Mattie & Seth

 

This was such a fun day! We met at Fletcher's Cove in Encinitas California around 6:30am. It was getting warmer outside and the sun was starting to wake up as joggers and power walkers made their way across the beach. We got some fun shots of Mattie and Seth running on the beach using the Pilot Fly  (to help steady our shots) and 50mm lens and then we put our camera in an SPL water housing and got some fun shots of them entering and then playing in the water. Trash the dress and/or love water videos are some of the funnest videos to make. Be sure to send me a message to see what my availability and pricing is if you’d like to get one for your special day.

Special thanks to The National Parks for the beautiful song. Go check them out!

How We Explored Banff National Park

Last week we just got back from our fun trip to Banff National Park and wanted to share some useful tips for people that are thinking of going to explore this beautiful National Park! We’re going to talk a little about places we stayed, sites we visited, and thing we wish we would’ve known before we went. Before we get into this, we’d love to give a little shout out to Glamping Hub and Simpson’s Num-Ti-Jah Lodge who provided us with a super fun place to stay right on Bow Lake situated in the heart of Banff National Park. If you’re looking to stay in Banff and want to wake up to an amazing view you’ve go to check them out. Plus, if you’re going anywhere you need to check out Glamping Hub because they have some of the coolest places to stay in Nature while not breaking the bank. Here is a link highlighting some of “Best Camping Cabins in the US”.

The view just a 2 minute walk outside the lodge! This beautiful lake and if you look closely there is a beautiful waterfall flowing down!

The view just a 2 minute walk outside the lodge! This beautiful lake and if you look closely there is a beautiful waterfall flowing down!

The view from Lodge! Incredible!!

The view from Lodge! Incredible!!

 
The wildflowers are so pretty up at Bow Lake in August!

The wildflowers are so pretty up at Bow Lake in August!

Places to Stay

So planning ahead is a good idea because Banff is a super popular place in the summer. If you are planning on camping, there are campsites you can reserve or campsites that are first-come first-serve. We went to the Parks Canada website to figure it out. On the website there is a helpful chart that shows which campsites are reserved ones and which ones are first-come first-serve ones. We ended up just showing up and realized that most of the camping spots were filled up. When we drove up to one of the camp rangers and asked him what he’d recommend, since we were at Lake Louise, he recommended us driving to the Protection Mountain campsite and seeing if we could find an open spot there. He also gave us a tip that sometimes there isn’t any open spots but you can see if there are some campers willing to share a spot in exchange for splitting the camping fee. Sometimes the campsites are large and campers don’t mind sharing a spot.

 

The Num Ti Jah Lodge is nestled in the mountains! So cute!!

The Num Ti Jah Lodge is nestled in the mountains! So cute!!

If you’re not into roughing it there are some really nice places to stay throughout the park. The spot we stayed through Glamping Hub (Simpson’s Num-Ti-Jah Lodge) was a really fun way to end the trip because it was situated a little away from the really busy lakes but still in a beautiful location right by Bow Lake with some fun hiking to a waterfall. The Lodge was a cozy cabin and the perfect place to relax while enjoying the natural beauty of the park. By the way, the lodge up there had Bison Chili. Ya, we were a little skeptical at first but it was well worth the 8 Canadian dollars.

 

Sites We Visited

Banff has so many hike, lakes, and waterfalls that it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Lake Louise and Moraine are some of the most famous lakes and need to be visited early in the morning if you plan on getting a parking spot up by the lake. We got to our parking spots by 6:30am and lines were already forming. By 7am they were closing the parking lot because it was so full and wouldn’t open it back up until 6 or 7pm in the afternoon. Not sure if it’s always this busy but it’s good to be there early if you want to get parking. We never did this but I guess there’s a shuttle service (I think it’s free) that shuttles people up to Lake Louise. Both of these lake were super cold and super beautiful. You can’t help thinking that the whole lake is a giant puddle of Blue Kool-Aid. Another beautiful lake we went to was peyto Lake! This lake has an awesome view from up above another Blue kool Aid lake with only 30 minutes hiking or less to get to a good lookout spot away from the crowds!

