This site is under construction – so please pardon my mess! The site is about a view of the world after more than 50 years. It is an attempt to understand why I believe the things I believe and how they correspond with reality. It is about seeing the world from a consistent perspective. You can read more about me when I finish updating!
- 50 Years of Perspective
First off, I am a little older than 50. But I think the blog title is right on because I date myself from the age of attainment of social awareness. I do have some earlier memories but these are just fragments. There are things I truly remember and that have impacted my views in the world – going to school in the dark during the first oil embargo, the end of the Vietnam war, American Graffiti!
But what I remember the most is so many things in the world made little to no sense. It seemed like the people around me never took the time to think. My teachers at school repeated things that did not make sense. People treated each other horribly and I could not understand why.
So really, 50 or more years of life have been spent trying to make sense of the world. Or to be more exact – 50 years of trying to make sense of people!
So here are my random thoughts on people and how they react to the world and how they think. Of course, I am not totally sure I understand myself – but I will keep on trying!
To be continued!
- National Cathedral Organ
A shot of the keyboards on the organ at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. Shot on my last visit to Washington DC. It was a dreary and cold December day. There is nothing like the cold and damp in the national swamp to put a chill in your bones and a fog in your brain.
It is an interesting walk from the metro station to the Cathedral. The short hike starts in a run down section of town and you pass a public school that looks like the last maintenance was done in the 1950’s. Then, just up the street is Sidwel Friends, a $48,000 per year tuition private school. Sidwel is popular with all the “public servants” in Congress and the government. It looks like a private luxury resort surrounded with D.C. police cars to protect the children of the important people.
At least my picture turned out nice…
You can more D.C. pictures at Cityscape
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- Perspective
Perspective, 1) n, A view or vista, 2) n, A mental view or outlook
As I look back on the years I see things with a clarity that didn’t exist at the time I experienced things. I don’t think that is anything deep or original; but it is true.
I also don’t know if that perspective has changed my memories. I might be seeing things differently than they really were when they happened. Our minds are like that. Our most indelible memories are the ones that have strong emotions attached to them. So it is possible that my emotions are warping my memories.
But I don’t think it matters. Because we really don’t see things clearly anyway. It is like a mystery movie. The first time you see it you miss all kinds of clues. This is the way it should be or otherwise the movie won’t be as much fun. The second and third time you see it you notice all the clues. Your knowledge of how the thing turns out changes what you notice and remember.
Knowing the outcome changes your perception of the events that led to that outcome. This has a deeper consequence for all of us. People who are happy will see many more happy memories. People who are angry will see everything in terms of their hurt and pain.
I choose to be happy; and my life is filled with happy memories!
Photo: Colombia River overlook, Canon Elan 7e, Kodak Txi-X black and white film, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens
- Sunset Engagement Portrait
Sunset on Lake Winnebago gives a beautiful range of colors. The Eastern shore of the Lake has about the best sunset views in my part of Wisconsin – the Fox Valley.
Here we see a wonderful young couple enjoying each other and the sunset for their engagement pictures. So let’s do a tutorial on how to balance flash and ambient light and capture this kind of shot.
The recipe for this picture is fairly straightforward, but a little tricky. Shot with my Canon 50mm f/1.2 L lens. I picked a f/4.5 aperture to have my couple well in focus and to preserve some background details. The lake behind them is a little dreamy but still has details without being distracting. I set the exposure for the lake – sunset dark but not too dark – which worked out to a 1/100 second shutter speed at 250 ISO. I then positioned a flash with a softbox to light them without too much light spill on the grass. I set the flash so that her white dress was bright but not too bright. I used the histogram on my camera along with the highlight warning (blinkies) to set the flash a little bit below the point where her dress was overexposed.
Canon 5d mkIV | Canon 50mm f/1.2 L | 1/100s F/4.5
- Florida Mushrooms
Somewhere in Florida, probably on the Keys, I shot this picture of some mushrooms and moss. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 is not really a macro lens. But if you stop it down a a bit it will deliver a pretty good sharpness. This was shot at f/4 and maybe 24 inches away.
Canon 7d | Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 | 1/80s f/4
- Dreamera Smoking in the Woods
Low light ability is the hallmark of a great 50mm lens. This shoot was done with my Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L lens. Shot with 3 strobes – softbox in front and gelled to each side. The smoke was from a propane fogger with mineral oil. Taken just after sunset the light level in the wood was pretty low.
This is where the f/1.2 really shines – the light gathering is so high that you can see the so clear to compose and focus. As the evening went on to full darkness the f/1.2 lens continued to give great viewfinder performance.
- Andromeda at 50mm
Andromeda at 50mm. So for the most part not many people recommend a 50mm lens for astrophotography. it is not wide enough for dramatic night sky pictures and not telephoto enough for seeing wonders too small for the naked eye.
So here is a 50mm picture taken with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L lens. The Andromeda galaxy is visible with the naked eye and resolves fine with a 50mm lens. I used a 10 second exposure and held the camera still on the rail of my deck. I stopped the lens down a tiny bit to f/1.8 because this lens is not the sharpest animal at f/1.2! The image turned out fine in my estimation – not great but pretty good.
So why did I use a 50mm lens and not a more ideal focal length? Simple, if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with! I had the 50mm with me and I didn’t have a more “ideal” lens available.
So, what is the lesson here? First, 50mm is a great walk around lens that can produce a wide range of images whatever the situation. Second, there is a lot of benefit from a low f-stop lens because it gives you a lot of optionality. And finally, work with the tools you have!
Canon EF 50mm F/1.2 L | Canon 5d mkIV | 10sec at f/1.8
- Portrait Before The Storm
A photoshoot before the storm arrived. I met DeAnna (Instagram) in Neenah to produce a set of photos for an upcoming photo class. We did both aperture and focal length series showing the differences at different settings. Above is the photo from 50mm focal length. The shot is low distortion and flattering. Just as you would expect from a 50mm lens!
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 | Canon 5d mkIII
My Wedding and Portrait site www.jalanlee.com
- A Close Portrait
A close portrait with a 50mm lens can be interesting… 50mm is typically not a recommended focal length for a close up portrait, but why? It all has to do with perspective.
Perspective can best be imagined by thinking about the angle light has to travel from your subject to the front of the camera lens. I made the drawing below to help. The top shows a big angle when you are close and the bottom shows less of an angle when you are far away. A camera lens will bend the light so that things get distorted as you move away from the center.
So what you say? Well, this means that faces will look better if you stand farther away and use a higher focal length lens. So a 50mm lens too close to a face will give some distortion.
The picture above shows some of that distortion – especially her hand. So if I was going for a beautiful portrait I would not use a 50mm lens close. However, in this case I like the “fun” aspect of the photo so it is OK!
Photography has rules but a good photographer breaks them!
- Under the Dock in Key West
Fish under the dock in Key West. If you don’t like lunch there are plenty of fish in the sea who will eat it for you! Light gathering ability on display for the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens. This shot was taken at f/2.5. This allowed a fast enough shutter speed to avoid blur. It also kept the ISO low enough to minimize noise.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 | 1/80sec at f/2.5