Saturday, March 12, 2011

85mm 1.8, I kind of like you



My sister and her family stopped by this morning on their way out of town and the kids got to play with their cousins for a bit. I have been feeling crummy for most of the weekend so it was nice to have some company today while Peter was at work. This picture is my darling niece. Doesn't she look just like Miss E? The 4 kids had so much fun playing together. I love that they all love each other so much.

Another awesome thing about kids before I get to the lens, is that Miss E has been cooking breakfast! On the weekends, she can now get up at 7, get bowls of yogurt and granola for herself and Mr. T and turn on the TV. She even knows that they are only allowed to watch channel 10 (public television) and can change it to that channel. Then she can make toast if they are both still hungry. All this (plus the fact that our house is so small I can kind of hear them the whole time) allows me, and Peter if he's home, to sleep in until 8 on the weekends. A whole extra hour! If someone had told me when I was getting up 3 or 4 times a night with a 1-year-old Miss E that she would someday not only be sleeping through the night but getting up to fix breakfast for herself and her brother I would have thought they were crazy. But here we are. I tell you, all ages are great, but there is a definite sweet spot with the 4 and 6 year olds.

Now for the 85mm 1.8 lens. If you know things about photography, please ignore the rest of this. For the rest of you who know little (like me) I have learned a few things this weekend. The 85 number in front of the mm measures how far away you need to be to take a picture. If you are outside, big numbers could be great. If you live in a tiny house, 85mm is still a bit much. I found myself continuously backing up today while taking pictures of the kids. I think outdoors though, this lens would be awesome. The pictures turned out great and even in the low light of the house, with the kids moving around, they turned out crisp and in focus for the most part. I'm not sure this is the lens I'm going to get right now, but it's something I can see myself realistically owning in the future.

2 comments:

  1. I have to say that after looking at the pics on FB, I had to look carefully at the background to make sure it was your house - the light quality is 200% more amazing than with your old lens... It seems to capture all of the light in your house, which I think has been missing from the older photos... it almost makes me want to upgrade from a point and shoot. But honestly since I can't even remember to bring that and mostly take pics with my phone it would be wasted on me...

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  2. I know! None of these were taken with flash either. The second number (1.8) on this one, tells how much light the lens will let in. Lower numbers equal more light (just to be confusing) but my previous lens was probably a 3.5. It's amazing the difference.

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