Lake Louise for sunrise <3

Lake Louise for sunrise <3

Lake Moraine SO pretty

Lake Moraine SO pretty

 

If you’re  looking for a hike full of beautiful waterfalls you need to check out Johnston’s Canyon. It took us about two hours to do the whole thing and we did stopped to film and stuff along the way! The whole hike is paved and we saw a lot of families with little kids doing the hike.

The last waterfall on the hike!

The last waterfall on the hike!

There were so many waterfalls in Johnston's Canyon!

There were so many waterfalls in Johnston's Canyon!

awww i love him. this place was so fun

awww i love him. this place was so fun

Emerald Lake. Crazy boy just jumps right in!

Emerald Lake. Crazy boy just jumps right in!

One of our favorite lakes was Emerald Lake. This lake is smaller than Lake Louise and Moraine but still is that magical blue color. Plus, when we went it was the warmest of all the lakes(still freezing tho haha) and there were quite a few people jumping off a bridge and swimming around in the lake. Fewer people are there and the canoe rentals are the cheapest at this lake if you want to rent a canoe. At Emerald Lake the canoe rentals were $60 per hour, Lake Louise it was $90 per half hour, and at Lake Moraine it was $90 per hour. We ended up taking our canoe tour at Lake Moraine only because we didn’t know what Emerald Lake was like.

Kayaking this lake was the highlight of the trip!!

Kayaking this lake was the highlight of the trip!!

Tips

If you’re like us and always looking for ways to save a buck here are a few tricks we learned. We usually use the app Turo to get rental cars and were lucky when the rental car we got in Calgary came with a Canadian National Park pass. If you are on the Turo app looking for rental car options it might be worth your time to ask car owners if they have a park pass available. If they rent the car to a lot of people visiting Banff there is a good chance they have a pass and can let you use it while you are renting the car.

 

Stock up at Costco if possible :) We made a quick pit stop at Costco before heading up to the park and were so so happy we did! The food at the park is a little more expensive and it’s just nice to have a ton a fruit, water bottles and granola bars in the car if you get stuck in a long line of cars waiting for a parking spot.

 

Funnest boy to travel with!

Funnest boy to travel with!

Cold nights in Canada. We went in the summer and were pretty lucky with having warms nights but one of the nights we were there was pretty cold and we were really glad we purchased some warm sleeping bags in Calgary right before we went. During the days we usually wore shorts and t-shirts but in the early mornings and evenings we were glad we had some warm sweaters.

 

Taking fun pictures. While you’re there you’ll find yourself pulling out your camera all the time to snap another picture because everything looks so out of this world amazing. If you’re looking to get pictures of the lakes super flat and glassy we’d suggest to go early (like 6:30 am). Usually the lakes were really glassy and pretty at this time. If you end up missing the morning shots you can go in the evening and get some really amazing shots as well. The morning might be a little bit better but on a good day it’s hard to know if there’s a difference.

 

The view from Peyto Lake! what a sight!!

The view from Peyto Lake! what a sight!!

Overall Banff is a must see! If you like hiking, exploring, and taking pictures it’s a guaranteed good time. We hope this little summary of our time there with places we stayed, sites we visited, and some tips we learned while there can make your future trip there even better!

Analise & Sialou

Shot on a Canon 5d mark IV, Tamron 24-70 mm, SPL housing.

This video was so so fun to make! We had decided beforehand that we wanted to shoot this on the West side of Oahu in the morning to get that magical lighting. But Josh and I live on pretty much the opposite side of the island (about 1 hour and 30 minutes away). So we decided to drive all the way down to the Westside the night before and sleep in our car.

