Dilemma – “a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives”
by Peter Hanscomb
I have a dilemma , not personal but more of a difficult choice , specifically what camera or cameras to take on my upcoming hollibobs. ( that’s a holiday or vacation for most normal people ) Now this should be an easy choice surely for someone who claims to be a wildlife photographer , a reference i loosely apply to myself from time to time. But and here’s the but it’s not just a holiday.
We will be flying over the pond to the Canadian Rockies , Banff National Park to be precise for a much anticipated three week holiday-vacation to celebrate a significant milestone birthday , not mine , my wife’s.
Great , wildlife photographer, that’s me , visits one of the worlds most amazing National Parks ( other parks are available ) absolutely full to the brim with all sorts of wildlife. Bears , Moose , Wolves , Birds of all descriptions and my favourite , tour buses full of tourists just like me.
So the first sticky point , It’s a special time in a very special place , celebrating my wife’s birthday , who is just for the record the love of my life. Wildlife + camera = bus man’s holiday ? Okay so we are away for three weeks , so a few days photographing wildlife wouldn’t hurt .
Sticky point number two , what camera or combination of cameras should i take ?. This one is the more difficult question and i have multiple answers. Simple just a point and shoot , i have recently acquired a new Canon Powershot SX70 HS bridge camera. Small and compact , easy to pack with a decent zoom range. But it’s not my favourite 5ds.
Ok , i have enough baggage allowance to carry on a camera bag , so i could take my DSLR with me but that means lenses , lot’s of lenses. Well at least three , a wide angled , my 24-70mm , 70-200mm and 500mm. Yes i know that’s four lenses and that’s the problem . I am now up to a large bag and a lot of kit.
My other option is a bit of a hybrid , take the new Canon for it’s long lens and people snaps , and my trusted 5ds and a wide angled lens for a few landscape snaps . I think the phrase is something like ” first world problems ”
© wildonline 2019
I’m by no means a photographer but struggle with the same issue every trip. If I just take the point and shoot? I’ll find something marvelous that required the big guns. If I take the big gun? I don’t need it and could have taken more shoes. It is indeed a dilemma….
😉
That will be a wonderful trip, and in shoulder season – all the better. I love traveling the Rockies in Autumn. My husband and I lug around a ridiculous amount of cameras (mostly film, but one dslr) when we travel and I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I take 5 times as many photos with my iPhone, as it’s tiny lens is fairly wide. Sometimes it’s quite freeing to move about without carrying a big camera, but boy do I regret not having the dslr with 300mm lens attached when I have a really good wildlife encounter. I’m not sure I just gave any useful advice though, sorry!
Should explain , we live in the uk , and we have visited the Canadian rockies every year for the past 17 years , actually this will be our 20th trip. So have lots of photos , still can’t decided what to take ,lol
Ah, well that does not necessarily make the decision any easier! You are so fortunate to make the yearly visits to the Canadian Rockies. They must feel like a second home by now!