For visitors to the States, the coasts and big cities are fine, but I pretty much always recommend the southwest. It's so dramatically different from say, the forests and flatlands of Europe.
Remarkable compositions. Lens selection, experience, luck or magical eye to getting that oomph shot. Filters! Filters …. Still trying to understand the why,how and when best to use. Seems to make good lenses better. 16-55 2.8 and 16-80 f4 is a current puzzlement at the moment, first being visually better (noticeably). Amazing perspective I don’t see much. Workshops seem to be really eye opening.
Thanks for the comment. If you're interested in joining the workshop, drop me an email and then I can add you to the mailing list for when we announce and launch it. Comments like this are impossible to find after a few days, and I can't send workshop information here, so drop me a line and I'll add you to the priority list so you'll be among the first to be notified
Wow - that place is bonkers!! What amazing images you created. We're so lucky these days to have access to drones with decent cameras. We're really living in a golden age of photography - despite the rise of AI and an over-saturation of landscape-photo-porn. All the best for 2024, Andy. 🦘
@@AndyMumford Thanks a lot! Will definitely check him out! Always wanted to try large format but always been intimidated by the whole thing. Now film is too expensive even in 35mm.
Wow Andy I had seen some stuff that Ian Plant had done from the Badlands and had put it on the bucket list, but you took it to a whole new lever. Fantastic, thanks for doing the video.
Thank you for another trip I made through your video! :) I guess it's the shortest way to a different planet on which you can breathe - the landscape is literally out of this world. About several previous videos from the las year.. Do I understand right that XF70-300mm has taken over the 55-200? It looks like that from the description of the gear used in them. What changed your mind about the 70-300mm? Thanks again!
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the video. Both the 70-300 and 55-200 are outstanding, but as I usually have the 16-80mm now, the 70-300 just gives that extra reach and performs better until around 200mm (the 55-200mm falls off around 120mm). If I didn't have the 16-80 though, I'd prefer the 55-200 as I shoot a lot in that 55-70mm range
Thanks, Andy! That makes perfect sense. Glad to hear that the 55-200 is still in play. Probably, because I have been on a fence trying to choose between the two and went with the 55-200. It's X-T30 II that I use though.. the previuos sensor, that is. Cheers :)
I use both systems and decide which to take with me on a trip depending on my needs. The GFX system lacks a long tele, which I knew I'd need in the US, so I tool the X-T5 instead.
Hey Andy, great to see you made it to a place that's near my Arizona backyard. If you haven't made it a little further south to Arizona yet, I suggest you add that to your Bucket List, too!
haha, well that was because the light on that evening was flat, so I was a bit disappointed. How we feel about our images is always going to be affected by the expectations we had of what we were going to shoot there before we arrived.
Good stuff. Having been in this part of the world, I’m not surprised that you were overwhelmed. Lovely shots. Enightening commentary. As per usual. Say hs to Sarah, Chris and Marshall. Bestest.
Was there last year. 46°Celsius. Burning hot and only was able to take a few shots before it became to hot. Thanks for showing me places I have missed out on. Some are truly spectacular.
Thanks so much for the comment. We actually picked November because it would be cooler and much quieter (we were alone at most of the spots we went to)
Thanks so much for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video. We specifically chose places outside of parks where we could fly drones and looked for interesting spots on Google Earth. The area around the Badlands is incredible
Great compositions, beautiful photographs. Most people have no clue of the time commitment and the physicality that landscape photographers have to put into getting to these places and getting these kinds of shots. Thanks for doing all that hard work and for bringing us these wonderful results.
Thanks so much for watching. With these locations there wasn't much physically other than the tough drives to get there...there were no great hikes like we do in some places. But here we spent weeks and weeks in research finding places that weren't in national or state parks.
Thanks so much. Indeed there's so much non that area that's amazing. We visited the spire too (it'll be in another video) but I was a little sad by how many tyre tracks there are around it
I’m so happy you enjoyed my home state so much!! And to think you only scratched the surface of what we have to offer here! Great video, it really inspires me to go out more!
simply breath taking images. the fuji and the DJI really came through. thank you for the effort and the sharing. i am an appreciative subscriber. how do you manage to carry such a large tripod from portugal to other parts of the world? i have a trip to australia and new zealand coming up and i'm just wrapping my head around carrying a tripod for six weeks! again, bravo. BIG thumbs up.
Thanks so much for the comment. My tripod is't actually big or heavy to be honest. It's a custom Leofoto with longer legs, but the actual tripod weighs 1,2kg and the ballhead is 300g, so the whole thing is around 1,5kg, which is about as light as you can go with a tripod and it still be worthwhile. As for travelling with it, it just goes in the bottom of my luggage.
I'm not sure which blows me away more Andy, the quality of your content or the amazing landscapes you photograph.. . either way, thank you so much for doing and sharing what you do! Looking forward to the next instalment already. Happy New Year, take good care, have a good one!
Beautiful! And the drone footage was gorgeous. Since you stated none of that footage was shot in a National or State park, how would I go about finding such areas? I'm planning on a trip there in 2024. Thanks!