We are lucky enough to have a cool VW station wagon and a memory foam pad that we put in the back to make a bed inside our car. This made for a really great hour and a half drive down to the West Side. I slept in the back while Josh drove. Haha, whoops :)  We got to the place we planned on shooting around midnight. Next morning we woke up to Annalise and Sialou arriving to the beach. We crawled out of our car, got our camera gear ready and started shooting. The lighting and water was magical as magical as we were hoping and as we were shooting we saw Dolphins (which was so fun). We quickly ended the shoot, through on our swimsuits on, and Annalise and Sialou got to swim a bit with the dolphins. The shots in the clip above were taken right after we saw the dolphins. Overall this whole morning was magical and so so fun! :)

Lo & Tanner

 

Shot on a Canon 5D mark IV with Canon 50mm 1.8 and a Sony a7s II with Leica 24mm (Big thanks to Laureen Beeston for letting me use her Sony). 

I always had this dream when I got married to go trash my dress surfing with Josh after our reception. Sadly we didn't end up doing it :/ too excited about other things.. haha jk ;) But I'm so grateful for Lauren and Tanner for letting this dream become a reality!

I imagined this shoot being this super sunny magical day with clear waters, jumping off the rock at waimea and swimming underneath the water kissing. It ended up being the COLDEST(62 degrees!! haha thats so cold for here) most dreary, rainy day. I almost wanted to cancel it, but it was Lauren and Tanner's last weekend together before she left the island.

 It just goes to show that love is all you need to make a video epic! I wasn't planning on any of the shots we got but it made it so much more fun to just get inspired along the way! We had waimea and sharks cove all to ourselves which was an extra bonus :)

Super grateful for Lauren being kind enough to let me borrow her super cool water housing and Sony a7s II with the Leica 24mm lens for the water shots. Both Lo and Tanner was super great sports getting in the water and swimming around with all their clothes on even though it was cold. 

This was such a fun shoot and I can't wait to do more trash the dress type shoots in the future. There's something magical about getting shots in the water :) <3

Engageversery!

I never write down the memories I wanna remember but I wish I did. Today 2 years ago is definitely a day worth remembering!

 

Josh scored 1000 points for planning out the most cutest engagement ever. I seriously was so blown away and surprised! Apparently everyone else  knew it was going to happen BUT ME haha (josh had told my family and many of my friends he was going to propose in while we were In New Zealand) But I had no clue he even had a ring haha! We had talked about marriage a lot but we never went ring shopping. I always thought that was kinda weird when couples did that although I don't judge if you did haha. But he just wanted me to be completely surprised so he just got help from my friends and his sisters:)

 

We had planned out to do a super saturday that day down in Raglan on the north island. This meant some romantic beach horse rides, fun longboard waves and yummy food! When we woke up it was so sunny and beautiful out, I told josh I had a feeling today was gonna be a goooood day ;) haha. I really just felt extra stoked and happy when we woke up for some reason! I was high on life that whole trip tho haha. So in the morning we all went riding with our friendsEthan's horses that he brought from Temple View down to Raglan.

 

Then we went and ate fish and chips with the yummiest gelato ever!! Josh and I went surfing with some friends while some of our other friends while Ethan and Annelise went riding on the beach again. When we got out of the water Analise asked me and josh if we wanted a turn with the horses. 

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 Tarryn and Analise gave me some of their clothes so I wouldn't "chafe"(I only had my suit with me so I think they just thought I might want to have some clothes on when I got engaged for the pictures such sweet friends haha ;)) I just assumed we were going to go along the beach but then josh started going up the mountain! At that point I was confused but then it quickly passed because I thought josh might like the challange of taking the horse up hill haha. At that point analise, ethan and Tarryn ran back to the beach and wrote "Marry Me" in the sand. Josh took me to the spot secluded in the mountain with a gorgeous view of where we surfed. In that moment I became suspicious only because josh seemed a little nervous ;) haha. He told me how he loved me and wanted to be with me forever and then  he popped the question! I was so happy and shocked I couldn't even breathe! I wish I could relive that day over and over again <3 I would say yes over and over a million times yes! I could have never dreamed how much our friendship and love would grow even so much more better than that day:)

You Are Loved!

 

You are loved. You have infinite worth. You are beautiful- inside and out. You are irreplaceable. You deserve happiness. 

