Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens Sample Pictures

When all comes together, the rewards are worth every ounce of effort required to get the shot.
 
Getting to Glacier National Park is a modest challenge for much of the world - it is at best two flights away from most of the us - and three for many of us. For me, it started with an early bedtime and a 2:30 AM alarm setting. Actually, I set two of alarms for insurance. One was on my phone which was on the nightstand beside the other.
 
The phone went off first. I shut it off and tried to wake my wife (the family was joining me on this trip). After several attempts over a few minutes, she rolled over and in a somewhat unfriendly tone, said "WHAT?". That should have been my first clue.
 
I said "How much time do you want to get ready?" (I thought I was giving her the amount of time she requested the evening before). My next clue - She said "It's 12:30 AM!?" That's when I realized that I had an actual call - the alarm had not gone off. And that's when I learned that my trip to Glacier National Park had just become much more complicated.
 
A voice mail informed me that our first flight of three had been cancelled. I then spent an hour on the phone with someone from half way around the world trying to figure out how I was going to make one of the few daily flights into Kalispell. And one that returned to the same originating airport (don't ask).
 
A 3.5 hour drive put us on an afternoon flight that put me at the St. Mary Lodge at 1:00 AM PDT (3:00 AM in my EDT time). This of course resulted in a missed evening shoot - and required a sleep-in the next morning, so I missed an AM opportunity also.
 
It didn't take me long to get over the travel exhaustion. This national park is worth every ounce of effort and cost it takes to get there.

Water cascades over the rocks at Ricketts Glen State Park in the fall.

The photo opportunities in the Yellowstone Grand Canyon are endless. The canyon is full of color and rock formations. The Yellowstone River can be seen at the bottom of this gorge. Be aware: Walking along the rim of this canyon is potentially very dangerous - especially for children.

There are a lifetime of photo opportunities in Acadia National Park, but the Bass Harbor Lighthouse is one of the best and most-visited locations.
 
This image is a composite of three shots. A 20 second primary shot includes the water and sky while a second 30 second shot was used to pull detail out of the rocks on shore. A third shot was used to capture the light shining on the trees beside and behind the lighthouse.
 
These three shots were selected from a huge number I shot at various times during the sunset - with lots of bracketing taking place. The three layers were merged in photoshop.
 
To keep the long exposure sharp, mirror lockup and the two-second self-timer were used as was a Gitzo GT3530LS tripod with an Arca Swiss Z1 Ballhead mounted to it. A custom white balance and a small amount of saturation were the primary post-processing tweaks aside from compositing the 3 images.
 
When you are shooting the next sunset, don't leave when the sun sets below the horizon (most photographers I observed in Acadia do). There may be many opportunities yet to come with easier to handle dynamic ranges.

A little princess playing dress-up. Lighting is from Elinchrom monolights and softboxes.

A little girl peers out of her rock house.

Yellowstone National Park is ablaze. A huge heat-formed cloud rises above the smoke from this lightning-started forest fire across the beautiful Yellowstone Lake. A thermal feature (they are everywhere in YNP) is visible at the waters near edge. Closer in the picture are white trees - killed by the minerals they have absorbed. A circular polarizer filter was used to reduce glare and increase contrast in this picture.

One type of sunset photo I like is the silhouette. I found this unique landscape in Devils Garden, Arches National Park to be a great sunset foreground. Sometimes the sky performs so well that getting good shots almost feels like cheating.

This large waterfall is located at Ricketts Glen State Park near Benton, Pennsylvania.

This shot was taken from a mountain peak across Amphitheatre Lake from Grand Teton. A circular polarizer was used for this shot.

This is the classic view of Trunk Bay, St. John. Classic for two reasons - the beauty and ... the access. This is one of the few locations Trunk Bay is visible from other than on the beach itself.
 
One of the great things about shooting in the caribean is that the water is so beautiful when the sun is high. An early alarm is not necessary to capture a beautiful scene such as this one. Of course, the beach is filled with people at this time. I wanted an empty beach, so lots of clone stamping was required.
 
A circular polarizer filter is extremely helpful for mid-day landscape photography.

The huge Bubble Rock appears ready to fall over the edge of South Bubble Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine. To show scale, add a person to your landscape images.

The Na Pali Coast of Kauai, Hawaii has one of the most spectacular landscapes you will find anywhere. It is also one of the most inaccessible places you will find.
 
