes your perception, but also I like how it condenses space. Great video as usual.
It's always a pleasure to watch your videos.. telephoto definitely brings something new to the pass. I don't use my sigma 600 mm nearly enough.. thanks for another wonderful vlog.
You are so Intune with nature you all yourself a forest goblin, but I feel you are a forest fairy. The way you can see things is extraordinary .
You have such an amazing way of describing your creative thought process, thank you very much for sharing it. By far my favourite photography channel on RUclips.
I love your energy and approach. And totally agreed with the first panorama. I do it often myself - last week I had a fixed 600mm on and a bird was too close to fit whole in - the bird was not moving that much so I ended up with panorama of it from 3 photos - a bit over 110 Mpix :)
Hi Courtney, an very enjoyable watch, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for another great video Forest Goblin !
Always a pleasure watching your videos, bright, fun and informative, what more could anyone want.
Thank you Courtney, it's been a while since I foraged into the forest, as we have plenty of moss laden trees here in western Canada, so I believe I'll try it again soon! As always, look forward to your next outing!
Courtney with a super zoom!! Great watching you, as always. My go to lens is a Sigma 60-600mm, just a bit of a lump. I currently have it on an old Z7 via the FtZ adapter. Previously on my D5 before I sold that. Thanks for all of your uploads.
Thanks for taking us along on this lovely little jaunt in the forest!
Great idea about using the telephoto lens in the forest. The first photo was a bit boring, but the ones which only show the branches were amazing.
I'm a freelance photographer. With the exception of planned photography, I have been using all my lenses for whatever environment I happen to be in. Figure where you want to shoot. Then push yourself. Choose the "next in line" lens of whatever size you have. By doing that, it makes you think and see things in a different perspective. Who knows, the next lens just might be the perfect lens. If It's not, still use it.
I've shot landscape with a fisheye and other times with a 100 power spotting scope that I designed a mount for since there wasn't one on the market. When I saw you using the 100 to 400 mm lens, I thought you were doing a great thing. I'm sure you understand.
Nice video Courtney and very nice images. I also see that when you photograph hand-held or walk around with the camera in your hand, you don't wear a carrying strap. This combination of camera, l bracket and the large 100-400mm lens will certainly weigh quite a bit to handle. I also travel a lot myself and regularly take photographs by hand, but when I do it is always with a carrying strap, which is also safer I think. When I work from a tripod, I first quickly disconnect my carrying strap so that the wind cannot play with it. Keep up the good work Courtney, I find your videos very inspiring and educational. Greetings Alstamarisphotography.
I started following you for a different perspective. How appropriate and timely.
Thanks Courtney for sharing an interesting location & you captured the woodland mood extremely well... love your work cheers from Australia 🦘🦘😊
I love your videos so helpful great job
Intimate landscapes are what I photograph most often actually. It is a lot of fun to pick out those details you find interesting. Great video as always Courtney.
Loved The Fern and the Birch. Nice video, makes you think about the beauty around you if you look for it. Great idea when you’re out taking pics. Thanks.
awsum video and fantastic photos and inspiration x
Good video and a good exercise on using a telephoto to change perspective. One thing you might try in the future is to shoot similar images in black and white to highlight the shapes of the branches a bit more.
Thanks for sharing.
Greetings from Puerto Rico, I congratulate you for your photography videos. I am learning with your tutorials. The only thing is that I don't master English, but by watching you can also learn.
Thank you for making this video! Found it very helpful and inspiring.
the forest is beautiful
I liked seeing you use the 100-400
I hope you have a wonderful day
My favorite lens, great for kind of macro as well.
Thank you Courtney.
England has the best mysterious trees of all. Thank you for sharing this video.
I enjoyed the video as usual Courtney.
As you say woodland can be a difficult place to photograph, what with separation of the trees etc.
Great image's as usual.
Look forward to the next one.
I love my Nikon Z 100-400 - it probably gets used more for medium to short range, love it to get fairly close to small things - has a cracking minimum focas distance
A nice exercise, even without the dancing. 💃 Carry on. 👍🥂
I have the 100-400 for my Z camera's but before I converted I used the 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 ED VR lens on my D500. A lot. Light, sharp, excellent colour rendition. Just a really nice lens; you may want to try one out sometime. For forest work the 70mm would help you out, as well as the lighter weight and over all ease of use. I think it''s Nigel Danson that uses his 100-400 for landscape; while up in the hills looking down. Digressing into mirrorless, I picked up the 24-400 (everyone else seems to choose the S 24-120) makes an excellent walking around lens; especially if you're on vacation. Not sure what the F mount version would be.
Really enjoyed that, thank you 🙏
Thomas Heaton loves to use a telephoto for woodlands, especially for stuff he wants to compress into singular shape.
I half expected you to look back round that tree at the camera after the shot of you sitting behind it and looking at your watch. 😀
Muchas gracias .....
The vast majority of my pictures of any genre are taken with lenses in the range often called "portrait" focal lengths, about 85..135 mm (preferably close-focus capable). I'm more one to spot details to begin with, and often work not with wide landscapes but little patches of nature in and around the city. A narrower field of view makes it easier to control what's in the frame; not just in the subject area but in the background as well. You generally can more easily avoid distracting backgrounds not only because of the typically shallower depth of field, but you need only a narrower area behind the subject that's uncluttered, the desired brightness/color/texture etc.
