Patra The Rescued Retired Racing Greyhound (Click to enlarge)
You may remember yesterday’s topic: the most versatile lens in your camera bag, the Nifty Fifty, that is – the 50mm prime. Meet Patra. I spoke of her a little yesterday as well. She growled at me when we first met, because she just doesn’t like strangers very much. Also, she’s a momma’s girl. She’s only 4, but she’s had a rough life, and she just doesn’t want to be taken from the home she loves.
However, I sat next to her on the floor and I just didn’t believe this was a threatening expression. It was more soulful, don’t you think? Her eyes just seem to have seen the worst of the world. At least that was what I was able to capture as I sat there. She didn’t want to sit up and participate in antics or personable cuteness; she had more to think or worry about.
Lights weren’t an option for this shoot. I wouldn’t have been able to get this close with lights, and certainly she wouldn’t have stayed for any length of time. Nope. The only option would be a lens which would allow an aperture opening of 2.8 or wider, to be able to shoot in the circumstance of low light. The secondary benefit was the slim DOF that seemed to accentuate her eyes even more.
The 50mm can be your go-to lens for situations where you don’t need deep DOF and do need to shoot with low ambient light. Those settings occur mostly with single subjects indoors. Before the days of having a studio, that described most of my shots.
To use this lens you only have to get close, focus, meter, relax and shoot. These journalistic captures are the easiest. You’re just waiting for your subject to talk. Do you hear Patra?
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