To get around the inaccessibility issue, I employed a helicopter charter. This shooting platform completely opens up the possibilities for landscape photography compositions.
 
For this image, I used a circular polarizer filter. The result was deeply-saturated colors that "pop".
 
Because the subject distance was great and the focal length wide, I could get away with a relatively-wide for grand landscape photography aperture of f/5.6. The 1/640 shutter speed is also unusual for normal landscape photography - the wind in the open-doors helicopter necessitated this.

Old Faithful Geyser erupts promptly on schedule. While not the largest geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful is very regular and provides a spectacular display. Also spectacular were the clouds on this day. A circular polarizer filter enhances the appearance of this shot.

Running down sand dunes is great fun for kids - and makes for great photos. This sand dune is located in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in southern Utah. I used AI Servo AF mode and burst drive mode to capture this shot.

Lower Falls puts a lot of moisture in the air - moisture that delivers a beautiful rainbow at the right time of the day under sunny skies. The moisture also enables plant life to live on the harsh rock face of the canyon. A slim circular polarizer filter was used to reduce reflections in this shot. Lower falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone are located near Canyon Village. The canyon itself is mostly inaccessible but the park has a handful of viewing locations.

Bison are very large (up to 2,000 lbs) and can be very dangerous. I was not far away from this heard of about 50 Bison, but there was a barbed wire fence between us. I was comfortable with them getting as close as about 20' from me. The heard was filing through an opening in the fence about 100 yards/meters away and out into a vast Sage Brush plain. I was busy shooting and enjoying nature when I heard a deep grunt close behind me. I turned to see a large bull coming around my SUV. I quickly went the other way and jumped in the passenger door - and shot from inside the balance of my time there.
 
In this shot, a lone bull approaches a bull tending a cow.

The canyon walls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone hold unlimited framing possibilities. The colors and rock formations are beautiful.

A coconut washed up on the beach at Trunk Bay adds foreground interest to this compsition. The super-clean beaches in St. John are a photographer's dream, but still require some clone stamping to remove small pieces of trees and other imperfections.

A little girl jumps wildly - hair, arms legs, tongue and everything else is flying out - while playing dress-up. Lighting is with Elinchrom studio lights.

A bright yellow-leafed tree is framed by green Hemlocks in this picture.

Cinnamon Bay has one of the many spectacular St. John beaches. When shooting on a beach, I spend a lot of time waiting for the right wave action to complete my composition. Great clouds also help.

This shot was taken near Schwabacher Landing from the bank of the Snake River. Great clouds formations develop over the tall mountains.

With yellow-leafed trees behind her and ferns all around her, the little girl smiles with her hands in her pockets.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is located in southern Utah, 12 miles southwest of U.S. Hwy 89 near Kanab. It features large coral-colored sand dunes amidst green evergreens and sage along with red sandstone.
 
A circular polarizer filter was used to increase saturation and a short telephoto focal length was used to compress the scene slightly. The sand dune and blue sky provide a clean canvas.

These very unique, silhouetted rock formations in Devils Garden, Arches National Park, provide a solid base for this sunset picture. The image is framed so that the most unique rock structure, 1/3 of the distance into the frame, has the most contrast - which tends to captures the viewer's eye. Taller rock formations near the image borders help frame the shot.

A young ballerina peers up while holding her flowers. Lighting is natural light from a large window.

Early morning sunlight shines through the windows of a building at the Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins, Virgin Islands National Park, St. John.

This panoramic image is the result of stitching many single frames together in Photoshop.

It looks like you could give this monstrous Acadia National Park boulder a little push and send it over the edge. Fortunately, that is not the case. Bubble Rock remains there for you to see. Fall colors, as seen in the background, are spectacular in Maine.

A lone palm tree casts a long shadow onto the white beach at Maho Bay, Virgin Islands National Park, St. John. Less is often more in a successful photo composition.

A pennsylvania treasure, Ricketts Glen State Park is host to many waterfalls.

This beautifully-colored hot spring is located in front of an inactive-at-the-moment geyser and under a partly cloudy sky. A circular polarizer filter was used for this picture.

This Bridalveil Falls view is from "Bridalveil Falls View" which is of course in Yosemite National Park. Bridalveil Falls View, on Northside Drive in the Yosemite Valley, is a great late-day photography location.

A large waterfalls sends a mist into the air which separates the colors in the light. This view can be found in the Grand Cayon of Yellowstone Canyon

This was the longest-lasting rain-caused rainbow I've ever seen. It was visible from mid-morning until the sun rose high enough to put it into the ground in the afternoon.
 
