behind the lens Archives - Photo Tips, Creative Photography + Travel Guides - The Wandering Lens

Photographing the Dunes of Sossusvlei + The Namib Desert

Lisa Michele Burns — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 09:02:19 +0000

Photographing Deadvlei with Wilderness Safaris – Namibia Departing in darkness, a slight glow simmered on the horizon, a tiny hint of the magic soon to be revealed across the Namib Desert. With Kulala Desert Lodge being the closest lodge to Sossusvlei, a short drive led us to the Namib Naukluft National Park gate from where the peaks of dunes grew closer and my camera quickly jumped out of the bag, never to leave my hands for the rest of the day. Despite knowing photos from a moving vehicle don’t always produce the best results, I couldn’t help myself. As the sun rose slowly in the distance, the dunes changed colour and I was snapping out the window at anything and everything that revealed one of the dunes I’d been wanting to photograph for years. With me for the day I had the Olympus E-M1X and E-M1 MKII bodies, both with impeccable weather sealing to ensure the desert dust wouldn’t be an issue. The M.Zuiko 7-14mm f2.8, 12-40mm and 40-150mm pro lenses were also in my bag to ensure all bases were covered for the scenes I imagined along with the MC-20 2x teleconverter which I was using for the first...

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Behind the Lens – The Olympus Photographers

Lisa Michele Burns — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 08:59:32 +0000

Photography Inspiration: Behind the Professional Lens You’ve heard me say it before and I’ll say it again to kick off this article; photography isn’t only about what gear you have but how you use it and what story you want to convey with your image. Having a creative vision, the ability to read a scene and dream up compositions using light, props or the scene before you requires skills and talent that takes time to develop. When you can then pair that practice with equipment that helps you to bring your ideas to life, this is when the magic happens. Now, speaking of what gear you use, have you ever wondered if other photographers use their cameras in the same way you do? Sure there are the key features and buttons that most people will use but do they see through the lens in a different way? I’ve been photographing with the Olympus system for the past three years (read the archive of articles here) and absolutely love their rugged, lightweight bodies for the work I do. Having met up with many other Olympus photographers, both professional and enthusiast, I’m always amazed at how much we can teach each other...

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Behind the Lens – Policeman’s Creek, Canmore

Lisa Michele Burns — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 12:43:25 +0000

A Canadian Rockies photography location you have to see! Where alpine scenery rises above a calm, reflective creek, home to one chunky little beaver. I had heard about this spot from every photographer I met throughout my time in Canada, yet it seemed to remain a relative secret to the non-photo crowds. Unlike some of the photo spots noted in my guide to Banff National Park, Policeman’s Creek is very unassuming. There are no signs, no real path, just a track that’s been left by photographers and locals who visit regularly. It’s no complete secret but you definitely won’t find tour groups and hordes of tourists, there’s just silence…and one of the best photography locations in Canmore! A few days prior there had been a huge dumping of snow which left behind some shimmering traces to remind us that winter was most definitely on the way. Alas, it was still technically autumn so tones of reds, orange and yellow were very much visible throughout the woodlands as we hiked the tiny 10-minute path from the car…my kind of hiking! My friend Jana had visited the day before so we met up so she could lead the way to what she...

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Gear Talk: How to Choose a Great Travel Lens

Lisa Michele Burns — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 07:21:32 +0000

What is the best lens for travel photography? Read on curious one… Travel photographers typically opt for three main features when choosing a great lens to take with them on the road. Versatility, performance and portability. Having gear that’s easy to carry around and covers a variety of focal lengths means you’re able to capture an array of images from landscapes to portraits. I regularly get a lot of questions about what equipment I use and while I’ve summarised it in the ‘What’s in my Bag’ section and written before about the ‘Benefits of Travelling with a zoom lens’, this time I wanted to delve a little deeper into why, and what I photograph with. If you know what it is you want to capture, having the right lens to do so will make your job so much easier to perform. Sure your camera body is the main element, but adding to that a great lens, especially a high quality lens will mean your work is already half done for you, then all that’s left is adding your creative flair and eye…oh and setting the camera correctly! While I’m not exactly what you’d call a gear geek, I find that...

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Behind the Lens: Lake Blausee, Switzerland

Lisa Michele Burns — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 23:30:47 +0000

When I started my photography project ‘The World from The Water’ two years ago, Blausee was on my list of places to capture. I had seen photos of its teal blue waters fed underground by alpine springs, of the towering Swiss Alps that hovered in the background and the little wooden cabin on its shore. It had a romantic legend that attributed to it’s beauty, a story both tragic yet beautiful. It was a landscape I had dreamt of, not a regular coastline but a lake with stunning scenery and the potential to blend elements. A few weeks ago had a week free and was in the south of France when I saw a weather forecast for heavy snow in Switzerland. The shot I had imagined was a winter wonderland, where clear alpine waters met a snow covered wilderness. This forecast was my chance. I was seven hours away by car and knew I had to get there, even just for the weekend for the chance to capture Lake Blausee in its winter coat. Confession – while I dream of visiting scenes like this and plan everything like crazy, one thing I couldn’t plan for was the road conditions. The...

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