Photographing Yosemite: Digital Field Guide

27.3. How Can I Get the Best Shot?

Spend a little time scouting the area and see what unique angles you can find to make your picture of the Wawona Hotel interesting and unique. Deciding on the proper lens, using your tripod, and picking the best exposure mode will allow you to create interesting pictures of this unique structure.

27.3.1. Equipment

Because most of the photography subjects are relatively close, you get the most use out of your wide-angle and normal lenses at this location.

27.3.1.1. Lenses

Your wide-angle lenses get a real workout in this location. If you want to photograph the fountain out front and the interior of the hotel, then lenses in the 14-40mm range will be very useful. The interior is small, and you don't have a lot of room to maneuver, so the wider the angle the better off you will be. To capture the grandeur of the lawns, the wide-angle lens allows you to emphasize the spaciousness of the well-maintained grounds.

As with any architectural photography, you want to try to keep your lines as straight and as parallel as possible. When working with wide-angle lenses in tight spaces, it is best to keep the camera level in all planes. If you tilt the camera, you distort the image. These distortions can be fixed in an image-editing program or with the use of a tilt-shift lens. These are lenses designed for architectural work, where the front of the lens actually rises so you don't have to tilt the camera. These are specialty lenses and can be rented in some ...