Thanks so much. There are a couple of things you can do. If you use Gaia GPS (it's a subscription), it's has a public lands layer that you can overlay to see where they are. Alternatively you can google “US federal land map” and that brings up free options, one of which is an ArcGIS site, which also works. The other things is the B4UFLY app, which is really good at letting you know where you can take off. We found it accurate down to a couple of meters along borders of areas where you can and can't fly
Truly stunning images from an extraordinary location! Bravo! By coincidence, around the same time I was exploring the Bisti Badlands in New Mexico --- many differences in the detail, but equally other-wordly, and a great setting for milky way astro. Eager to see what else you captured on your trip. All the best for the holidays.
Great video. You captured it beautifully. I’ve been fortunate to spend a lot of time in the US Southwest over the years. There really is no where like it for landscape photo opportunities.
Indeed. There are a lot of places I'd love to visit. I visited the Sahara in Morocco close to the border with Algeria some years ago and it was amazing
Thanks Torsten, there'll be quite a few more videos to come from the trip. It's the first time in ages i've travelled and not been with a workshop so could spend a little more time recording videos. All the best for the new year to you too
Hi Ico...indeed, it's an absolutely amazing area. Hougaard and I were speaking yesterday and think we could spend another week there and never repeat a location...there's so much to see, and then when you expand a little out into the rest of Utah....it's just limitless
Welcome to US. you made beautiful images, especially those from drone videos. How did you get flight permit? Badlands NP does not allow to fly drones in general. 🙂
Badlands isn't a National or State park, the areas where we flew are all BLM land. In some nearby State Parks, like Goblin and Deadhorse point, you can purchase permits from the local office
Can I fly a drone in a national park in Utah? No, you cannot fly a drone in a national park in Utah. Drone flying is generally prohibited in national parks in Utah to protect wildlife and preserve the natural environment. Some parks may have special permits available for research and commercial purposes, but recreational drone use is typically not allowed.
You're correct, but the closest parks were Goblin State park (day permits are available for $10, you just need to complete a form with your drone registration at the local office) and Capital Reef National park (as it's a national park we didn't fly on our visit there). However, neither of those locations are in this video and none of the footage or images here were in a national or state park. We thoroughly checked in every location we visited (I was travelling with three local people) and made sure we didn't break any laws.
If you're already lugging a tripod and multiple lenses, there's no need to chose compact lenses (8mm f/3.5) over an (UWA) zoom - here: 8-16mm f/2.8. Kinda rookie mistake for you
Hahah, that's an absolutely brilliant comment. Rookie mistake indeed 😅 Putting aside all the assumptions you've made on how and why I chose my lenses, and the somewhat bizarre proposition that because I'm carrying a tripod, I may as well carry a heavier lens (surely the opposite is true...if I'm carrying a tripod it makes sense to reduce weight elsewhere), the reason I would always always pick the 8mm prime over the 8-16mm is that I can use all my filters with it and don't have to carry another set along with a massive adapter. Well, that and the fact that the 8-16mm is a big heavy lens that forces me to try to save weight elsewhere and is just a pain to pack as it's so big for such a limited focal range. We shot long exposures on the second part of the trip so I knew ND filters would be used a lot. I thought about taking the 10-24mm but Fuji had offered to lend me the 8mm in return for some promo shots, and I was curious about how well it would pair with the 16-80mm.
Well, the assumption was this alternative: either no tripod, 1 body and 1-2 lenses (preferably prime) - for hand-held shots, more focused on exploring, faster; or tripod, 1-2 bodies and multiple zooms - for shots mounted on the tripod, slow, focused on getting the shots first, and exploring second, thus slow. I'd venture to say that's quite a common outlook - these two choices, am I wrong? Since we're talking, what, 200 gr or less of a difference, and by the time you fill up your backpack you're already probably lugging a few kilos around, does this make a difference? Finally, even if it did, if you're driving to- and on location (ah, like a true adventurer) you're hardly carrying it for extended treks, now are you? The argument about filters I do get, shame on Fuji tho for failing to provide rear filter mounts or a native front adapter (there are 3rd party adapters, just for that shooting styles - slow and planned). I'm saying slow and planned, cause clearly researching the location in advance, framing for a long time, and studying a single spot instead of trekking and snapping pics along, would fall into that category, not to mention re-visiting location for the perfect conditions, lighting included. Pretty standard practices in the landscape photo world, of course, but I would venture to say - far from happy-go-lucky pack 1-2 primes and shoot hand-held, pack no bag, hike approach, eh? Also, the fact that Fuji APS-C lenses are somehow nearly as big as Sony's full-frame lenses, for similar if not worse IQ is regrettable. That's one of the reasons that puts me off Fuji system - if I'm going APS-C for hand-held light-weight ventures, I'd at least like to have the lenses be respectively smaller, not same size as FF. And don't get me started on how huge Fuji APS-C bodies are compared to Sony's APS-C bodies. So much for compactness on Fuji's side. Also, for compactness - you surely would know of Laowa 9mm f/2.8, been on the market for years now, better IQ in reviews than Fuji, too. Fair bit smaller than Fuji's (slower!) 8mm. Let's proceed to zooms - Sigma's 10-18 f/2.8 - still significantly smaller than Fuji's 8-16. The argument about Fuji lending you an 8mm - congrats on getting such offer. @@AndyMumford
@@AndyMumford I look forward to watching your content as its some of the best on here, happy (busy) New Year and I look forward to seeing your new content