I can't help but cry when I watch this video. Lizzie is such an inspiration to me. Cyber bullying is so sad. Sometimes people can be mean. Sometimes people can judge us and reject us. I can't help but feel sorry for these people. Love and kindness will always always win. Let's all try to be a little kinder. Lets try to seek those in need, do good, and spread love.  I hope anyone who reads this can find a reason to smile and a person to love today :) xoxo, Lars 

“Molokai Mo Bettah”

 

Intro:

I titled this post “Molokai Mo Bettah” because that's what the locals say and thats what it is! I ended up going to Molokai as kind of a random trip! My friend Heather was doing a photoshoot there and invited me and the girls to tag along! You don’t hear about Molokai very often so we had no idea what to expect. When we looked online, “fun things to do in Molokai” nothing really showed up! We totally winged it and honestly it definitely exceeded my expectations :-) It's fun going into trips having no plan and no idea what to expect because things always pleasantly surprise you! All of our adventures came from making friends with the locals. We quickly learned that the people are so friendly and willing shared with us their special Homeland. Molokai is a very beautiful and sacred Island. We saw, no joke, probably over 25 waterfalls! We saw some of the tallest sea cliffs in the world and relaxed on some the comfiest sand (it seriously felt like a microfiber bed). We saw some of the starriest wide open skies and  wild deers and owls. It honestly felt like a whole other world!


 

Things I learned about the culture:

I learned more about the culture of Hawaii on this trip to Molokai than I have in the seven years I’ve lived on Oahu. The locals radiated love and the true aloha spirit! We were greeted with kisses on the cheek and warm hugs wherever we went.  It was amazing how much respect the Hawaiians have for the land! Whenever the locals enter a land that is sacred, they ask God above for permission to enter. And whenever they leave, they say “Mahalo” for letting them enter. We learned when going to waterfalls it's important to put a tea leaf in the water and if the tea leaf floats then you can enter and if it sinks then you shouldn't get in the water and also that you shouldn’t take anything from the land when you visit sacred waterfalls because it is a sign of disrespects and will bring bad luck.There was a royal coconut grove where we learned was the place that King Kamehameha and his Warriors chanted and wash themselves in the freshwater springs. When on the boat tour, we brought bananas (my bad haha!) and had to throw them over board because in ancient Hawaiian folklore there's a superstition that bananas on a boat will not only bring no fish but bad luck. One of the coolest things we learned was about Mana. Mana is considered to be a sacred spiritual force existing in the universe. When on the island of Molokai you can feel the Mana, probably because of the reverence the people have for the island.  


 

Walter’s boat tour:

I know many locals don’t appreciate it when you mention their private special secret spots online because they're worried that it'll get overrun by tourists. However, we met a local name Walter and his friend Ona that run a boat tour and love to give people tours along the sea cliffs! This tour was the highlight of our trip! My cheeks hurt after from laughing and smiling so big and Heather even lost her voice from laughing and being so excited! It was so magical and when we went we literally saw probably over 25 Waterfalls! Walter took us through caves and even let us stop and play at waterfalls along the way! There even is a really dreamy beach that you can stop at to swim. Note, if you’re going to do that you need to book your tour between May and September because when we went the waves were too big. I definitely want to visit this beach sometime though because it looked seriously so gorgeous! Walter even told us that there was a group of people that he dropped off on the beach and they refused to get back on board because they wanted to stay there. Walter said he ended up leaving them and came back the following morning to pick them up. When on this tour, you can tell Walter gets so much joy from taking people on his boat. He said the most magical amazing tour he gave was when he took a couple and the lady's husband was blind. He said throughout the tour she described to her husband everything that she saw and through the smells and the breezes and her words her husband was able to experience the tour! I thought that story was really magical. I definitely recommend everybody going to Walter for a sea cliff tour :-)

How to explore the Big Island of Hawaii on a budget

Had so much fun making this little travel video of me and my husband's trip on the Big Island! I hope to be able to do more travel videos because it's my favorite way to remember the memories I never want to forget:)

Shot using our Sony a7s and GoPro Hero 5 (with the GoDome attachment). 

