"Oooh, I'm jealous!"

Who said that to me?

National Geographic photographer David Evans.

I met him at an alumni event up here in DC last week, where he showed some of his pics and talked about life as a globetrotting photog.

Now, this dude's been all over the place: Chad, Brazil, Romania, China. For a living. And he tells me he's jealous of my Kili trek. Wow.

I got to pick his brain a bit about lenses. I was thinking about getting a wide-angle zoom. He suggested I look at fixed focal-length lenses, but said the jack-of-all-trades kit lens I had (18-135mm Nikon AF) might do just fine as a travel solution. Changing lenses in the bush can be risky.

I also asked him if telecoverters were worth it. The answer was pretty diplomatic: He didn't think so. (Then again, he can justify buying top-shelf telephoto glass and has no need for them). "But try it. If it works for you, great!"

So OK, I'll give the teleconverter a miss. Time to shop for a lens. :)