The weather in Glacier National Park, especially at higher altitudes, can be unpredictable. It is wise to have packable rain gear with you when hiking in this park. This storm was hanging over Glacier National Park but dissipating as it moved out the eastern side of the park - allowing full sun to shine through.
 
The foreground in this picture is a forest fire regrowth area showing fall color.

A small geyser located in the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park puts on a great show under dramatically-clouded skies. A circular polarizer filter was used for this shot. This area of YNP provides a great thermal feature viewing experience. Long and mostly level board and asphalt walkways lead visitors around to the best sites. Of course, you must decide if the walkways and people on them enhance or hurt your images.

The three girls sitting on a rock in the middle of the Bennett branch of the Sinnemahoning Creek.

This Sunrise at Grand Canyon National Park was taken from near/below Yavapai Point. This image is a composite of two shots - one exposed for the ground and one exposed for the sky.
 
This particular May morning was very cold (light snow can be seen in the distance) and windy. Having arrived very early in the morning I was disappointed to find cloud cover. But, as so often happens when the cloud cover is not solid, light rays began to stream through the openings in the clouds - and in this case, into the canyon, creating a constantly and rapidly changing landscape to capture.

Thermal features including steam vents and hot springs in the foreground, a deep blue Yellowstone Lake in the middle and a raging forest fire providing background interest in the sky. A slim circular polarizer filter was used for this shot.

A gentle breeze lifts the hair to add to this head shot portrait.

A long exposure creates a water blur around the solid, motionless rocks.

A cowgirl rides her stuffed horse costume. Studio lighting was used for this pic.

The Grand Teton peak rises up well beyond the tree line. Whispy clouds add interest to the deep blue sky. A circular polarizer filter was used in this shot.

A girl holds a large yellow leaf while being surrounded by many other fallen ones.

A carriage road leads the way for an easy walk to this location at the end of Bubble Pond in Acadia National Park.

Numerous of these amazing stone bridges are found in Acadia National Park, Maine.

A line of beautiful clouds hover over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. This picture was taken through an airplane window. FYI - Circular Polarizer filters are generally not compatible with jetliner windows.

A circular polarizer filter helps darken the sky over Jackson Hole - the background of this picture of Surprise Lake. This is a glacier-formed, very round lake near the top of the Grand Teton mountain range.

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls are two of the most visible Yosemite National Park falls. This view, with the Acorn Woodpecker-holed tree, is from Cook's Meadow.

Rocks, water and leaves are some of what you find at Ricketts Glen State Park

A Raven perches near the top of an inactive mineral flow that forms a waterfall-like appearance. Forest fire smoke in the air gives a layered look to the mountains.

White mineral deposits give sharp contrast to the deceased trees on this Mammoth Hot Springs terrace. Background interest is the work of a forest fire above Jardine, Montana.

The setting sun outlines Mount Moran across Jackson Lake near Jackson Lake Lodge.

Yes, that dress is too big, but it is unmistakably fun for this little girl. Studio lighting by Elinchrom.

The Na Pali Coast of Kauai, with its massive sea cliffs, is a simply spectacular sight.
 
While the new-at-the-time Canon EF 24-70 f/4 L IS Lens was my primary standard zoom lens for this trip, I used the 24-105 L IS from the helicopter. I made this choice primarily for the longer focal length, but in the end I decided that either lens would have worked very well.
 
I used a B+W circular polarizer filter in 100% of my helicopter aerial photos on this day - an XS-PRO Nano version in this case.

This Pennsylvania waterfall is located near Benton in Ricketts Glen State Park.

A carriage road leading to Bubble Pond crosses a stone bridge. These roads are perfect for hiking, biking and riding horse.

More like "splashing" I suppose - waves are typically small in St. John, but timing them just right adds to the shot. Cinnamon Bay in St. John has one of the nicest beaches you can find anywhere along with some volcanic rock to add interest to photos.

The view of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park from near the visitor's center (very easily accessible) begs for a panorama shot. This nearly-80-megapixel panorama is composed of 7 images stitched together in Photoshop. The western sky is still brightened from the setting sun while a full moon rises over the east.

Mohawk Falls is one of the many waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park, near Benton, PA. This image was captured above this falls in water is still a beautiful section of the creek.

