daldds Loc: NYC

Anyone have recent experience photographing there? We will be traveling in August with a private guide in a very small group for two days, not on a ship's tour, so there will be flexibility.
Thanks

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

This poor guy didn't get a chance to photograph St. Petersburg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YWaloz-Duw

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

It's magic! You'll need a low light lens, preferably wide angle, and a good walk around lens, say 16/18-200/300.

fourg1b2006 Loc: Long Island New York

Sounds like a wonderful trip your going on...ENJOY.

martinhelene

Truly, while shooting be aware of pickpockets. Especially in crowded places where you are shooting up at ceilings and need to concentrate more on organizing your shot. Our tour group had a number of incidents. Otherwise my favorite city in Europe to photograph. Our trip was first week in July and it never got dark

daldds Loc: NYC

Thanks, everyone.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

We are going there in early July. Keep sharing experiences. I welcome learning from you.

daldds Loc: NYC

Going August

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

No recent experience, the last time I was there, was over 30 years ago, but I wish you a lot of fun, as it is one, or maybe the most beautiful city in the world!

Selene03

A wonderful city to visit and photograph. I only had a 24-105 when I was there. It could be ok for a standard walk-around lens, but, I was very frustrated that I didn't have anything wider. St. Petersburg has a lot of large structures and interesting interior spaces that I needed wider to get. I was there at the end of winter so it wasn't too crowded so I could zoom with my feet to get good exterior shots, but my interior shots were limited. My favorite lens for European cities is the Canon 16-35 F4. I have borrowed a friend's Nikon 12-24, I think it is, which is also great. You didn't say what camera you have, but I think you will be happiest with something wide. I really didn't miss not having anything longer. Enjoy your trip. St. Petersburg is fascinating (I suspect especially when it doesn't get dark)

daldds Loc: NYC

I have a couple of Olympus bodies, micro 4/3'd, so I probably will take the 7-14 on one body and the 12-100 on the other. The 7-14 is f2.8, so low light will be handled with a slightly higher ISO OK. That's the nice thing about micro 4/3s; I can carry both bodies comfortably. I will be on a cruise, not in a photography workshop. Except for St. Petersburg, my focus will not be on photography.

CA_CanonUser Loc: Friendswood, TX

My wife and I leave June 5 for 10 days in St. Petersburg. We will be staying with a former foreign exchange student we hosted in 1995 and her family. She at one time was a tour guide in St. Petersburg, so we will have that advantage. I am really looking forward to some great photography while there, so I really enjoyed reading the inputs from prior visitors. I have a Canon 5D Mk III; plan to take my 16 - 35 F2.8 and 24 - 70 F2.8 for sure.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

One thing I've learned in the past ten years of traveling to European cities, it's KISS. Giving credit where credit is due, I learned this acronym from the photography majors who take my physics class. KISS = keep it simple stupid. A reason why the best lighting for photographing a single subject may be three points of light, not twelve. I love that acronym.

I have a Velocity camera back pack that is outstanding. It will hold my two Canon 5D Mk. II bodies, three lenses, a flash unit, and four spare batteries, and many memory cards. I've used it here in St. Louis as I travel through the zoo. I'll change lenses from 'normal', 'wide', and then 'telephoto'. I'll even take the Canon 2X multiplier. So, when I took my first European trip, all of this came with me. Did I use it all? No! Two of the three lenses almost never saw use. The second body was for "back up", which was never needed. But I continued doing this for the second and third vacation. Then, two trips ago, I took one Canon 5D Mk. II, and my favorite 24-105. I was able to capture everything I wanted to capture. And one of those turned into Neptune's Fountain in Florence ... a 48" high, 60" wide wrapped canvas. I didn't need all the extra "toys". KISS.

With every passing day, we all hear and read about air travel concerns. At the moment we can take our camera/iPad etc into the cabin, as we fly from the USA to Europe. But Homeland, our president, and the three major airlines are talking more and more about placing a ban on everything larger than a cell phone ... for flights back INTO the US. If that is put into place before or during our trip, I will not be able to bring back my camera and lens. I say that for I will not put this equipment in the luggage hold. But (and take note to anyone taking a cruise this summer) I've learned that Celebrity will offer a service where I can take my camera (with lens) to the Customer Service desk, and they will ship the camera back home for me.

Sorry for the long story, almost done.

Planning for the worse case, where on the last day of the cruise I drop my equipment into the hands of the Customer Service folks, I will take one Canon 5D Mk. II body with my 17-40 L series wide angle. (THANK you, those of you who said that a wide angle lens was your preferred choice). With my camera and wide angle lens, and Photoshop, I can seriously crop an image for which I would normally use my 100-400.

I really don't need all my "stuff" to capture what I wish to capture. I already have camera insurance, and I doubt Celebrity would want to offer shipping service unless they put the camera in a 55 gallon drum filled with peanuts. I wanted to make you laugh. But I think they will have the best luck to get my camera back to the US.

Yes, I'm preparing for something we all hope will never happen. But believe in KISS. We all should believe in KISS.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I used a Nikon 24-85 on my D800 and it did everything I asked of it. If I went again I would take a 24-120.

Dennis

Lagoonguy Loc: New Smyrna Beach, FL

Elliott937, I have been there and agree a wide angle would work well. Thank you for the Celebrity information regarding their offer to arrange shipping of your camera gear back home. We have cruised with them many times including three transatlantics (a good way to avoid the airlines). They do a fine job. Enjoy your trip.