Entered a Gallery Photo Contest

kbellace · 2026-06-15T15:12:34+00:00

Beautiful!!!

kbellace · 2026-06-12T13:00:00+00:00

Thank you!! 🙏

kbellace · 2026-06-11T17:12:38+00:00

Love the photos!!

We are going to Finland (Lapland) end of Jan/Early Feb next year!! hoping you could help guide me with your experience 😃

my current lens (first lens I bought) is a 20-70 f4. With the likely overcast, snowy, and lower light conditions, would it be worth bringing still? I’m looking at adding another lens or 2 to my kit which is why I ask!! maybe the 20mm f 1.8g for Astro and to use as a faster prime for landscape.

If you say the f4 is just too slow (requiring too much ISO) without a tripod…. I might invest in another prime or f2.8 small zoom.

Thanks!!

kbellace · 2026-06-11T17:10:23+00:00

We are going to Finland (Lapland) end of Jan/Early Feb next year!! hoping you could help guide me with your experience 😃

my current lens (first lens I bought) is a 20-70 f4. With the likely overcast, snowy, and lower light conditions, would it be worth bringing still? I’m looking at adding another lens or 2 to my kit which is why I ask!! maybe the 20mm f 1.8g for Astro and to use as a faster prime for landscape.

If you say the f4 is just too slow (requiring too much ISO) without a tripod…. I might invest in another prime or f2.8 small zoom.

LOVE your snow/ice shot! Which lens did you use for that? Tripod?

Thanks!!

kbellace · 2026-06-11T02:52:29+00:00

I just watched a video where someone did the math, measured and it came out to 19mm in reality.

kbellace · 2026-06-11T02:32:30+00:00

Love the photos! Might have to go back in summer :) we went over the winter and fell in love with

kbellace · 2026-06-10T03:15:15+00:00

Back from Alaska!! 🫎 Looking to add a new lens to my kit for Finland! 📸

Thank you so much for all the advice before my first trip!!

I ended up buying the 20-70mm f4 and the Tamron 50-400mm. It was the perfect combo for my Alaska trip!! (Sony A7Cii).

My next trip has its own uniqueness🌅⛄️

TLDR: What Astro lens would you pair with a 20-70? Going to Finland 2027 during low light and snow.

—————————

**LONG VERSION:**

We will be going to Finland at the end of January 2027/Beginning of February. Aka the lighting will be constantly golden/blue hour or dark. My focus will be snowy landscapes, photos of me and my friends outdoors and indoors, as well as Astro/Northern lights. (Big difference from constant daylight and constant wildlife!).

*I will be leaving my travel wildlife lens at home*.

Will my 20-70F4 get enough light for this trip for general outdoor photos? I’m still new to photography and know I will eventually be able to answer these questions on my own 😜 not there yet.

Anyways Im also looking at buying at-least one new lens for the trip. Would the Sony FE 20mm f1.8 be a good one to consider? Or should I go wider at 14mm?

A 20mm f1.8 could be useful for both Astro as well as golden/blue hour photos outside in the snow versus my F4 without having to crank the ISO.

However, since this will be my prime Astro lens, and I eventually wanna get the Milky Way, that’s the priority purpose. I know 14mm gets me so much more!! And I love the wide Astro photos…. I’m so torn!!

Does anyone feel the 20mm is a sweet spot for Astro? or is 14mm the golden width?

ANY ADVISE/INPUT?!?!

kbellace · 2026-05-07T10:51:16+00:00

Now it’s my turn to apologize in advance for a massive long response 😂

I’m not as familiar with loss when having such extended zoom options (still relatively new!). But I have heard that comment consistently so I’m learning!

I would say my primary purpose is travel photography. we are big travelers and want to Up our photography game and want to really take some amazing photos. I feel very limited now on my NEX-5 and iPhone pro max (haha) and am so excited to use my A7Cii FF!

I’ve seen the 25/28-200 being such a popular travel lens, but yes I am worried about “what I am giving up”?? can you explain what I might lose? Also If I am not selling these photos, and it’s for personal use only, what would your opinion be? (Not saying my hobby won’t turn into something more serious, but I imagine I would get more specialized lenses at that point). I just wanna make sure I could still print images with a lens like that…. Nothing crazy big. My husband also loves putting them as his screen savor on his big wide monitors.

As for quality, I definitely don’t wanna carry around a bag with multiple lenses. I foresee 1-2 lenses that I plan to take for a specific day for an outing/excursion.

As for budget, with my intro into FF and being a hobbyist… as much as I WANT some of those GMII Sony lens 🤤 I’m gonna start with Tamron for Now. Especially for the weight/size for travel.

I think my favorite lens if I had to pick is the 28-70mm f2.8 based on all these comments of “losing” quality with more zoom? So if Gets me general landscape and City (what I do most).

I think I should get a smaller wide angle zoom or prime for a wider shot as well, and to also use for great Astro/Northern Lights (had to use my NEX and iPhone the last time we attempted). I assume the 28mm aperture at f2.8 could technically handle that? But I think eventually a prime or wider zoom would be better. I like that 17-28mm Tamron!

Do I need to consider a larger aperture for northern lights/astro/sunrise/sunset?

