Right Lens For The Subject

Let’s stop and think for a minute.

If you had to start all over again what Camera would you use and what Lens would be your first?

When I look at how much gear I have amassed now it’s astonishing to me. It has taken me 10 years to arrive at a workable & practical tool kit that can serve me best in my photography.

10 years of testing, refining and learning how to see, learning how my eyes work has been the most important study for me. I think photographers at the beginning should have this study first before spending any money.

Learning to see is critical to creating a compelling image. The most valuable lesson was taught to me by my coach Bryan Petersen : “learn the vocabulary of your Lens”

This means learning how all of my Lens see. There are only three key fields of view:

Wide Angle - 8mm all the way to 35mm

Normal Lens - 28mm up to 50mm

Telephoto - starting around 70mm up 600mm

Somewhere between 8mm and 600mm, you will find your vision, your natural sweet spot; for me, it is 24-70mm. I mention 24-70mm only because 24mm is as Wide as I feel is required for my “natural vision”. My preferred Focal Length is 28mm - 70mm.

This covers all of my subjects: People, Places & Culture.

When it comes to Telephoto, my longest Lens is 300mm. I would use it on Safari and adapt to create an intimate Portrait of a Lion.

The most valuable lesson I have learnt is to use the right Lens for my intended subject. From this position I can create.

With the exception of The Lion, all of the images in this Journal entry were created using my Nikon 50mm 1.4.

Thanks for reading

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others”.

Jonathan Swift