Prime Time

I am now 72 days into my 365 project and thought it was time to get a little creative. I’ve been thinking about doing some sort of mini-series where for a few days in a row all of the photos would have something specific in common. Today I thought of the first series.

Starting today through Friday, my daily photo will be taken using my Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens. I first bought this to improve my photos at conventions and it certainly did its job. However, I haven’t been to many conventions recently, it’s sort of been just collecting dust. I decided it was time to pull it out and put it to use.

Prime lenses have only one focal length. So if what I see framed in the viewfinder is not what I want, I have to move instead of zooming in or out. I think that’s my main reason for avoiding using it. But there are benefits to using prime lenses. There’s a lot less distortion and vignetting with them and they tend to have a much wider aperture. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to use this lens at the widest setting and still get the sky in it, be we’ll see.

For the first time, I also brought my dSLR with me on my bike ride. I’ve always been afraid of it getting damaged somehow, but this lens is really small and with the battery grip removed from the camera, it’s not a whole lot bigger than my point and shoot. So I stored it in my backpack inside a Tamrac SLR case. The Tamrac case has plenty of coushioning, so even if I did fall, I think the camera would be fairly safe.

If all goes well and this series is a success, be on the lookout for more. Some other ideas I’ve had are using a specific subject or theme of the photos. Please feel free to make suggestions.

Check out my first in the Prime Lens series here: Day 72