Sunday, April 24, 2011

Why and how to use fast lenses (updated)

tOP post about the merits of fast lenses.


(Pentax K-x, 50mm F:1.4 at 1.4, ISO 3200.)

Personally, I find that fast lenses, which have greater potential for shallow depth of field and soft backgrounds, are a blessed gun in the photographer's arsenal. Not only do they isolate the subject, but they also add a form of abstraction. For a documentary photographer, abstraction is optional at best, and certainly something to be handled with care. For a pictorial photographer, abstraction is often what keeps him/her interested. It makes for a picture, instead of a picture of....

Although, if the photographer wants people to relate to the subject/scene rather than the picture, wider lenses and deeper depth of field is usually preferable. It gives a greater illusion of putting the viewer There.

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