A catch in landscape photography is that you have no control over how the conditions are going to be. Weather can seem ideal one moment and difficult the next, or you might reach your destination and realize the conditions aren’t cooperating. A similar thing happened to photographers Gareth Danks and Roman Fox. They hiked up a mountain expecting to photograph an iconic scene, but, unfortunately, they could see nothing from the top. Luckily, Danks had a backup plan—thanks to a secret weapon he had in his bag.
The item Danks had in his bag to save the day: an extension tube. If you’re not familiar with an extension tube, it’s nothing more than a small piece of plastic that fits in between the lens and the sensor. By increasing the distance, the lens is now able to focus much closer and shoot like a macro lens.
Therefore, without adding significant weight to your backpack, you have an “extra lens” with you. It helps that extension tubes are very cheap. They can help when the weather isn’t great. You simply pop on the extension tube and take some close-up shots of vegetation, rock formations or other details. Even simple things that we easily tend to ignore look amazing in macro shots. This also acts as a refresher and can push your creative boundaries.
You’ll need to be careful, however, as your lens will lose its auto focus ability when using an extension tube. You will also need to set your exposure manually. Be mindful on these fronts, and you should still be able to take some amazing shots.
Like This Article?
Don't Miss The Next One!
Join over 100,000 photographers of all experience levels who receive our free photography tips and articles to stay current:
There are probably exceptions, but I have extension tubes that auto-focus and auto-expose just fine on my Nikon D750, and they’re not made by Nikon.