A break in the clouds today happily coincided with a half-day off work. My shutter finger has been majorly under-utilised of late so I popped into town and had a walk through the parks – I just needed to be outside, sans-umbrella and using a camera again (before I went totally bat-$h1t crazy)!
All taken with my Canon 5D MkII and 85mm f/1.8 lens
I have a penchant (some would say unnecessary addiction), to prime lenses for my dSLR camera. This is an expensive habit to have but I can’t help it, I just love the images they produce so much!
Wisteria – Canon 40D and Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens
A prime lens is one that has a fixed focal length – that means you can’t zoom in and out. Your first thought might be that this sounds quite restrictive and much less convenient, and in many ways, yes, you’re right. However, I believe there are so many wonderful reasons why prime lenses are amazing and totally worth it – hopefully I can convince you to consider joining me in this expensive habit. Maybe you do already!
Horny Cow – Canon 5DMkII and Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens
As mentioned before, you may find yourself in a situation where it would really be helpful to zoom in or get wider, in which case a zoom lens would be ideal.
Also, if you are like me and find yourself a bit smitten with these lenses you will end up with a camera bag that weighs you down like a ton of spuds – I find a small pack pony is useful in this situation though.
Shoes – Canon 5DMkII and Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens
Some people will have very specific requirements for a lens in which case it becomes much easier to choose – a landscape photographer will probably want wide (short) lenses and won’t need to worry too much about the speed of the lens as they will mainly be setting up with a tripod – a sports photographer however will want a long focal length and a fast lens so she can freeze the action.
For me though, I’m a walk around photographer and I want a lens that will be versatile in all sorts of situations. For anyone on a budget (aren’t we all) you may have heard of the ‘nifty 50’ – a 50mm lens is a great all-purpose one to start off with – it’s the one that closest mirrors human vision which may be why it feels so natural to use. Whatever brand of lens you use you will find there are a whole raft of 50mm lenses varying in speed (and price) – the f/1.8 is around £70/$100 which is quite the bargain!
Vintage Finds – Canon 5DMkII and Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens
I tend to use flickr like a giant photographers shopping catalogue; I type in a lens name into the search box and browse through to see how I feel about the images I’m seeing – if I keep coming across photos I like that all use a particular lens I will check it out on a review site, I like the one at FredMiranda.com. Then it’s the scary bit; I look at the price. Nine times out of ten I give a low whistle and step away from the Internet for fear of agreeing to sell a kidney to feed my habit. I am lucky enough to have made some money from photography which I have invested back into equipment (that’s my rationalisation for it, anyway), so sometimes I will actually splash out and buy one (then I need to have a bit of a lie down)!
Danish – Canon 40D and Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens
(I have a wishlist too, it’s quite long – let me know if you want to see).
At the end of the day though, it’s not about the lenses at all, or the camera. It’s about you, your vision, your photographs. Use what you love, love what you have and get out there and use it!
Queen Anne’s Lace – Canon 5DMkII and 135mm f/2.0 lens
Do you have a favouite lens? Is it a prime lens?
Earlier this year I did a proper photoshoot with real people and everything!
It was so much fun and I learnt so much – I’ll be sharing more with you soon, but as it’s ‘August Break’ here’s just the briefest of sneak-peeks…
It is innate in us all to want to record the wold around us; to paint a picture, to take a photograph. Don’t you think?
film – Pentax K1000 and some Fuji 200 Superia film
For some it is the compulsion to record in detail precisely what is before them; for reference. For others it is the desire to express emotion, to tell a story and allow the world to experience a moment in time, to see what you see when you close your eyes and remember.
digital – Canon 5D MkII + 50mm f/1.4 lens
For everybody in the first camp, congratulations; you are well served with what the digital photography world has to offer – convenience, precise detail and instant results.
film – Pentax K1000 and some Fuji 200 Superia film
For everyone in the second camp – oh my goodness, you are even luckier! Not only do you have the aforementioned, exciting world of magical pixels to play with but you also have access to the millions of discarded and unloved film cameras, that are just waiting to pick up where they left off (somewhere around 1992). They are there, waiting patiently for you in under-stairs cupboards and lofts across the land. They are waiting for you to explore their incredible hand-crafted lenses (or their quirky, cheap plastic lenses) and introduce you to the complex yet simple beauty of film emulsions and chemical reactions. You get to play with it all.
film – Pentax K1000 and some Fuji 200 Superia film
That’s right; digital and analogue. You’re allowed to enjoy both! I hope I’m never put on the spot and made to choose.
digital – Canon 5D MkII + 85mm f/1.8 lens
Took ‘a turn’ round the park on Sunday… yes that does make me sound 100 years old (and no, I am not 100 years old). I powered my zimmer frame (joke) along to the Japanese garden as they have a special Magnolia there that flowers extra early with Barbie-pink flowers – I think I need to give it another week or two but it’s looking promising…
There were plenty of other pinky things to be seen though, including these Cameilas which I always think look totally out of season – their tightly-balled buds and rose-like blooms remind me of Peonies…
I’ll be back soon to capture the barbieness but in the mean time I think I need to get a bit more rock’n'roll, don’t I. I’ll have a think about that over my knitting… which actually is pretty rock’n'roll these days – so there you go!
It’s jolly nice to know that somewhere in the world (far, far from these cold shores) oranges are now in season and being picked just for me to be able to have something colourful to photograph and tasty to eat…
I saw my Mum yesterday and meant to get her to sign my note excusing me from blogging lately – basically my ‘big’ computer has been poorly to the extent that I couldn’t edit my RAW files (and I couldn’t bring myself to shoot in JPG).
Everything is better now though (marrying your Network Administrator helps) and I thought I’d better prove that I do still know how to use my camera (see pic below) – this place needs some photos!
I’m taking you to quite an exotic location now – my back garden. Let’s have a little look at what’s out here; oh yes, some curly wurly willow – I bought this as it reminded me of my hair. I like things that remind me of other things.
These twigs will one day be a leafy and lovey Japanese Acer. Do you spell ‘acer’ like that, like the computer brand? Hang on…. [google]… yes, you do. (Proving I am more geek than gardener).
Now, here’s a treat for you – an upturned bucket that has collected rainwater and dead leaves. Some people might call it messy, I call it ‘improvised bird bath’.
I am really looking forward to this particular plant blossoming and fruiting, it’s a blueberry bush! Last year was quite a battle between me and the blackbirds who loved them too – I tried netting my precious little berries but the bastard birds had the upper hand as they were able to poo out blue plops in protest. I’m working on a new plan, I can’t tell you though as they might be read my blog *wink*.
That blurry figure in the photo above is the aforementioned ‘Network Administrator’ (I call him Admin for short). He’s seen me photographing the upturned bucket and is rolling his eyes and saying I’m a ‘big help’. Well yes, I think I am!
The ever inspiring (and lovely) Susannah has had a super brainwave and I think we should all join in.
Intriged? It’s ‘The August Break 2010′. This doesn’t mean there won’t be anything to see here, in fact there will be lots – a photo every day (hopefully)!
The idea is that we all deserve a break from thinking of words to write over the summer, just add a photo as often as you like through the month and we’ll see how all our Augusts look. No rules, none at all, so any sort of camera (I have a cool new camera app on my phone to try out), words or no words, 5 times a day or just once a fortnight – you’re the boss!
Read all about it and add yourself to the blogroll over on Susannah’s blog.
There’s also a flickr group.
Canon 5D MKII + 85mm f/1.8 lens
I know it’s not August yet but here’s my photo for today. No words. (Apart from these ones). Are you going to play along too?