Often times, I share photographs on internet photography forums. Viewers frequently ask what lenses I use the most. Of course, my choice of lens is dependent upon the subject. During my most recent road trip from Chicago to the Pacific Coast and back, I used 7 lenses to capture the images. You may click here to view some of my favorite photographs from that journey.

In the end, I captured 724 photographs from this trip. Following is the distribution of pictures by lens:

The Nikon 14-24 was my most frequently used lens during this trip. Since I photographed several interiors of capitol buildings and churches, I reached for the lens that offered the widest possible perspective most often. It also came in handy for several landscapes.

Some ask if it is really worth the bother of bringing the massive Nikon 500 VR along on a trip like this for just 18 photographs. Or, if it's really worth the hassle of having the carrying the highly specialized Nikon 200 f4 Macro lens to create only 29 pictures. In my opinion, it's well worth the effort. Some of my favorite images were created with these two lenses.

For example, the "Wolf Eyes" photograph is one of my top three favorite images from the trip. It would not have been possible to capture this photograph without the long reach of the Nikon 500 VR:

Wolf eyesThis image required the long reach of the 500 VR lens One of my other favorites from the trip was a closeup of a red hibiscus that was captured with the Nikon 200 f4 Macro lens:

HibiscusRed hibiscus flower at the Volunteer Park Conservatory at 1400 E Galer Street in Seattle, Washington on August 2, 2013. Typically, on a trip like this I expect to produce hundreds of technically acceptable and good images. But, it's never assured that any "favorites" will be created. So, when I see something that has the potential to be what I consider an excellent image, I really want to make sure that I have the right lens available for the task at hand.