As I said before, you can get great pictures with a point and shoot, but if you are using 35mm, you may be wondering what sort of lenses you will need, especially for those wildlife shots. In general, bring whatever you have.

For wildlife, a long lens is nice but not necessary. Many of the large animals are close enough that you can easily get by with a 200mm lens or possibly even shorter. I have often been in my car when a bison walked so close that I would have needed a 28mm lens just to get its head. For years, my longest lens was 200mm and I was able to get many great wildlife shots. Currently my longest lens is 400mm. This lens helps with the smaller animals but it is not necessary. For birds, such as the white pelicans and trumpeter swans, the 300mm with 1.4x is great. For smaller birds, a longer lens would be nice but who has the money.

If you don't have a long lens you just have to have more patience. One nice thing about using a shorter lens for wildlife photography, is that it gives you the opportunity to include some of the animals habitat in the picture. This can make for a much more interesting picture than just a head shot.

At the other end of the spectrum, you will want a wide angle lens for those landscape shots of the canyon, lake, hot pools etc.

There are many possibilities for closeup photography. Depending on the elevation and the time of year, you can often find wild flowers. No matter when you are there, the algae and cyanobacteria in some of the runoff channels and around the hot pools can make interesting closeup subjects.

In general, bring whatever equipment you have. You will probably have an occasion to use it all.

Comments and Questions are Welcome.

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