For a few months I have been toying with the idea of upgrading my camera, so I did a bit of overtime and as a birthday treat I took the plunge and bought myself the new camera. Yay!
Its a whole new experience that I wasn’t expecting and I have two little personal projects that I hope will improve on the images I currently capture.
One is a fifty-fifty-fifty: Fifty images with a fifty mm lens in fifty days.
My big concern here is that I might just take images that I am not particularly happy with and post snaps to keep up to date with the project rather than producing the best images that I can.
Something I found myself doing with my second 52 week project that i recently started and of which I have withdrawn from. It also wasn’t pushing me. Unlike my first 52 week project which was great.
It really challenged me, made me think about how to approach the weekly topic and gave me a reason to use my first grown up camera rather than it sitting and gathering dust.
So a 50-50-50!!
I want to think about it and try to approach it with a mixture of some planning and some experimenting. I think, I hope, it will help a considerably in developing my composition skills.
The other thing I want to do, is finish the ‘One Hundred Candid Strangers’ project that I am half way through. I’ve read a bit about street photographers using 35 and 50mm lenses and I thought I’d use the 50mm lens to finish this project off but I’m not so sure that is going to happen.
I tried to capture a few people with my new set up and really struggled. The following two images where taken on a Canon 6D with a Canon 50mm lens.
In both cases I just could not get close enough to the subjects to feel a hundred percent sure that they are really suitable to be added to my strangers project. I’m guessing that it will be easier in crowded areas such as buy markets and shopping streets rather than these quiet locations in Potsdam and The River Spree in Germany.
I’ll give it a go but think I will need to use a mix of focal lengths to get the strangers project completed.
I’m told that the isolation of the subjects and the space in both images adds a sense of melancholy.
Not what I set out to achieve and it has also given me a new appreciation of how personal some street photographers actually get.
As always, your opinions are welcome.
Kind regards,
Jim Jimmy James.
jim-jimmy-james 
I think that the 6D is full-frame jimmy? If so, I am jealous, a wicked tool indeed. Get the 35MM lens in that case, and get closer. Failing that, a telephoto will give you a similar effect, from an unobtrusive distance. Now you have traded up to full-frame, you can get used lenses that will (hopefully) fit, even if you lose some electronic assets.
Sounds like a challenge though, 50x50x50. Still, as 50MM is roughly the same angle of view that we see with our eyes, that’s a great start. All the best mate, Pete.
Back in the old film SLR days, I used to almost always use a 35mm lens. It was just the right length to get in close. But I’ve moved on a bit since then. While 35mm is still a great choice of lens, when I want to get in close I use a 20mm f2.8.
Having said that, the lens that is stuck on my 6D most of the time is the 50mm f1.8. And it spends a lot of time at f1.8.
I’ve been thinking about getting more street people shots, myself, and I intend to use the 50mm (probably at about f5.6 mostly). I think the best strategy is to go where people take photos anyway. We are spoiled for choice in London with all of the tourist attractions. You won’t be the only person taking photos. Another idea I intend to pursue is to take photos of people who want something from you (like those people handing out leaflets), so you take a leaflet if you can get a photo. Or play at being a tourist and ask people in uniform for a photo.
It’s something that I hope will increase my confidence, anyway.
I hope you get on well with the 6D. It’s a great camera, and all the very best of luck with the 50:50:50 project!
Interesting Ian. I dread to think what a 20MM f2.8 retails at though. ( OK I looked it up, about £420) Is the distortion acceptable? I love wide stuff for landscapes and buildings, not so sure about people in close ups. I believe that you are a full-frame man too (5D?), so what do I know? i don’t even take photos anymore!
Cheers old mate, Pete.
Oops, sorry. That’s a misprint. It should have read 24mm. It can make nice environmental portraits. And yes, I use a full frame 6 D, the same as Jimmy has.
Cheers, Ian