Iceland may be the standard dream destination for many photographers, but have you thought about Greenland? It is absolutely stunning, and after seeing this, I challenge you to disagree. But if you go there to shoot the icebergs, the rugged mountains, and the turquoise waters, should you use a wide angle lens or a telephoto lens?
Different locations tend to go through phases as far as popularity goes, and in the last decade or so, Iceland has undoubtedly been at the top of most photographers' bucket lists. And it's easy to see why, with its incredible landscapes, its other-worldly mountains and waterfalls, and the mystical mists that often give images a sense of magic. But let's be honest here, it's getting to the stage where it's almost impossible to get a shot that's original or uniquely creative, much like Santorini, in Greece, and its blue-domed churches. So, what might be the next great destination to really take off?
That brings us to this great video by Chris Hau, in which he travels to Greenland with another well-known photographer, Benjamin Hardman. Hardman has made almost an entire career out of shooting with long, telephoto lenses, so he and Hau decide to have a photo battle: Hau using a wide angle lens and Hardman using the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 telephoto lens. They are both using the Sony a7R IV camera. Typically, when most people do travel photography, they think of going as wide as possible to get as much of the frame in as they can, but after seeing Hardman's work with the telephoto lens, you might reconsider how you shoot. Regardless of whose images you think are better, the real winner here is Greenland. What do you think?
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Some really great images taken with each lens, that would not have been possible to take with the other lens.
Personally, I would want to take ALL of the good compositions that come to my mind's eye, and not want to be limited to either lens. So I'm happy that it's easy to have both lenses, and maybe one in between these two, so that we can capture everything that we want to instead of having to settle for just some of the great images that are there to be had.
Normally, in photography, when someone asks me, "which one", my response is, "both".
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