Josh and I went to the Big Island a couple months ago and had such a magical time together! We got a rental car and one of the best parts was just enjoying the long drives along the coast and spontaneously stopping to explore. Whether camping under the stars or getting friendly wake up calls from a little horses outside our tent, this was such a special time with my love. There are a lot of things I learned and suggestions I have for people looking to vacation on the big island. First, I would definitely recommend getting a car. The Big Island really is a BIG island ha ha. There's so much to see and if you don’t plan things out you could spend a lot of time driving back and forth to different places. I put this little post together to help you see fun things to do around the whole island so hopefully you don’t have to backtrack too much! Below is a map we created of the island. I’m going to go around it clockwise starting on the West Kona side.

 

Big Island Map

Below is a sample itinerary of what I would do if I had seven days to explore the Big Island of Hawaii.

 

Day 1: Snorkeling Kona Side

Under Water

We loved snorkeling in Kailua Bay! It's right in Kona and you are most likely guaranteed sunny clear waters because the Kona side is the dry side and does not rain nearly as much as the Hilo side! There are so many colorful fish and turtles right in the bay! You can even rent the old-fashioned retro snorkel masks for just $1.50 a day! Some people say these retro masks don’t work for them but we loved them! Also, there is an epic snorkeling place at Captain Cook Monument. We never went but we heard amazing things about it! The hike to get to Captain Cook Monument to snorkel is 2 hours in 2 hours out. When you’re going to the Monument it’s a long trail going down and then you go straight back up it when hiking out. We heard you can rent kayaks for $50 a day and they’ll take you right to the spot. After a fun day and clear blue waters of the Kona side I would stay on this side and watch the sunset because every sunset I saw on the Kona side was seriously one of the best sunsets of my life!

 

Rope Swing

Day 2: Beach day!

I would definitely recommend checking out Hapuna Beach! It's a little bit more touristy but it's a beautiful white sand beach you don't want to miss. We also  went to a secluded black sand beach along the way (I think it's called number 49 black sand beach). You  you pull up to the side of the road and you'll see a little trail that leads to the beach full of lava rocks! It's about a 15-minute walk down to the beach but we literally were the only people there it was so magical there's a Coconut Grove and a cute little swing you can swing on. Beach 69’s is also a cool beach down the road and there's a rope swing there as well. The sunset there is pretty magical.

 

Polulu Valley

 

Day 3: Polulu Valley!

This drive is magical in and of itself! It reminded me of New Zealand with the green Rolling Hills. You don't even feel like you're in Hawaii haha it feels like a totally different country! Polulu Valley is a great hike to take a family on. It's a good trail and such a beautiful black sand beach with gorgeous mountains surrounding it. This Valley is a must-see! After parking the hike is a short 20 minutes down and 20ish minutes back to the car. Pretty easy hike.

 

Big Island Slide

 

 

Day 4: Waipio Valley!

I heard there's a couple different ways to get into Waipio Valley and when we went we found directions online. This is such a beautiful Valley with waterfalls and a tropical (sometimes chilly) landscape. It's such a magical place! When we went we did the White Road waterslide hike. This was the highlight of our trip. It was so fun! I would not recommend taking little kids on this hike if you plan on going all the way to the water slide. There is a sharp ridge and a little sketchy for young ones (the first part of the hike is probably fine though). Plan on doing the White Road hike make sure you are very respectful. It is on private property and the owners were very gracious to us walk through their land but I do worry that if people disrespect it then it might get closed off. Also, I heard that sometimes cops will fine people if the neighbors complain a lot. Bring money ($7per person when we went) and be respectful and the guy that's on the land is okay with people passing. This hike took us about one  and a half hours to get in and the same to get out. I think we ended up spending two hours at the slide and taking pictures so it ended up being a quite long but well worth it activity.


 

Akaka Falls

Day 5: Akaka Falls!

