I must not have enough to do in my life but I find myself even on weekends where I don't have any paying assignments, giving myself some shooting assignments that include either restrictions on gear or subject matter I don't normally shoot -- or both.

This past Friday, I decided I'd limit myself to my new 85mm F1.8 and photograph things other than the dogs or people portraits with it. I started out in a small clearing near a small creek and captured the quintessential Florida image of cypress and hanging moss.



Further along the stream, I noticed a small bunch of berries and took a semi-macro shot of them.



Back in the main groomed areas of Hunters Creek, I spotted some really pretty flowers and, even though it was pretty windy, I managed to get a few good captures.

Bottlebrush.



Red Azalea.


And I think this is Purple Bougainvillea.



On Sunday, I took Rowdy for a walk on the Nature Trail again and "restricted" my lens to the 70-200. OK, so a zoom is not exactly a restriction but for wildlife, I really should have had the 1.4X Telextender too so I was a bit handicapped.

As we walked along the power lines, Rowdy did his best imitation of a Bird Dog and flushed a Great White Heron.



The Heron landed just a bit to the left of the bridge and then stood and posed for me for several shots before flying off indignantly.



Just after those shots, I heard some wings flapping and managed to capture this shot of a BIF.



Next some Ibis.



And, I believe, a Little Blue Heron.



After all that "work", Rowdy and I went over to Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream. That was almost as much fun as the "assignments".

Jim

thanks for posting I think it's a great idea to make yourself think about shooting by imposing your own limits.

Hey Jim,

I agree with Tony. What a great idea! I generally go over-packed with lenses, even in my own back yard (which is the park).

Cheers
James

James,
that's the problem I have -- I keep my gear in a backpack most of the time and I just drag out the whole kit when I go out to shoot. While I love the flexibility of having all those lens/lighting choices, sometimes it makes me creatively lazy.

Limiting myself to one lens -- especially a prime -- brings me back to actually looking at the subject and figuring out what about it I want to capture. Remember when we first started to shoot and all we had was a 50mm lens? I do. And I remember getting some really cool shots that made me want to do more and get better. Back then, the 50 wasn't limiting. It was inspiring. Self assignments bring back that creative zing for me and kinda refresh my photographic perspective.

Jim

How about a thread of shots made only with "normal" (45-55mm) primes?

I agree it reinforces your awareness of subject and pre-visualization and gets your mind off the tech aspects.

Durwood,
I'm game! In fact, my 50 is one of my favorite lenses both for portraits and other available light stuff.

I'm still doing some location scouting this weekend so I'll limit myself to the 50 and post some stuff on Sunday.

Jim

When I first bought a DSLR, I purposely limited myself to one lens - for 6 weeks. I 'learned' the camera and learned a lot about what my lens choices would be for my next purchases. A good exercise!

I think the bird you identified as a little blue is actually a tri-colored heron in breeding plumage.

Durwood,
I need to run my bird shots by you before I post them. I have no idea what half of these birds are. Thanks.

Jim