As photographers most of us have an assortment of lens to to choose from. Depending on what we are photographing we will use a wide angle, a telephoto or maybe a macro. By selecting a specific lens we have control of what we place in our view finders, vital to our vision. At one point I was carrying an assortment of lens that covered from 18mm to 400mm, just to make sure I had it all covered. Over the past couple of years I have decreased that range (and the weight of my camera bag) by narrowing down to 18-200mm and using 4 lens. I discovered having a wide range of focal length did not make me a better photographer.
In the above image I used a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 at 200mm to crop out the surrounding distractions. It helped me to create the image I wanted but that’s not the only thing that helped make this image. In order to eliminate all the background I needed to move in closer. To do that I used my feet. 🙂
4 Comments
Earl
Monte: Beautiful photo. Zoom lens can tend to make you lazy. Over time I’ve reduced the size of the kit I carry with me. I have a number of zoom lens, but sometimes it’s a nice change to put on a prime lens and do the manual zoom–walking. 😉
Paul
Monte: I do the same thing. I winnow my collection of lenses down to the bare essentials. Currently that looks like one of each: 50 mm f/1.8, 18-270 mm, 100mm macro. That’s it. I find that if I have too many lenses I just get the old analysis paralysis syndrome!
Don
I love my Nikon 18-135mm, it is probably on my camera most of the time. I do use a Nikon 70-300 but only for nature.
QPB
Me too–I have decided to be careful in purchasing more lenses. I have a sweet spot in my heart for my 24-105 and I return to it no matter what.