18.3. How Can I Get the Best Shot?

Walking around the History Center and looking at the buildings and artifacts from various angles gives you the best picture-taking opportunities in this area.

18.3.1. Equipment

You can use a wide variety of equipment when photographing this area. From wide-angle to telephoto and with macro lenses, flash, and various filters, you can use almost any piece of equipment you carry into this interesting location.

18.3.1.1. Lenses

All of your lenses are useful here. Wide-angle lenses in the 14-24mm range can be used to capture the big scene and the exteriors and interiors of most buildings. You can also use your midrange focal length lenses in the 45-100mm range to photograph the details found in many of the interiors. If you have time, you can even use macro lenses to get close to some of the artifacts, especially in the artist cabin and the blacksmith shop. Your telephoto lenses from 100-300mm may be useful for capturing the stagecoach at a distance to compress the scale of the buildings and their backgrounds.

18.3.1.2. Filters

The most useful filters you can use when photographing the Pioneer Yosemite History Center are a polarizing filter and a graduated neutral density filter.

  • Polarizing filter. This filter is useful for reducing glare and reflections off the surface of the windows on the cabins; you can even remove the glare if you need to photograph through the windows. It's also used for darkening the sky and emphasizing the clouds.

  • Graduated ...

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