It isn’t very often that I get to spend time with another photographer and just take photos for fun. Whether this is due to time constraints or a lack of real dedication on my part may be a matter of discussion for another time, but the point of bringing this up now is merely to say that I enjoy those times when I am able to shoot with another photo nerd.
Here in Northwest Arkansas this year, Winter came early for all of about four weeks, and then decided to give Autumn some time to shine. In the last month or so, Autumn has being doing just that. While it’s still rather cold in the mornings, it usually climbs up into the fifties during the afternoon, and has even peaked in the sixties several times in this month of December, as well as in the latter part of November. Just this previous Sunday it was warm enough to wander downtown without a jacket (certainly while in the sun), and JC and I had made plans to get together. The weather happily obliging us, we did just that.
It’s worth noting that while I decided to pack light, and bring “only” three lenses, only three of the photos I ended with were shot with something other than Fuji’s 23mm f/2 — those being the image of the men in the cherry picker, which was shot with a Pentax mount 135mm f/2.8, and the two photos following it (the courthouse, and JC with his camera), which were both shot with the Helios-44m. I am certainly becoming more and more comfortable with shooting with primarily one lens. I have mainly done this since buying my X-Pro2 a couple of years ago, but I am at the wider end now with the 23mm. Originally I bought the camera with the 35mm f/2, and moved to the f/1.4 version later, which I will be investing in again soon, hopefully, because I do really love that focal length — it gives me a little more reach and compression, while still allowing me to stay close to my subject, which I really enjoy. I’ve found that 85mm is really the long end of where I like to shoot; anything beyond that makes it really difficult for me to feel connected to the image I’m making. But that’s just my own preference. Every lens has a place, and every photographer has different needs and desires.
My apologies to any of you who may have gotten slightly lost when I started talking about gear. I hope I wasn’t too confusing. Enjoy the photos.
Merry Christmas,
— Joel
