A bit of fun

I've been trying to get to grips with my 50mm prime lens to see how it performs at different apertures and how capable I am at holding it steady at different shutter speeds. I'm not convinced my hands are as steady as they once were, or perhaps I've just become accustomed to VR? Using the 50mm lens made me think of doing the 50 shots in 50 days with a 50mm lens challenge. I'm still thinking. Do I modify the images, or do 50 uncropped, unprocessed images for 50 days? This seems like a good challenge!

Anyway, with this in my mind I've been using the 50mm lens exclusively. It's surprising how much more you move to get a shot instead of zooming in or out. It takes me back to the late '70s when I bought my Pentax MX and a 50mm f1.7 lens. I thought it was wonderful ... truth be known I still do and still have it in perfect working order. I'm finding my eyes aren't as good as they used to be, but still relish using manual focus. The lens is sharp and a delight to use, but there are limitations and presently I think they're all to do with me! I suspect a bit more familiarity of the lens is required before I'm ready to do the challenge.

Whilst I ponder the challenge and perhaps a new blog to track my endeavours I'll post a few sample shots from the 50mm lens (these are all on flickr btw). Top to bottom we have a single shot HDR at Panmure Station, Bougainvillea in our back yard and a sunset at Auckland's Botanic Gardens. The horizontal lines just under the sunset are the power lines. Interesting how Photomatix seems to have shaded the gaps.

Any tips, tricks or hints regarding the 50mm challenge would be most welcome :-)