Photography

Ann Cavitt Fisher taking photographs in the Vatican Map Room.
Taking photographs in the Vatican Map Room. Photograph, Carolyn Fisher.

My father gave me my first SLR, a Nikon EM, when I was in high school. I’ve been taking pictures ever since.

It’s something I love to do, whether I’m exploring a new place or wandering my own city. Composing images makes me look carefully, and through this looking, this “making” of pictures, I feel connected with my subjects.

Some of my images are available through iStock Photo. Anyone who has worked with Getty knows that the image approval process is slow — I think glacial would be accurate. My iStock Photo gallery.

More of my photographs are available through Fine Art America: you can choose prints, cards, a variety of framing options, and in some cases, tote bags and phone cases. If you’ve seen one of my photographs that isn’t uploaded to Fine Art America, contact me — and I’ll put it up there for you.

Thanks for having a look!


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Camera Gear

I’ve had several friends ask about my camera gear, so if you’re curious, read on . . .

My kit:

  • Nikon D5500 body
  • Nikon 18-300mm F/3.5- 5.6 zoom lens
  • Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 zoom lens
  • Nikon 50mm F/1.4
  • Nikon 35mm F/1.8
  • Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8

The newest addition was the 150-600 mm. I am thrilled with how my Tamron lens performed on my trip to Alaska. For about $1000 I finally have a wildlife worthy lens — I chose it over the Nikon 200 – 400 mm predominantly for weight reasons. The Nikon weighed over 9 lbs. while the Tamron came it at 4.3 lbs. That’s a huge difference when you’re handholding a camera.

Why do I have the D5500 instead of a camera with a full-frame sensor? It produces files big enough to do anything I will ever do with an image. The camera is lighter than the full-sensor bodies, and finally, I like the fact that it multiplies the zoom factor of my lenses. We all choose our camera systems based on our needs, and this one suits me well.

And of course I didn’t buy all of these lenses at once! If I could only have one lens, I’d go with the Nikon 18-300mm F/3.5- 5.6 zoom lens. It’s so versatile, and with the image stabilization, I’m able to hand-hold it and get great results most of the time. If you are just starting out, I’d buy the camera body only, along with this lens.

Panasonic Lumix available through Amazon.

I also always carry a point-and-shoot, for times that I’m just sick of wagging around the big camera. My absolute hands-down favorite small camera is the Panasonic Lumix. I’ve owned 4 of them over the last few years, as I’ve updated when the optical zoom has improved. I’ve also given them as gifts to three different friends. My current Lumix has a Leica lens with 30 times optical zoom, which I love. I think it’s one of the best cameras in its class. If you are looking for a new point-and-shoot, look on Amazon — and choose one model back from the newest — a way to get the best price for typically almost the same features.

Finally, my camera bag is a Tenba messenger bag that holds my 15″ Macbook Pro, camera, and 2 – 3 lenses, that will fit under the seat in front of me when I’m flying. I can fit the body with the 18-3oo lens attached, the Tamron, and the Tokina at the same time. On the trip to Alaska, I packed the small lenses in my suitcase. Each day, I would pack the messenger bag with the lenses I planned to use.

Amazon Links
Nikon D5500 body Tamron 150-600mm lens Tokina 11-16mm lens
Nikon 35mm F/1.8 lens Nikon 50mm F1.4 lens Nikon 18-300mm lens
Tenba 15″ Messenger