Kathy & I spent this past weekend in Charleston, West Virginia. Why Charleston? We met up with friends from Ohio with whom we are planning a vacation this summer, and it is roughly half-way for both of us. It was a planning weekend for us, easier than trying to talk on the phone, or Skype, or send e-mails back and forth. A friend of Kathy’s remarked that “only we would take a vacation to plan a vacation.” Well, duh! 🙂
It wasn’t really a photography weekend, but I did take a camera. I almost always have at least one camera with me, and although I didn’t carry it to dinner, when we went out for breakfast or lunch, or just for a stretch, I took it along just in case I saw something interesting. I don’t think I came back with any prize-winning shots, but it was good exercise.
I’ll eventually get around to writing more about it, but I’ve been on sort of a “one camera, one lens” kick the last couple of months. I bought one of the Canon 50mm 1.4 lenses a few months ago, and I don’t think I’ve taken it off my camera! I just love the simplicity of the single focal length, and have really enjoyed the discipline of having to work a little bit to refine a composition, rather than just twist the zoom ring. It really makes me think about what I am shooting and what I’m trying to show. At first I was afraid the 50 would be a little wide, but I’ve gotten used to it.
I think I could have represented Charleston in a more favorable light had I gone a few weeks later, but things were still pretty brown there. The trees were just starting to show some buds and the grass – what little we could see downtown – was still pretty brown. And the whole place had that “could stand a good rainstorm” look that cities get when the snow has just finished melting. Not that they’ve had a lot of snow, but that was sort of the look it reminded me of.
In just a little over a week, Earl and Paul & I are going to go shoot some birds at the Carolina Raptor Center. I suppose I’ll have to take the 50 off for that, but I’ll probably put it back on as soon as I’m done!
Tom, now you could leave that 50mm on at the Carolina Raptor Center but I’m thinking if you want a close up you’d better be packing some good protective gear! 🙂
Looks like you had some pretty decent weather in Charleston, WV…even a few light clouds in the sky.
Good point, Earl. I’ll be sure to come properly equipped!
It was actually a very nice weekend in Charleston. A little on the cool side Friday (by Charlotte standards) but it warmed up nicely Saturday into Sunday.
“a vacation to plan a vacation”, makes sense to me, although I don’t do that. 🙂
“but I did take a camera”, smart man.
And, nothing wrong with toting a nice prime lens and working with it, that is a good exercise. I did that a while back with me D300 and the 35mm f1.8. That for me is a nice setup.
Hmmm. Come to think of it, I think that I might have to rent a lens for a few days just for our little morning at the raptor center. The longest lens that I have for my D700 is a 100 mm. I might want something a little longer. I’ll have to go back into Earl’s archives and see what he shot those other photos with. 🙂
Paul, my last PhotoWild I shot handheld using a Nikon 28-300mm zoom lens on my D700 and I believe most of my “close-ups” were shot at, or near. 300mm. You’re limited to approaching any closer then 20-40 feet depending upon the individual bird. I’ll probably bring that lens again and my old Tamron 200-500mm as well since I’ll be shooting from the tripod this time. Now I’ll be happy to share whichever lens I’m not using at the moment. 🙂
Once in a while I’ll go out with a single prime – great exercise and in some ways very liberating.