Monday, February 07, 2011

Shift :: Perspective

I think I have made the resurgence of love for photography abundantly clear round these parts. I am still finding great joy in picking up the 'real' camera on a daily basis because I love what it does to my mind and its eye.
Bubble

The interesting thing about this month past was the way taking a picture a day changed my perspective about living in general. I find photos such a conduit into the seeing of the day, looking through the lens has a way of literally reframing the hours and there is so much power and joy in it.
100 mm

But. Because there is always a but, right? (Which makes me immediately think about Mace and his absolute obsession with potty matters and pee and poo. He was instructed recently by my Mom to go into the bathroom if he aboslutely must say things about pee and poo because the bathroom is for potty matters, and oh the relish with which he goes into the bathroom now ... but I digress)...

So the but of the matter is the equipment because people that love taking photos also really love the stuff that takes the photos. Right now we have a fixed 24mm 1.4 lens which rocks the world in all ways a really nice fixed wide angle lens can, but (there it is again), I have looked through that lens for many many a day. I broke our 50mm last year and the 24 is the only thing we have for the Canon DSLR body. I took it upon myself to look into other lovely lenses from Canon because who doesn't like to dream. In my lookings I found a few reviews on the 100 mm macro 2.8 L series lens. Oh, macro. Oh, pretty pretty L series. Oh, Samy's camera Pasadena that will rent a 2K lens for 20 bucks for the weekend.

365 :: 36
Succulents :: macro style
We picked it up on Friday and I spent more time photographing flowers than I have in a long time.

What a huge perspective shift. With the 24 mm we get up in the faces of every subject, sometimes mere inches. With the 100 mm I have to stand across the room if not the house to frame out a person shot.
Park/Play

The macro. Oh, swoon, the macro.
100 mm Macro
It is an awesome and totally impractical lens. it weighs a hefty bit and the barrel it terribly conspicuous. But (I really should head off to the bathroom myself) the speed and the clarity and the macro, did I mention the macro yet?

It was a good lesson in shifting. In letting the lens speak to me and force me back, out of the picture, far enough away to catch moments that might fade because of the intrusion of a google-y eyed wide angle lens. If I had the cash, I would drop it right here, on this lens, weight and length be damned.

But, (heehee) we do not. Next to join is the nifty 50, and this beautiful baby will head back into the rental bins at Samy's, tucked back into its shelf until the next time the mood strikes to pull back and focus forward.
365 :: 37
Toy :: macro

And as a little PSA, always remember to look into your local photo shop and find out if they have rentals. It is such an awesome way to play with equipment that is out of daily reach due to outrageously high price tags.

I made up a Flickr set here for the 100 mm weekend if you'd like to see more. Happy shooting, folks.

3 comments:

Claroux said...

oh swoon.... I used to have an amazing macro lens on my canon 35mm but it died a tragic death years ago. I too am on the hunt for some new stuff. I still haven't saved enough to get a new camera or lens or flash or...

so - IF money were no object I would get the Canon 60D (or if money were REALLY no object I would go for a full frame canon dslr) and the canon 24-70mm f/2.8L and maybe I would throw in a 50mm 1.2 for fun!

BUT (he he) money IS an object so I'll probably be getting the canon 60D & maybe just the 50mm 1.4 for now. I've never owned a fixed length so I'm a bit nervous, but from what I've seen and read they are totally worth getting used to. Besides, I can't afford a zoom with a fixed f stop that is low enough to whet my appetite.

regardless...I miss you! I wish there wasn't a whole big country between us :-(

Dana said...

I just wrote about the total shift in perspective my life has taken since starting this 365 project (inspired by you, by the way).
Even for non-photographer photographers like me, it changes the way we look at and experience the world.
The entire world of "light" has been opened to me now and I've been floored. My husband and I just talked about this the other day... like what a sad world it is for people like us who aren't visual artists or photographers... what we miss in moments, minutes, days and lifetimes.
Anyway, I love those macro lens photos and may have to look into a rental.

baby equipment said...

Nice photos shots about Perspective topic may if you try to shot a baby boy smile at the camera surely it will look nice.