Limits

My Thoughts

Wintercast

I took this picture while I was out in my backyard.

I recently borrowed a 50 mm Nikon lens from a friend to take some family portraits. Over the course of a few days, it has quickly become my favorite, and I can't wait to get my own. While I was outside trying out the lens, a plane flew overhead, and I captured it, wishing I had a zoom lens. Later, when I was looking through the pictures I took. I decided I really liked the one shot I took of that plane that flew above me.

I will admit that the above picture is a bit edited, but the feeling it invokes is what I felt when I saw the original. I view editing pictures much like re-writing an essay or a journal entry; you re-write it for clarity. As the photographer, I know how I felt when I took the picture, but as a viewer I can't grasp the full context. The photographer may edit and emphasize to explain the full story.

The picture above isn't like most of the pictures I've taken. But it proves to me the subjectivity of art. I can't think of a rule in photography that Wintercast does follow. Not rule of thirds. Not filling the frame (I literally couldn't zoom in). Not symmetry. What this picture does follow is the limits of our human experience. Maybe that is why I like it so much. It reminds me that I'm kinda stuck here, with all my imperfections. But knowing that also gives me a sense of freedom.

Perhaps my favorite part about the 50 mm lens is that because it is so limiting, it allows me to have more freedom in expression. By this I mean that I am forced to move around more, and to see things differently. Things instantly become more "real" because the 50 mm lens is the closest in width to what our human eyes perceive; a person 20 feet away will take up the same amount of space in my field of vision as it would fill up in the frame of a 50 mm lens.

Overall, I have to say that the 50 mm lens is my favorite. It has opened my eyes to new aspects of photography. Such as the picture I took above. From something as simple as a borrowed lens, I've learned a lot more about myself, discovered something more, and learned something new.

I thought I'd share that with you.