A good camera and lens combination are essential, like peanut butter and jelly.

A recent trip to Myakka River State Park started off with me hauling a 600mm through the woods chasing after deer and several wild pigs snorting and rooting in the rich mud. But I eventually traded in the long lens and monopod for a tripod and a 19mm PC lens to capture the ever changing light moving across the park’s vast landscape.

The Nikkor 19mm PC (Perspective Control) lens is a wonderful tool and magical in its images. The tilt and shift capabilities bring back the days of using a view camera in the field. The 19mm PC is all manual, sharp and begs for you to take your time as you set up to compose a photograph. The front element is large and protruding, and demands caution where ever you are traveling. This lens may not be in everyone’s arsenal, and it is expensive, but it is one of my favorites.

As a landscape photographer, it’s challenging to capture some scenes in one frame without the distortion of a super wide angle lens. But with the 19mm PC and its shift capabilities, I can “shift” the lens and take advantage of the full cone of light.

Back at home, I will “stitch” together multiple images using Photoshop’s Photomerge and create a seamless high resolution panorama. The landscapes below are made up of multiple frames stitched together using a Nikon 810 and the 19mm PC lens. Much like a peanut and jelly sandwich, the high resolution D810 and the 19mm PC just go together.

Know your equipment to get your best shots

There is nothing worse than getting your fingers tied up in knots when a great photograph is one click of the shutter away. A mere 1/1000th of a second and you would have gotten it! But the camera was set for a beautiful landscape you shot just 10 minutes ago, the f-stop is at f16, the shutter is at 1/60, everything is working against you, and at the same time, every correction was at your finger tips.

Knowing the camera can set a photographer free. It is not enough to read the manual. Unfortunately that fine piece of equipment won’t think for you either. (I know there’s an automatic mode, but that won’t get you your great shots). So take your camera off the automatic mode and learn everything it has to offer. Your camera has to be an extension of your eyes going all the way to your hands. Think of it as a riff on that old ditty: The eye muscle is connected to the hand muscle.

Practice as musicians do with their instruments. Knowing what to push, twist or pull can make or break an opportunity for a great photo. Feel and learn the controls without looking. Learn to adjust your controls in the dark. It takes time and some of us older photographers have a bit of a head start. Photographers in the film days could put together a jig saw puzzle in total darkness, loading roll after roll of film onto developing reels in the darkroom.

You may not use every feature your camera offers, and that is OK. But there are essential controls you should know. The exposure compensation control, for example, is one of the most important tools, but it is often overlooked. Learn it. And for all of the camera controls you use regularly, you should know those by muscle memory, so you can concentrate on that next great photograph and not have your fingers tangled up figuring out your camera.

If you have any questions about the optimal use of your camera, feel free to ask in the comments and I will share what I know.