Fern Funny First

It’s a sloshy Saturday and a Mission Impossible.   Abort! A voice screams.  But, procrastination is the thief of time.  That’s a fact. Mondays are a good day to start:  dieting, fasting, a new project or a new leaf. That’s if you toe the line, not when you zig when everyone else zags.   

An article in a magazine prompted me to do a 365 day Photographic Challenge. What inspired me to put shoulder to the wheel was the commitment, passion and discipline I have seen and read about, where musicians practice their instruments until their hands bleed, ballet dancers stand on Pointe knowing their feet will be deformed and scientists go off their rockers to prove a theory.  I’ve also read that if one repeats something 300 000 times success is yours.  So here goes.

If there’s one thing we can be sure of it’s the weather during the Easter Weekend.  It will rain.  So sure enough this morning it was pouring.   Great, I thought,   I’ll use the rain as my subject. 

Out I brought my 50mm Canon lens.   I shoot RAW in Manual.   This little lens is fast, has a wide aperture from 1.4 to 22.   I enjoy using it when shooting portraits, I’m comfortable using it while travelling and for street photography it's perfect, no one feels intimidated and I’ve never had dirty looks nor have I been verbally abused.

We had a luncheon appointment and I always take my Canon 5D Mark II, today I used the 50mm lens knowing that after lunch we’d take a slow drive home and I’d be able to shoot my first 365 photograph.   As luck would have it the rain had stopped, but the sky and the sea was grey.  The streets were beginning to dry up, walkers along the cliff path had closed their brightly coloured umbrellas and jackets were being stripped off.  Lo and behold there I spotted a school of dolphins surfing in the waves a mere 10 meters from the path.   Brilliant!  Nope, not with a 50mm lens.

Although I’m disappointed by not being able to capture the magic of a school of dolphins, I had the opportunity to just watch and enjoy them which I rarely do as the “shot” always comes first.  The challenges of using a 50mm lens are interesting and made me think again. I made use of the available light, I took note of backgrounds, avoiding clutter. I walked around my subjects,  tried different angles and levels.  I didn't use a tri-pod or a flash.

In future I’ll have a long lens in my bag too.   

A 50mm lens is versatile, fast, shoots in low light, isn’t intimidating, great for street photography and light enough when handheld (although I wish I’d taken my tri-pod too).

What would you do if you came across a rare school of dolphins, are you always prepared for every eventuality?  Should one have a compact camera with a good zoom and a DSLR?  Please give me your thoughts and ideas.

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