This hike is so pretty! You do have to pay for this hike unless you have a Hawaii state ID. Also, I noticed people paying for parking but we just parked on the road before the parking lot and didn’t have to pay. One of my highlights of this waterfall was the cutest fruit stand on the side of the road that had hanging bananas. There were so many different types of bananas that the lady let me try! You won't want to miss cuz its just the cutest! The drive to Akaka Falls is so beautiful! We stopped along the way at a random spot and found a beautiful tropical Botanical Garden a with beautiful beach cliff and waterfall. At one point we even stopped and just drove along an abandoned road with the tallest trees that reminded me of the Redwood forest in California.

narnia hike

 

Day 6: Narnia Hike and Lava

Hawaii Lava

One of the prettiest hikes we went on when on the Hilo side was the “Narnia Hike.” So pretty! There are four sets of waterfalls that stream down into a river! The water was so cold but it was totally worth it! Seriously reminded me of Narnia because it was so magical! Something fun to do on the Hilo side is to go check out the lava. The lava is down in Pahoa. If I remember correctly you drive all the way down Kaimu-Chain of Craters Rd and park your car. When you get there, you pay about $20 per person for a bike (unless you want to take a long walk). The lava is about 8 miles away so getting a bike is worth it! It took us about two hours. One hour of biking back and forth and one hour for hanging out and taking pictures. We went at night time which was so magical to see the lava flowing off into the ocean with all the pretty stars. If you go remember that they open the gates at 3 pm and close around 8:30 pm. If you get in before 8:30 pm you can hang out and leave whenever you want. I would even think it would be cool to go before sunset and see the sunset with the lava during the day and then see the stars at night on the way back. Note: most of the bikes you rent come with light so make it easy to ride in the dark.

Hawaii Sea Turtle


 

Day 7: Punaluu Beach!

This black sand beach was so beautiful! You are definitely guaranteed to see turtles. We saw like 20 some chilling around on the sand and swimming in the water. It's such a gorgeous beach with lots of pretty palm trees. Then I would drive down to South Point. This place is really fun for cliff jumping! The water is so blue. There is also a Green Sand Beach there that I have heard amazing things about! You have to have a car with 4 wheel drive, which we didn't have, because the road gets a bit bumpy. I would definitely check this out if we had a more suited car or we had set aside time for an all day hike.

 

Kona Building Sign

Bonus: Favorite places to eat

The Thai restaurant near the King Kamehameha Marriott Hotel in Kona! The tom Ka soup was so good. We also loved the Frenchman's Cafe. It's a little pricey(like $13 a plate) This cafe had such yummy crepes! There is a yummy Acai Bowl place right next door too. We also love Chirashi Sushi on the Kona side. I don't even know what role to recommends because every single role we had was so good! On the Hilo side, we loved Lucy's Taqueria. I always got the enchiladas but Josh said that the burritos were so good smothered! Their chips and salsa are also so yummy. My cousin introduced us to all the hot spots on the Hilo side because she has lived there for like 8 years! There is Ocean Sushi, which is moderately priced but very good sushi on the Hilo side. Liko lehua Cafe is moderately priced with good hamburgers and salads (also found on the Hilo side). Hilo Bay Cafe is expensive but good food and entrees, they also have sushi which is always a plus. If you're health food conscious Culture Cafe is moderately priced food that is really good too! If you're into Indian food Kamana kitchen is also really good.

What you should know before investing in your first camera

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What’s important to me...

When looking for a camera to buy there are several different things that are important to considering. These are things I look for since I like shooting video. The 2 biggest things I look at when considering a camera to buy is the image quality and frames per second.

 

Image Quality

Is it capable of high definition quality? 720p and 1080p are considered high definition. Many cameras can now even shoot in 4k which is really good! However, 4k is rarely ever needed and 1080p is sufficient (in my opinion) unless you plan on blowing your video up and showing it on the big screen.

 

Frames per second

I also like to look at slow mo capabilities which is done in the camera’s frames per second. So, most DSLR and mirrorless cameras can shoot up to 30 frames per second, which will give your videos a good normal cinematic look. However, if you want your videos to have more of a soap opera dramatic emotional feel then you would want to look at cameras that go up to 60 to 120 frames per second. If you want to do slow mo get a camera that will shoot up to at least 60 frames per second.