A hiker stands on a boulder overlooking Amphitheatre Lake and the Grand Teton Mountain peak. The Amphitheatre Lake trail is about a 6-8 hour round trip hike. The trail is well maintained and not hard to walk. The length of the trail is the hard part. Well-broken-in shoes are mandatory. After endless switchbacks, the hiker is greeted with spectacular views of the Grand Teton peak. Surprise and Amphitheatre Lakes are located at the end of this trail. Pikas (very fun little animals) and ground squirrels are abundant in the rocks surrounding the lakes.

This perspective of the Na Pali Coast was brought to you via a helicopter. And the color of this picture was helped by the use of a circular polarizer filter.

Mount Moran is the prominent feature in this picture, but Jackson Lake, clouds and glaciers add to the image.

A well-maintained carriage road passes over an Acadia National Park entrance road near Seal Harbor. These beautiful bridges are found throughout the park.

I hiked about 50 miles of trails on this trip to Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park. And the Crypt Lake Trail in Waterton Lakes National Park was the most memorable.
 
The Crypt Lake Trail is ranked at or near the top of all hiking trails in Canada.
 
This hike begins with a ferry ride across Upper Waterton Lake to a dock at the trailhead. This lake happens to be in one of the windiest locations in Canada - meaning that the boat encounters rough water on this trip (waves were breaking over the top of the smaller boat that returned us to the marina).
 
Once on land, the 10.8 mile, 2,300' elevation gain trail starts in a pretty forest. Over time, the landscape opens up with great views. The trail narrows and the edges of the trail become steeper. And then you reach the cliff - and adrenaline releases.
 
People mentioned the narrow trail at the top, but "sidewalk" widths were referenced to us. That would not be even close to accurate.
 
I didn't have the strength left in me (having hiked about 40 miles before this trail) to carry more than one lens on this hike and 24mm was not wide enough to take in this absolutely spectacular view. The panorama seen here was my solution to that problem.
 
If you look carefully at the cliff on the left side of this photo, you can see a tiny line that is called the trail at this point. If might be 2 shoes wide, but it is sloped, not smooth and is covered with scree (small loose stones). As you can see, down appears to be a 1,000' step.
 
It gets better. See the dark spot on the rock just above where the trail ends? There is a narrow (one shoe+ wide) steel ladder bolted into the rock that leads to a cramped, mostly natural tunnel. And it gets even better at the other side of the tunnel.
 
You have to step down over rocks to the trail - which makes the trail on the other side of the tunnel look like the sidewalk it was referenced to be. The trail is barely a shoe width wide (being generous with my memory) and again filled with scree. But, you have a heavy cable bolted to the side of the mountain to hold onto. But, this cable is bolted at trail level - forcing you to walk bent far over. And, the cable is floppy - not tight.
 
The trail ends at a beautiful lake, but the view seen above from the face of the cliff is my biggest memory.
 
I should mention that, at this time of the year, there is one ferry to and one ferry from the dock each day. We had to be back before that second ferry left the dock to avoid an overnight in the wilderness. There was only one other person in this entire wilderness area on the day we hiked Crypt Trail.
 
The Crypt Lake Trail hike is an unforgetable, amazing experience.

Reflected sunlight illuminates the striated bottom side of Double Arch in Arches National Park. Being a very popular location in the park, this image required many people to be cloned out.

The Snake River presents a reflection of the beautiful mountains and clouds. The picture was taken just as the sun was reaching the foreground while leaving some areas still shaded.

Active flow areas in the foreground are rich in color while the inactive (dry) areas in the background have turned white. Mammoth Hot Springs in located in the northeastern secton of Yellowstone National Park.

The sun is just starting to reach the trees in the valley while the Grand Teton mountain range behind them is fully lit. A pair of ducks hunt for breakfast in the mirror-like Snake River.

Brightly-colored trails track the path of the fireworks explosions through the black sky. A 2-stop Neutral Density Filter was used to allow a sharper aperture on this shot - f/8 is sharper than f/16.

The sun has set behind Mount Moran and its neighboring peaks behind Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

Steep and frequent sea cliffs make up the heart of the Na Pali Coast in Kauai. Using a circular polarizer filter is key to capturing landscape images that pop. A downside to using these filters is the light loss the bring with them.
 
Shooting from an open-door helicopter means extreme winds that require fast shutter speeds to counter. Combine the filter with fast shutter speeds and you are going to have to increase the ISO settting higher than usual for landscape photography.

