There is a minimum of equipment that outdoor photography requires. The bare essentials begin with a 35mm body, a wide-angle lens, a medium or normal lens, and a telephoto. A few filters must be added, a cleaning kit, tripod (or a unipod and clamp), and a carrying case.

Choosing a lens can be confusing if all the available lenses in one particular system are laid out before you. For instance, Nikon offers a 6mm fish-eye that will see behind the camera itself, a 200mm reflex that sees things the human eye can’t, and there are 65 other lenses in between. Where do you begin? Many of the lenses are close in focal length, and it would be senseless to try to own or use all of them. With the three basic lenses, the mid-range of focus is adequately covered, but there will be times when your wide angle just can’t squeeze it all in or when a wider view with distortion will add a unique quality and depth. I prefer the 16mm fish-eye for its ultra-wide 170-degree view, and the distortion it provides. Inside, or for architectural use, it bends walls and buildings a little too much. But outdoors it stretches things out forever, so you can get more in. Others prefer the 18mm or the 15mm wide angles, which do not bend straight lines. One lens in the ultra-wide (13mm to 20mm) department will be very useful.

A long lens also will help bring in the country on the other side of the river, and a few extra markets from over there, too, the reflector lenses. These lenses bounce light from a donut-shaped mirror near the back element to a tiny mirror at the front, and from there back to the film. In so doing the actual length of the lens can be reduced by several times its normal size. This makes 300, 400, and 500mm lenses much more practical for the mobile photographer.