Amazing video again!
The most useful lens in the forest, I think. :-) Never without mine. Great video as usual.
Another lovely video from my favourite Forest Goblin… I’ve got the Z100-400 open in one of my tabs.. just need to pull the trigger or not 🤷
You certainly can use your tele almost like a macro when you change the distance settings on your lens so it can be versatile. Don’t get rid of it!
Thanks to your comment about the tripod plate, I realised I did the same.
Hi Courtney!
You can use your telephoto lens for landscapes on open hills or mountains to isolate frames using close-ups. Just a thought!
Beautiful
I use the nikon coolpics 950 for walking in the woods rather than a huge 600mm lens, and i get 2000mm with the 950. Love your picture's and your videos
great video Victoria
I quite often use my 100-400mm lens on bushwalks and don't take any other lens with me. It's a good choice for both flora and fauna.
I have a 150-450 I use for bird photography, astrophotography, isolation shots (close-up from far away) and upper body workouts without going to the gym.
Leaving now for record my landscapes
Lovely walk in the woods. Interesting that you focused on "landscape" flora using the super tele. Nearly all images were in the 100-200mm range. Did you choose to avoid including fauna and higher zooms? Thanks for taking us along.
Oh to have some trees to photograph. Living in southern New Mexico there aren’t a lot of trees…
I have a Nikon 100-400 which I thought would be a good lens for my purposes. Unfortunately a good many of my shots are not acceptable due to blurring. Perhaps it’s my lack of experience with the D850/100-400 combo…
These last couple of years have been lacking in photography outings, too many home chores for my liking…
Always enjoy your videos, very relaxing.
I like using my 100-400 (or even my 200-800) on forest walks, because I really like subject isolation and I typically don't take too many wide-angle shots in the forest (although I usually have a wider angle lens as backup). Both the lenses I mentioned above also have good minimum focus distances (especially the 100-400), so they work as pseudo-macro lenses in a pinch.
I prefer a standard to mild telephoto for woodland (35~135), I have the occasional shot at 200+ but it's rare. The Nikkor 70-300 AF-P is very good if you want a lighter tele.
I do wildlife/bird photog and most often have long tele lenses on my Cam and waiting for the birds, can be time consuming. Thanks your video gave me some food for thought while I'm sitting there doing nothing. I need to look for Interesting compositions not just the birds. Got it..
My New favourite channel
D850 squad still strong!
I've tried using my 70 - 200mm lens in the forest and it's my most difficult lens to use in that environment. I will suggest a shot for you. When it is a bit windy try shooting a tree(s) with either a 6 ND filter or a CP polarizer and 3 ND and see what you come up with. PS: my favourite forest lens is my 24mm on my FF camera. I do have a 16 - 35mm and my 24 - 105mm lens but I usually use the 24. In fact I was using my 24mm a lot over many visits to a particular forest. I swapped out the 24mm for my 24 - 105mm lens, got so caught up in a particular composition, I continued shooting the zoom, but never zoomed forgetting I had made the swap. My zoom became my prime. PPS: Did you get a Godox flash?
Another great video, thanks. Did you investigate the pile of stuff at the base of the tree 12:21?
Putting constrains on one self is always fun and promotes lateral thinking.
This was very inspiring! Would you recommend the zoom range in this video vs. a 70 to 200?
One video a day keeps the doctor away. So nice time in here
Great video! ;)
Good vid cortney
Love your videos. Im curious though. Do you name all of your photos? 😊
es a zoom has a place in the wood. saves one from wading a brook to get the shot or climbing hill to get shot.
MPB should be generous to lend you a 200-400mm f4 VR II. That would give you a different perspective for sure 😊
As always - great video and explanations. This forest firmly on my list to visit if / when I make it yo UK :)
Andy C
Do you know if mbp is shipping to New Zealand?
3:07 TIP: The wide slot on the screw of the tripod plate is not for screw drivers but for a coin to fit into it.
You mentioned that you like working with trees. Do you enjoy climbing trees too? I do. And I’m no spring chicken!
100-400mm, in the woodland I'd be inclined to attach a " Close Up " diopter lens to it, and do some macro 😅
😊 I frequently use my Minolta 80-200 apo +Diopter in similar situations ,
Thanks Courtney 📷
Using the same lens for birdwatching for years on my Nikon, but could do with more range :)
Is it always cold in the UK? You wear at least a hoodie, even in the summer season videos.
Hi Courtney. Do you record a GPS location for shots you want to come back to? And if so, how do you go about recording that information?
At times, I find a telephoto can help to simplify the chaos in a forest. Looks like you found the same. Incidentally, any thought of trying "Ink Blot" as a monochrome image?
Next life. Scott leader 20+ year hiking camping love photography
Привет! Отличный ролик! Долго не прячься скучно без тебя делай больше видео! А в городе ты не снимаешь архитектуру как раз телевик и пригодился!
❤
A forest goblin. Yep. That’s what I want to be when I grow up. 😊 (I’m late fifties now… wonder how long it will take to become one.)
I would have been really surprised if you hadn't found at least one more mushroom.