This was the view from near the North entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Clouds shading the low-in-the-sky sun created streaks of shadows and light far into the sky.

A couple of ducks feed in a slow part of the Snake River in Wyoming. The slow water mirrors the amazingly beautiful Grand Teton mountain and the clouds passing over it.

Paria Rimrocks Toadstool Hoodoos in Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, Utah was not high on my Grand Tour to-do list, but it was one of my favorite locations on this trip. My only regret was not spending more time there. White and red sandstone - and rock hats on rock columns - characterize this location.

A rain-wetted road winds through the Lodgepole Pines in Yellowstone National Park. While the roads in the park are currently in good condition, vehicle travel can be dangerous. Sharp roadside drop-offs become and even greater challenge when approaching motorists (some in large motorhomes) are looking at sites other than the 2-lane roadway. A surprise summer hailstorm coated the road in a layer of ice balls on this trip.

It is not hard to find rock and arches at Arches National Park, but finding interesting foreground subjects requires more exploring. I liked this dead tree and worked it against the blue sky over the arch in this picture.
 
I shot this picture with and without the circular polarizer filter - the difference is dramatic - I didn't keep the light-colored sky shot taken sans filter.

The peak of Grand Teton rises far above the tree line. A deep blue sky and contrasting white clouds form a great background for this amazing land formation.

Sandstone, sand, sage, blue sky and interesting clouds compose this Arizona landscape picture. This location is near Page, Arizona.

The sun rises to a partly cloudy sky in the Tetons. A large evergreen casts a long shadow across the center this amazing landscape.

The North Window Arch, Arches National Park provides a unique frame of some similarly unique rock structures behind it. A circular polarizer filter was used to darken the sky and saturate the rock color.

Red, white and blue fireworks design the night sky. A 2-stop Neutral Density Filter was used to allow a sharper aperture on this shot - f/8 is sharper than f/16.

A cloud hides the sun over a burned-out but re-growing landscape so common in Yellowstone National Park.

A mother and her three girls walk on a old railroad bed through the woods.

A view of burned-out pine trees is very common in Yellowstone National Park. So fitting is the smoke-filled sky helping to create layers of mountain clarity behind the closer standing tree remains. This view is from near the parking area at the end of Chittenden Road at the base of the trail leading to the top of Mount Washburn in Yellowstone National Park. Winds in this area are very high. Image stabilization or a solid (and weighted) tripod is very helpful here.

You most likely have the camera with you as carry-on luggage when flying - pull it out and make use of it. The window itself degrades image quality some, but the images are different than you can make on the ground.

This Bison (look closely - you'll find it) is not actually pushing the rock, but is certainly finding something fascinating about it. The sun is rising over this Yellowstone National Park landscape located between Tower-Roosevelt and Mammouth Hot Springs.

The sun rises over a forest fire smoke-filled sky at Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone National Park.

The remains of trees stand in contrast to the colorful hot spring-deposited minerals. Smoke from a forest fire can be seen in the distance.

This very-round-shaped and emerald-colored hot spring is located in the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.

A heard of Elk, closely followed by a heard of people, walk past the long-inactive Liberty Cap geyser. A very large heard of Elk has taken up residence in the little village of Mammoth Hot Springs, location of the Yellowstone National Park headquarters. They were usually found eating or bedded down on the green grass in town. On this hot day, they left for the mountains.

Using a wide angle focal length from a close distance makes the already large dock cleat (Cruz Bay, St. John) appear even larger relative to its background. A very narrow aperture is required to keep both the foreground and the background in focus.

Dead trees form artistic shapes in the unusual landscape at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park. A forest fire burns in the distance.

The Beartooth Highway leads through a spectacularly beautiful area of the country - through Wyoming and Montana. This is the view from the Colter Pass area of the highway.

Salomon Bay is a very popular location for boats to moor. And Honeymoon Beach is a great reason for this location's popularity.

The sun sets behind a mix of mature standing, falling over and young growth trees in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

This picture was captured near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. A slim circular polarizer filter was used to enhance this image.

A couple walks on the beautiful beach at Hawksnest Bay, Virgin Islands National Park, St. John. Lines of clouds, trees, sand, water and rocks flow through the composition.

The lone Palm tree on Trunk Cay caught my attention. I also like how the clouds are shaped similarly to the rocks extending into Trunk Bay from the cay.

Two sharp lines of contrast run through this image - balancing each other. One line is from the bright white surf and the other is the line where the mountains meet the sky.