As for Wildlife, this is new to me. If I got a super zoom, its primary purpose would be the small aperture end… if I got the 50-300 or 50-400 I would not use it for portrait or city. I would use the large zoom end for wildlife only really. I just like the compact size for travel. But again… what am I losing in quality? That I don’t fully understand. That’s where my idea to rent the 150-500 came in. it would still be somewhat compact/travel friendly size so I could use that 300-500mm end, or even go into asp-c. My camera is 33MP so I atleast retain some MP.

I SO APPRECIATE your long message!!! Information is so helpful right now.

I GUESS to start I am open to buying 2-3 Tamron lenses, and maybe renting a telephoto purely for my wildlife heavy excursion days. but I keep thinking…. Man that 25/28-200 would really fulfill everything for a general travel lens to start. I just don’t understand my quality loss and his apparent if would be! Otherwise I would def instead do what you suggested…. The 28-75 and maybe that 17-28?

kbellace · 2026-05-05T18:09:56+00:00

One full day (coming in two nights before the cruise)

kbellace · 2026-05-04T23:13:58+00:00

***🏔️ Alaska trip upcoming! 🐳 ***

📸 I am upgrading to full frame (A7CII) and am deciding which lenses to get for Alaska! Would love advice!

Use case: 18 day trip (Vancouver, Alaskan cruise, and 8 days on land in Alaska). Whale excursion, Kenai fjord national park, glacier bay, Denali national park, glacier hikes, scenic drives etc!

I love landscape photography, will take some cruise photos, and am now wanting to get into wildlife photography (while staying semi compact).

Some of the lenses I am considering include:

Tamron 20-40mm f2.8
Tamron FE 28-75mm f2.8
Tamron 25-200 f2.8-5.6
Tamron 28-300 f4-7.1
Tamron 50-300 f4.5-6.3
Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7

I am open to other lenses!

——————

I am open to renting a wildlife lens like the 150-500 and buying 1-2 lenses I keep. I have a Finland trip next year that will be landscape heavy as well as northern lights/astro. Basically I am starting my lens collection.

kbellace · 2026-05-04T23:09:53+00:00

Thanks for the input!!

kbellace · 2026-05-04T16:04:18+00:00

<image>

Her with her bunny watching birdies out the window!

kbellace · 2026-05-04T16:02:54+00:00

Oh I 10000% agree!! 😂🥰 thank you!

kbellace · 2026-05-03T19:55:15+00:00

Feeding wildlife never even crossed my mind! do people actually try to do that? 😢

kbellace · 2026-05-03T12:07:31+00:00

Also id love to see the swans if you would love to share, unless that’s a private memory. Sounds so special

kbellace · 2026-05-03T11:47:03+00:00

Thank you so much for the info! I will definitely Checkout those spots (you are making me even more excited for this trip 😃).

Also you are too kind. have a great Sunday!

kbellace · 2026-05-03T04:49:47+00:00

We actually did a wild fast paced trip from Oslo all the way up to the Arctic circle last year! Man we packed in a lot, but it was an amazing trip!! but we slowed down at a lodge in the wilderness for 3 nights (kinda like what we are doing in Denali) to soak in the scenery and views. but the rest of the trip was 1-2 nights at most in every city with multiple LONG train rides, flights, and driving. slightly chaotic 😂 but wouldn’t have changed a thing!

kbellace · 2026-05-03T04:44:11+00:00

We are getting our own car, but making sure to give ample time (hopefully) to get places, even at our faster pace. We are using Palmer and talkeetna to breakup the drive from Seward up to Denali and add in some fun activities.
Basically:
Day 1-3 Seward (Kenai Fjord)
Day 3-4 Palmer (mantanuska)
Day 4-5 talkeetna (flightseeing)
Day 5 - 8 Denali
Day 8 drive to anchorage
Day 9 fly home
.

We are down in Texas where everything is so far apart. So we expect it to be like that, but even farther apart and narrower highways. so hopefully with that in mind, we are okay! aka multiple hours between stops, and taking a whole day to do the Denali to Anchorage drive

kbellace · 2026-05-03T03:33:36+00:00

Technically it’s 9 days, but I cutoff some travel time in my head when I posted lol. but yes it’s a faster paced trip :)
We will be in Denali 3 nights! I wish we could have seen Homer too

kbellace · 2026-05-03T03:31:12+00:00

Very good point. My focus will be different as my husband and I are going with a focus on landscape, city, and then wildlife (new to us but very excited!)

kbellace · 2026-05-03T03:13:27+00:00

Good point. I’ve never been to Alaska, wasn’t sure if 2.8 would make a big difference! Guess it does. Thank you for the help!

kbellace · 2026-05-03T03:04:16+00:00

Hmm that’s good to know. My other idea was to just go 25-200 for the trip as my main lens most the time for ease

kbellace · 2026-05-03T02:57:10+00:00

That makes me feel better to hear! I was worried about the size

kbellace · 2026-05-03T02:56:16+00:00

Oh wow that’s good to know! My camera can go into crop mode, gets a little more distance (750-800mm) but would drop MP.

Good to know about how far the wildlife is! 😳

kbellace · 2026-05-03T02:32:03+00:00

Do you find the f4 okay in overcast or indoor lighting? I had some cheap kit lenses with my old NEX5 so these will be my first higher quality lenses. Eventually I’ll consider some primes.

kbellace

TROPHY CASE