 

Tip* You always want your shutter speed to be at least twice your frames per second. Example, if your shutter speed is at 60 you will want your frames per second to be at 30. This makes just keeps your image looking nice and smooth.

 

On a budget?

First off, I am a total believer that you don't need the most fancy gear to take excellent photos and videos. I’ve been able to use my Canon Rebel for years before I upgraded to my Sony a7s and it’s been able to pump out some great quality photo and video.

 

Okay, so there are a lot of different options for cameras. I personally love Canon cameras for their coloring and picture/video quality. However, there are lots of different cameras that have their own unique qualities. I have been using a Canon Rebel and a Sony a7s. I really like the Sony  for video but not so much for pictures. I use a Commlite adapter to connect my lenses to my Sony body and its annoyingly delayed when I’m taking pictures. Sony has really great low-light performance which means it's great for night and sunset photo and video. The Sony a7s camera, that I have, also can shoot 120 frames per second which is super awesome. It can shoot 60 frames per second at 1080p and 120 frames per second at 720p (which is considered the lowest of high definition). The Sony a7s2 can even shoot 120 frames per second at 1080p.  This means I can shoot crazy slow motion videos with excellent quality!  Now, the Canon Rebel is not as great for video or slow motion but I like it better 4 all around image quality.

 

Soon I will be upgrading my camera to the Canon 5D Mark IV which has the same capabilities as my Sony a7s camera for slow motion and amazing picture quality. I am so excited for this camera and will definitely be doing an updated blog post about it!

 

 

 

Lens Over Body

If you are on a budget I would totally recommend buy high-quality lenses before upgrading your camera body. This is so important and makes a big difference in the quality of your videos and photos. The two lenses I have right now are the Tamron 24 to 70, 2.8 zoom lens. This zoom lens is awesome because I can get wide-angle shots and great portrait shots/up-close shots without getting into people's faces. A lot of people are really gung-ho about L-series lenses and good quality glass however I think my Tamron lens is super amazing. This lens even has vibration control so I can shoot video while holding my camera and it comes out pretty dang stable for a handheld shot with no stabilizer. I also have a Canon 50 millimeter 1.8, which is great bang for your buck, I think I paid $100 for it. Great lens and awesome for low-light and for portraits, it is also really lightweight for traveling.

Crop Sensor or Full Frame?

One other thing to consider that a lot of people don't mention when they're looking for a lenses is that it's really important to know if you have a crop sensor or full frame camera. For example, Canon Rebels and the Canon 7D, 70D and 80D are all crop sensor cameras. The Canon 5D, 6D and 1Dx all full frame cameras. I personally Love full frame cameras. Higher quality cameras are mostly full frame so it's awesome to have full frame so you don't have to upgrade your lens collection later. Note, most lenses will work on both full frame and crop sensor cameras but the image will be cropped (or zoomed in looking) on crop sensor cameras. Basically, a 50 millimeter lens on a crop sensor camera is really like 80 millimeter and a 35 millimeter is more like a 50 millimeter. So, if I have a Canon Rebel or any crop sensor camera and wanted to get a similar look to the 50 millimeter and 24 to 70 lenses then I would get a 35 millimeter lens and a 17 to 55 millimeter lens.


 

What is a wide angle lens?

Okay, so wide angle lenses are great for nature and Landscapes. The the lower the number, the wider the photo or video will be. For example, if you are shooting with a 16 to 35 millimeter or a 20 millimeter lens, this will be great for landscape and nature shots. If you want to get a great portrait shot I would recommend a 50 millimeter or 80 millimeter lens. The higher the number the more zoomed in the image will be. A 35 millimeter lens is more versatile for both landscape and portrait shots! Also, if you want to go really zoomed for surf photography I’d recommend a Canon 70 to 300 F4 to 5.6 L Series lens or a 70 to 200 F 2.8 lens. Many people are all about prime lenses which are fixed lenses you can’t zoom in and out. The benefit of prime lenses is that you can get really awesome boca or depth of field space (which is basically the crisp image with a blurry background look). These lenses are great for low light because the F stop is really low. However, I also really like a zoom lens because it gives me that versatility that I love!