Fields of Gold
I am often asked why I have so many 50mm lenses and how do I choose which one to use for a shot. First off they are all old (70′s vintage) and really inexpensive to get. Most importantly they each have a different optical design and therefore they each render a different flavor of lens flare and bokeh from one another. When I shoot a scene in backlighting, (and all my friends know that’s what I love to do every chance I get) I pick my lens based on what I want the flare and bokeh to look like. This is a case in point. The lens I used has a damaged front element and I won’t throw it away because I know it does this when I use it right. You may find it hard to believe but there hasn’t been a single thing done to this image in post processing. This is exactly what was produced in-camera because of my lens choice, the lighting, and the subject matter.
Sparkle
Another artistic detail shot I made while photographing an interior the other day. The out of focus reflection of the chandelier in the mirror was my dose of eye candy for the day.
Be Sharp, Be Soft
One of my favorite creative relaxation activities is to simply wander around with a wide-open 50mm manual focus lens on a camera and look for small details.
Pixie Dust
Pentax shooters know all about pixie dust. For the uninitiated, a few specific Pentax lenses that are well-known for their almost magical ability to make even mundane subjects take on an ethereal visual quality are said to have pixie dust in them. I own a couple of them and when I use them I love being surprised when something that looks iffy through the viewfinder gets sprinkled with the pixie dust as it passes through the lens.
