I had the pleasure recently of photographing a super talented friend of mine, Isaac Orvin. We met up in the parking garage of the Fayetteville public library, which I’ve wanted to shoot in for some time now, and from there left to walk around downtown. It was a load of fun, not only because I got to make some really fun photos, but because I got to spend time with a great guy, who has a passion for his craft, and the skills to keep up with it. Isaac plays the violin. Just standing and listening to him play is magical to me — like soaking in the view of the Grand Canyon, or the redwood forest. Music is such a powerful, transcendent thing, and despite my not being much of a musician myself, I so very much appreciate those who do have talent in that area. In addition to that, I love listing to others talk about things that they love — even if I don’t understand it all, seeing another’s face light up as they share about their passion, is a wonderful thing.
If you aren’t interested in the nerdy aspect of this shoot, you’re welcome to skip ahead to the photos. (I hope you enjoy them.) If you are interested however, I’m now going to share some thoughts I had about photography while making these images.
I was hired recently to shoot an event at a gym, and was happy to use this as an excuse to invest in Fuji’s 90mm f/2, which I’ve wanted to try out for a long while. I’m not used to shooting that long — my 35mm is usually as long as I like to go — but I knew this would be a good lens for event photography; it lets me “get close” to the subject, without actually needing to be too close and obtrusive. It is certainly strange to see a photo, raise my camera to my eye, and then remember that I have to back way up to actually frame the shot the way I want it. Bear in mind that on APS-C, I’m essentially getting a 135mm field of view with this lens.) That said, I was excited to actually make something with this lovely bit of glass.
If you’ve shot with me, you know I like wide angle stuff. I love being able to capture context, I like seeing what’s going on, telling a story with what’s in the frame. I’m used to shooting everything with Fuji’s 23mm f/2, or one of their 35mm lenses. Coming from those, the 90mm is extremely tight, and really hard for me to work with. Generally, I recommend anyone getting started in photography pick up a prime, a 50mm or 35mm, partially because learning one focal length teaches you a lot about composing within a specific field of view, but also because shooting with a wider lens forces you to learn how to actually make a compelling image on multiple levels. The wider your lens, the more context your image will have, and the more intentional you’re going to have to be about what you include in the frame, and how you position everything. Shooting really long, with really shallow depth of field, means not having to worry as much about those things, and a lot of people end up using it as a crutch, hiding everything behind blur to avoid creating a powerful composition. For many of us, wide angle photography is scary — because it’s challenging. I certainly haven’t mastered it, or come anywhere close to doing so. But I have learned the value of shooting wider than 85mm.
That said, I’m finding the 90mm to be a challenge for a very similar reason. That is, I’m not used to figuring out how to compose at such a long focal length. It’s so easy for me to just click away and not get anything really good, simply because this lens makes everything look good, from an image quality standpoint, and makes it a temptation to not worry about composition. Of course you can still be intentional about the images you make when you’re shooting with a telephoto, but it will require you to actually think about the shot — just as you must with any other lens!
During editing, I realised how many photos I’d taken because they looked really cool through my viewfinder, but when I actually slowed down and examined them, they just weren’t good. Many of them I deleted after some hesitation because they were most of the way there, but just didn’t have anything special about them. They were mediocre images, made with a great lens. And this is my difficulty shooting with Fuji’s 90mm f/2: the lens itself is so good, and produces such quality images, that I’m tempted to not think about what I’m making when I use it.
Having noticed this, I feel that I’ve a duty to become good at shooting with telephoto lenses — or at least with this particular one. Being good at anything requires practice, and I certainly haven’t had practice at this focal length. I am also planning on doing some international travel in 2020, which was another excuse I gave myself for purchasing this lens. (I hope to make much more use of this website during that period.) Frankly, there are times when you are quite unable to get close to your subject, and I would like to be able to still get the shot. Or rather, a shot.
So, those are my thoughts, as of September 2019, on shooting with longer lenses than one is used to. If you’ve anything to add, I welcome you to send me a message, or leave a comment below. I’d love to continue the conversation. In addition, it would be really cool if you subscribed to this journal of mine, so you can keep up with what I’m shooting and doing in the future. I would be happy to know that you’re following along with my journey. To do so, simply go to joeltimothy.co/subscribe, and enter in your email address.
with love,
— Joel
P.S. Some of the images below were shot with Fuji’s 23mm f/2, which is a fantastic lens. All of the rest were made using the 90mm.
Geeky Things
Camera: Fuji X-Pro2
Lenses: Fuji 23mm f/2 & Fuji 90mm f/2
Location: downtown Fayetteville, AR
Notes: Aside from the simple fact that I wanted a great telephoto length lens, I also wanted a good weather-sealed kit to bring with me while traveling. After I get the 35mm f/2 back, I will have that along with the 90mm f/2 and 23mm f/2, all weather sealed on my X-Pro2. That is a travel kit I am looking forward to having.