Landscape photography checklist and recommendations?

[Croissant Seven]

I live in CO, and I'm a mountain kid, so nature and landscape photography is a definite interest of mine. I want to take relevant, important, beautiful pictures of my home state and elsewhere, but I'm just starting out with basic consumer gear, and building from there.

So, I'm looking for recommendations for gear that's not in the pro-pricing range, to augment my current rig to take better shots in the mountains. I range anywhere from snowboard parks to alpine passes, to on the river with a fly rod.

Here's what I'm working with currently:
-Nikon D3000
-Nikon Kit Lenses: 18-55mm and 55-200mm
-Circular polarizer
-Basic tripod
-20/20 vision :mrgreen:

If you were me, with a budget of, say, $1000, where would you place that money to best upgrade what I'm working with, for what I'd like to shoot?

This isn't a theoretical, either, I've set aside a grand of funny munny for photo gear and I'm going to start shopping next week.

Some stuff I've done so far, since I bought my Nikon in September:

Fremont Pass, near Leadville, CO

Rollins Pass/Apex townsite, above Boulder:

Genesee Park, near Golden, CO (that bull didn't like me very much!)

Linus on Boreas Pass, near Breckenridge. Wildlife FTW.

 

[Croissant Seven]

Bump for the return of normal forum operations.:thumbup:

 

[Big Mike]

I'm not too far from the mountains up here in Alberta...but I still don't get out there as much as I would like. I LOVE the mountains.

I also love wide angle lenses, so my suggestion would be to consider a nice 'ultra wide angle' lens. Maybe something like the Sigma 10-20mm. And of course, a polarizing filter that is big enough for it. (some people don't like to use a polarizer on such wide lenses, but not me...I love it).

If you look around the forum, you should be able to find many examples shots I've taken in the mountains with my Canon 10-22mm lens.

A tripod is also a very often used tool for landscape photography. So just how 'basic' is yours? It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a really good tripod (and head).
I have many tripods, but the one I use for landscape photography is nice and stable, but also quite heavy. If I was going on a long hike, I might choose a lighter weight tripod, although my light tripod isn't as sturdy and may break much easier. Ideally, I'd like a nice carbon fiber tripod, which is sturdy, robust and light...but those are expensive. Another consideration is how the legs & column work. A cheap tripod may not allow you to get lower than a couple feet while some tripods spread right out and tilt the column, allowing you to get right down to the ground...maybe for close ups of small things or just a different perspective on a landscape.

A mono-pod may also be helpful....I usually use mine as a make-shift walking stick and for supporting the camera for quick shots when I'm with people who don't want to wait 5 minutes for me to set up the tripod and take a careful shot.

When shooting on a tripod, you shouldn't be touching the camera. It's quite easy to just use the self timer, but a remote (corded or wireless) is a nice accessory to have.

You might also consider a neutral density filter or two. In the mountains, you will often encounter waterfalls or streams etc. and with an ND filter (and a poloarizer) you can get much longer shutter speeds which can give you different looks for moving water. Some people think it's a bit cliche, but it's certainly worth trying...you might like it.
My last trip to the mountains didn't provide me with nice weather or interesting skies, so I shot a lot of waterfalls instead Waterfalls ~ Mike Hodson Photography

Another great thing to have, is a camera bag that works for what you're doing. In the mountains, you'll probably be waking/hiking a fair bit, so you'll want a comfortable bag, probably a back-pack style...or at least a sling type bag.

I also sometimes carry a very small, three legged folding chair like THIS, which is nice when I'm waiting for just the right light and the ground isn't ideal for sitting on.

 

[Overread]

Mike has really hit out on most of the major points
I would add that you might also consider some of the following elements;

Sigma 8-16mm lens - wider than the 10-20mm and from all accounts an even more improved lens. It is more in cost and also has a draw back in that it won't take regular filters (its front element is a bulb shape). Lee filters are looking into making a filter holder for this lens (they already have one for one of nikons "no filter" wide angle lenses) plus there is a work around for the 8-16mm using part of the hood (google around for it I've sadly not got a direct link to hand).

Filter holders and ND/ND grad - if you get regular screw in filters of these kind you always have the effect over the whole photo - for the ND grad you also have the point of graduation always in the middle of the frame. However many times this is not what you want - you might have a dark sky and a bright ground, but only want a slip of land in the shot. A filter holder system lets you adjust the position of the square/rectangular filters to best balance the light entering your camera.
You can consider Cokin for the cheap option or Lee filters as the top class (though they can have some backordering in some shops).

After that tripods - I agree that for hiking you really want light and strong - if you go for a really good carbon fibre (from somewhere like Gitzo) you will get a really good set of legs. Furthermore when you get out into the field you can hang your bag or even get a pouch to put rocks/other heavy things into to add weight and thus stabilize the tripod - without having to carry extra weight with you.


At a guess (I'm not in the US so I don't know prices that well) I'd say you could get one really good lens (such as one of the two suggested) and a good tripod setup or a good filter setup with your budget. So its a case of working out what you feel you want more and also seeing what the market costs are.

 

[KmH]

3 of the 4 photos you posted aren't landscape images.

Which CPL filter do you have?

As Mike and Overread suggested, a good tripod a some ND filters (both solid and graduated) would be helpful for landscape imagery.

Having a good understanding of composition, perspective, depth-of-field, dynamic range, diffraction, and photographic lighting would go a longer way to enabeling you to produce "relevant, important, beautiful pictures of my home state" than $1000 worth of gear.

A thorough understanding of how a photograph works, and how a digital camera/lens works is also highly desireable.