A renowned Central New York photographer, Meg Schader, has stepped into the limelight with her debut bird photography exhibit titled ‘Beauty of Birds.’ The venue for this enchanting display is the Baltimore Woods Nature Center in Marcellus. The exhibition is a testament to Schader’s deep love for birds, an interest that took flight about two years ago when she spotted a Great Horned Owl on her farm in Jordan. Unfortunately, this particular owl does not feature in the exhibit.

‘Beauty of Birds’: An Extraordinary Collection

The exhibit offers a vivid array of bird photographs, capturing the essence of avian life in its manifold forms. Each photo is a unique testament to Schader’s skill and dedication, radiating the beauty and diversity of bird species. Yet, the ‘Beauty of Birds’ exhibit goes beyond being a mere display of stunning photographs.

Adding a unique twist to the visitor’s experience, the exhibit also showcases nests from the nature center’s collection. These nests correspond to the bird species featured in Schader’s photographs, providing a comprehensive insight into the lives of these feathered creatures.

Creating Wildlife Habitats: A Noble Objective

The ‘Beauty of Birds’ exhibition serves a noble cause – promoting the importance of creating more wildlife habitats. It uses the allure of bird photography to draw attention to the vital role that humans can play in preserving and fostering natural habitats for birds.

Visit the Exhibit

The exhibit opened its doors to the public with a reception on January 6. It will continue to welcome visitors until February 24, offering free admission to all. The artwork displayed in the exhibition is available for purchase, providing an opportunity for bird and art lovers to own a piece of Schader’s captivating work. The Baltimore Woods Nature Center’s operating hours are from Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Starting Jan. 19, The Alley Theatre presents what’s described as a “memory play” called Pictures from Home. Set in the 1980s, it tells the true story of photographer Larry Sultan, who turns the lens on his parents as he seeks out truths hidden beneath their home movies.

Sultan created a book of the same name that was later adapted as a play. An early version of that theatrical adaptation was part of Alley All New, a program that supports new works and playwrights. Then, the show went on to success with a production on Broadway starring Nathan Lane.

The Houston production stars Zachary Finehe, Susan Koozin, and Todd Waite and offers an intimate look at a mother, a father, and a son and asks who gets to tell a family’s story.

Rob Melrose, The Alley’s artistic director, talks with Houston Matters host Craig Cohen about the story and what’s involved in turning what began as a series of photos into a compelling story for a live audience.

Pictures from Home runs Jan. 19 – Feb. 11.

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What is the perfect trio of lenses for landscape photographers? This holy trinity of lenses is broken down into three main categories: a wide angle, a standard zoom, and a telephoto zoom lens. I’ve finally settled on what I think this trio is for Nikon landscape photographers.

During my landscape photography journey, I have used all sorts of various lenses, working to find the perfect combination for me. I have used faster f/2.8 lenses to do-it-all zooms, 70-300mm lenses, and different brands of lenses if the budget at the time needed that. I used adapted lenses as I moved to mirrorless several years ago.

Today, I photograph landscapes primarily using a Nikon Z7 II with a Nikon Z6 II as a backup. I have finally settled in on what I think the perfect trio of lenses are if you are a landscape photographer using Nikon mirrorless systems. I hope this article helps fellow Nikon landscape photographers avoid some missteps along the way.

Are you not a Nikon landscape photographer? Don’t worry, there are a couple of guiding principles that helped me make my choices, and they are considerations for all landscape photographers, no matter what camera system you prefer. I cover those at the end of the article to help you with your decisions.

Wide Angle Lens

Wide angle lenses are practically synonymous with landscape photography, though I think over time, landscape photographers eventually gravitate toward smaller scenes. But a wide angle lens warrants a spot in a landscape photographer’s camera bag.

Nikon has two main options for this focal length of lens, the Z 14-30mm f/4 or the Z 14-24mm f/2.8. Both are solid performers, but I think the 14-30mm f/4 lens is the best choice. While this may surprise many, after all, photographers are always told faster lenses like an f/2.8 are the best.

There are two main factors for my choice. The weight of a lens is a significant factor to me. I often hike several miles to my locations, and the extra weight I don’t need just makes me more tired by the time I reach a location. The Nikon 14-30mm is both lighter and smaller than the Nikon 14-24mm. This is a significant deciding factor for me.

Additionally, the 14-24mm lens has a 112mm filter size, compared to the 14-30mm lens at 82mm. I find the larger filter size unwieldy, whereas the 82mm filter size is much more manageable when it comes to space in the pack.

Due to those two main items, I choose the Nikon Z 14-30mm lens as the perfect option for landscape photographers. The lens provides excellent image quality without being too heavy or consuming too much room in the camera bag.

Standard Zoom Lens

This category has a lot of options in it, from the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8, to the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4, to the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4, or even something like the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3. It can be hard to choose which one fits this slot the best. I’ve tried many of them!

If I review my most common focal lengths from my Lightroom catalog, images shot in the 24-70mm range are high on the list. It is a very common focal length for me. That contributed to me trying a variety of options in this slot. 

Ultimately, I decided to fill this spot with the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 lens. This lens is still lighter than a Z 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, while giving me a broad focal length to work with. This contributes to helping keep the weight of the camera bag down.

In addition, this choice helped me have access to focal length option of 14mm to 120mm when paired with my wide angle lens choice. This gets even better when we look at my telephoto zoom choice.

Telephoto Zoom Lens

When I returned to landscape photography, I didn’t even think I needed a telephoto zoom lens. I wanted grand landscapes, and a telephoto zoom just didn’t make sense. 

But, as I have spent more time practicing landscape photography, I have come to appreciate the small scenes and how the telephoto zoom can help me pick out details in a grand landscape. 

This realization led me to try various focal lengths. Was the Z 24-200mm long enough? Or maybe the Tamron Z 70-300mm, then an adapted Sigma 100-400mm, until I finally settled on the Nikon Z 100-400mm.

As I grew to like the longer focal lengths, 300mm plus, the 100-400mm focal length became much more viable. I could cover from 14mm to 400mm across the three lenses when paired with the wide-angle and standard zoom choices.

I switched from an adapted Sigma 100-400mm lens to the Nikon Z 100-400mm lens for two main reasons. It wasn’t the size or weight in this case, but the minimum focusing distance and a native tripod collar. The Nikon Z 100-400mm had a better minimum focusing distance, and the native tripod collar made switching to portrait mode much easier.

The Perfect Trio

This trio of lenses seems to me to be the perfect set of lenses for Nikon landscape photographers. The image quality is high, the weight is reasonable, and the size in my bag is also reasonable. These lenses do all of that while allowing you to photograph anything from 14mm to 400mm across all three. It has proven to be an excellent trio of lenses for me.

Base Considerations

This article has been very Nikon-specific, but if you aren’t a Nikon landscape photographer, I think the base criteria I used to make my choices can help you make a decision no matter which camera system you use.

The primary criteria I used when making choices all came down to weight and portability. Given that landscape photography typically involves longer hikes, sometimes over rugged terrain, I wanted to keep my pack as light as possible and keep the bulk down. Not only does this help with hiking, but it also helps if you travel via airplane for your photography.

This criteria often means not choosing the f/2.8 version of lenses, which can go against the common advice of many photographers. I believe when coupled with the actual needs of a landscape photographer, these other lens types can be the preferable lens choices.

What do you think? What do you consider the holy trinity of lenses for landscape photography? Why did you choose the lenses you carry?