Scenes Seen / ACLU Fundraiser Photo Show Contributions, Overkill Daily Carry, Some On the Fly Portraits, & a Performance: SIGMA Art 105mm f/1.4.
That is a lot of stuff in one blog post title. I’ll take them one by one.
Starting with the lens.
A lovely bit of portrait ridiculousness. But I find it to be a nice compromise. Between two favorite portrait focal lengths that is. 85mm and 135mm.
I like 135mm. Film era lenses used with both film and digital.
But I tend to only use them, including the one that remains…
…for fun or for stuff. Not for portraits. Why?
I am glad I imagined that you asked.
For me it puts portrait subjects at a yelling distance.
Turn your left shoulder towards me!
What?!
…your left shoulder!
Yeah!
Turn it towards me!
…do what!
So on and so forth.
So use 85mm, amiright?
If I were a reasonable man yes. I would use an 85mm and be done with it. It does just fine and I have had many 85mm lenses…
… at this focal length and still have one.
A perfectly reasonable lens.
But as has been stated in this space previously many times, I am not a reasonable man.
Enter the 105mm.
Has hit it out of the box for portraits from day one.
The combination of that extra bit of focal length and fast f/1.4 aperture gives me that 135mm pop I am after while still keeping subjects at a reasonable distance for easy communication.
Lens sorted.
Overkill Daily Carry.
See above lens and attach it to this…
…as an over the top daily carry combination.
For the reason why, that no one asked, I sought to fight off a bit of Viltrox G.A.S.. I have been collecting Viltrox lenses like Pokémon lately. They are affordable and wonderful. So I had a thought.
What about the Viltrox 135mm f/1.8?
In theory I could <gasp> sell off the SIGMA 105mm f/1.4, buy the Viltrox, and likely have some change left. But there are some problems with this.
- As stated above… 135mm… hollerin.
- Precisely why I was not moved when SIGMA replaced the now discontinued 105mm with a 135mm f/1.4 lens.
- f/1.4 may not seem like much of a difference… but I would miss it nonetheless.
- I might not be able to unravel this decision.
- As stated above the 105mm has been discontinued. I got a deal on mine new as explained in my post above which will never happen again.
Moving on.
ACLU Fundraiser Photo Show Contributions.
Was asked if I had anything. I submitted two.
Some On the Fly Portraits, & a Performance.
Day 1 with this combination I stopped through the fundraiser venue and took some portraits.
Day 2 I returned with my framed submissions, took some more portraits,…
…and stayed to capture the musical performance.
They even let your friendly neighborhood bass/baritone/part time tenor on the mic to sing a couple of my favorite songs. “What You Won’t Do for Love” and “All I Do”… I really do love this place.
The pics.
Day 1.
Day 2.
Back to The Continental Club to drop off the framed prints and came across a political fundraiser.
And to close a brother I just met asked me to take some photos of him in front of a photo of Miles Davis.
Here is when I realized that I needed to grow up and finally close down the aperture so you could actually make out Miles Davis behind him.
Thoughts.
Practical?
No.
Reasonable?
Also no.
Fun.
Big yes.
Is it going anywhere?
Nope.
Those reasons above are exactly why I like it.
Advice?
I got nothing…
Ok, maybe this.
Don’t be like me. This is all ridiculous.
But if ridiculous is up your alley than I have got a heck of a lens to recommend to you.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
