A vast focal range between two lightweight Tamron lenses gives travel and adventure photographer Jose Mostajo lots of agility—which comes in handy when he’s documenting landscapes amidst wildfires.
Photo © Jose Mostajo
Exploring the World
with Tamron’s 17-28mm
and 28-200mm Lenses
A lot of adventurous photographers are finding beauty closer to home these days. Travel and adventure photographer Jose Mostajo shot this striking autumn scene just a short drive away from his home in Los Angeles. In spite of the poor conditions brought on by raging California wildfires, he decided to make the trip and do a little car camping so that he could photograph the area at sunrise.
“I arrived before sunset just to scope out potential compositions, but the smoke was really bad,” he says. “By the time I was setting up the car to sleep, it was hard to breathe and you couldn’t see much.” When he woke up in the morning, the air was still a thick haze. But Mostajo decided to be patient. “Little by little it started to go away,” he says, “and I got probably my favorite conditions for shooting.” As the haze lifted, he saw beautiful fall colors, wisps of cloud and the glassy surface of a nearby lake. He shot the scene with his Sony a7R III and Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD lens. “It was cool to go from walking around the day prior thinking, ‘Wow, I see no hope for this photo,’ to seeing the clouds roll away.”
The 17-28mm zoom is one of just two lenses in Mostajo’s travel kit, the other being Tamron’s 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD. When he’s on the road for longer trips and hiking in the mountains, Mostajo carries everything from food to a tent on his back, so minimizing the size and weight of his photo gear is critical. “I basically live off my backpack,” he says, “so the fact that I can have this range of 17mm to 200mm in two lenses that are small and light is pretty much perfect.”He chose the lenses after investing in Sony’s full-frame mirrorless camera. “The first lens I knew I wanted to get was the 17-28mm,” Mostajo says. “It’s super sharp, it works for astrophotography, it takes filters and it works for landscapes.” Later, he added the 28-200mm. “The fact that it’s f/2.8 to f/5.6 was really cool, because now I had this whole extra stop of light. That makes separating subjects a little easier,” he says. “I’ve definitely been really happy with the results.”
I basically live off my backpack. So the fact that I can have this range of 17mm to 200mm in two lenses that are small and light is pretty much perfect.
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Mostajo was already a consummate traveler when he discovered photography. He grew up moving between his native Peru, Venezuela, Argentina and Atlanta, Georgia, then he toured with a band as a guitarist after college. His affinity for the natural world came later. Mostajo had found family trips to the countryside unacceptably boring as a boy. But going on a road trip from Nashville to Anchorage with a camera in hand turned out to be a revelation. “I loved the whole experience—the travel, the national parks,” he says. “I was shooting stars and hot springs and bison.”
Tamron’s 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 Di III RXD and 7-28mm F2.8 Di III RXD lenses.
By the end of the trip he decided to make adventure photography a career. His travels took him through South America, Australia, Canada and Europe to shoot images for travel and outdoor industry clients. Everything was going according to plan until he found himself scrambling to catch a flight back to the U.S. from the Czech Republic as Europe locked down in the coronavirus pandemic. Travel restrictions have encouraged him to explore landscapes in the United States lately, but Mostajo keeps his backpack packed and ready to go farther afield. He’s thinking about hiking volcanoes in Mexico or heading to the mountains in Peru when borders open. “I belong on the move,” he says, “having that camera on my back is the way I started even before it was a job. The border opening has been delayed and delayed, but I think it’s going to happen soon.”
A lot of adventurous photographers are finding beauty closer to home these days. Travel and adventure photographer Jose Mostajo shot this striking autumn scene just a short drive away from his home in Los Angeles. In spite of the poor conditions brought on by raging California wildfires, he decided to make the trip and do a little car camping so that he could photograph the area at sunrise.
“I arrived before sunset just to scope out potential compositions, but the smoke was really bad,” he says. “By the time I was setting up the car to sleep, it was hard to breathe and you couldn’t see much.” When he woke up in the morning, the air was still a thick haze. But Mostajo decided to be patient. “Little by little it started to go away,” he says, “and I got probably my favorite conditions for shooting.” As the haze lifted, he saw beautiful fall colors, wisps of cloud and the glassy surface of a nearby lake. He shot the scene with his Sony a7R III and Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD lens. “It was cool to go from walking around the day prior thinking, ‘Wow, I see no hope for this photo,’ to seeing the clouds roll away.”