Widening my horizons with Tamron

Nikon D200 (What??? I know!)
Tamron 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5G :: Shot at 10mm
ISO 100 ::  F/3.5 at 1/100sec

I am so very excited to be working with Tamron. I have been a fan for so long and always recommend their lenses when people come to me with the all time most asked question: “What camera and lens should I buy?” In fact the reason I still even HAVE my D200 is because I loved the Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 lens so much that I decided to hang onto my digital sensor body so I could keep using it. I was on that lens so fast after it was released (AGES ago) that the serial number is barely in the 300′s.

There is still so much to be revealed in the very near future about what I will be doing for Tamron, but basically I am a huge believer in their products and I want to help bloggers, beginners, parents and just anyone who loves taking pictures to get the best gear they can and the right equipment for their needs. Especially within budgets…that is something I understand all too well. The beautiful thing is, paying less does not mean giving up on quality when it comes to Tamron. Really, that is from someone who had her first Tamron lens as a college student in the 1990′s and purchased her fourth Tamron only a few years ago.

While my work with Tamron was not going to start until a bit later in the year, they offered to bring me in on the newest campaign for their wide angle lens and I think it is a great idea. Wide angle is not just for travel…you can use it for many wonderful daily life shots too. In fact, there has been a great trend towards wider lenses in portraiture in recent years. I have always been drawn to the more traditional long focal lengths for my portrait work, so this will be an experiment for me as well. I am mesmerized by images with amazing use of negative space (all that empty area around the subject) and I was wanting to do that more in my work. Especially now as my children get older and I want to show that burgeoning independence from me in my images of them. I am excited for you to join along. I will be doing some short videos in the coming weeks, but for today, I just wanted to get a feel for the lens. I decided to attempt a simple portrait first and when I saw this gorgeous tomato red wall, I knew my daughter, clad in her robin’s egg blue coat would feature beautifully in front of it. As an image it is simple, but striking. She looks small, yet strong.

There are some things to keep in mind though when shooting portraits with a wide angle lens. The main thing is the distortion. I tried to photograph Gemma with the least distortion by placing her basically in the middle of the frame as the edges is where the distortion is most visible. The second was the biggest challenge…stepping back. I am so used to coming in close for portraits, that I really enjoyed the challenge presented by scouting a location that could hold its own in the entire frame. The wall and the colors are as much the subject as Gemma is. The wide angle presents so many fabulous opportunities in environmental portraiture as I was only a few feet from my subject when taking this (literally not even the full width of a cobblestone side alley…no cars were coming, having my subject looking for me, I did not get run over!) but was still able to include so much around her. I would never have been able to get this shot with the 50mm I love nor (especially) my 105mm and 90mm lenses that I favor for my traditional portraits.

I am excited to take this lens to the states with me. New York city is going to look amazing in wide angle. I plan on upgrading my D200 camera when I am at Adorama, as to use this lens I will need to stay with a digital sensor. I am fine with that. For professional shoots, I have my D3 and hopefully soon, a D4. For my work with Tamron though, I think it is important that I show you that great work does not have to be shot on a $5000.00 high end pro level camera. I will show you that you actually CAN take beautiful images of your life on a Nikon D3200. I will be shooting along with you and sharing how I do it all. To paraphrase our Beyond Snapshots tagline, you have a beautiful story that is worth telling…beautifully.

Now go on over and check out the Tamron Widen Your Horizons campaign. There are galleries of gorgeous travel images and two fantastic contests that you can enter. They are even giving away a Tamron lens every two weeks!

I will be back here with more soon and as soon as things are up and running for my profile on the Tamron site, I will let you know. To get the ball rolling there, I need some help from you. Please head over to my Facebook page and leave a question that you would like me to answer on my profile. I will be making a list and answering them all…either there or in future blog posts!

Disclosure on my position as Tamron Ambassador :: Tamron has given me the wide angle lens to use. I am not paid for my opinion of Tamron. I am excited for this chance to represent them and honored that they deem my work worthy of their brand…they are a company that I respect and use.

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