50 mm Challenge

Hi Everyone!

This month's challenge - 50mm prime! The contest will end 11/18/2012. As always, the photo must be taken during this challenge period.

James

I dont own any primes. All zooms. OK to photograph at 50MM?

Roman

LOL - FINE. 50mm. Does not matter if it is prime.

James

PS Roman - you don't have one prime lens? I am somehow really surprised by that.

You're not the only one!

Light kit and versatile. High quality zooms give me prime like sharpness and universal options for composition. As of next week will be 14-24, 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200. Most are as high a quality or darned close as any prime. Landscape is often about DOF so F/2.8 on all the lenses is perfect.

Should also have my D800 soon as well, hopefully by end of the month.

Hey Everyone,

I was asked to please clarify the rules:

1. The photo must be taken at 50mm.
2. It must follow a Nature/Wildlife/Pet Photography theme
3. It must be taken during the 30 days that the challenge was created
4. It must be posted by November 19th 2012 at 11:59 PM (LOL, we can take into account your time zone).


That's about it - I think. Usually people ask better questions to things I overly simplify.

James

the 14-24 is a stellar lens. I've been shooting mine for about two years now and i have two complaints, no way to screw in a filter, there are some options, but they are $$$, and lens flare is horrible! if you get the sun to strike the bulbed front element at an angle, you'll pay for it .. . I kept my 17-35 for when i need to shoot into the light . . .

Hey Tony!

Good to hear from you.

Jim

Thanks Jim, and I hope to have a little more presents here in the future, been awhile so I hope to keep it up. It's great to see some of the early NWP guys still around!

From the gardens.

Hey Roman,

I am going to miss this one, it looks like. Between the hurricane and work being done in my apartment, i have been unable to get out at all.

James

Sorry to hear that you were affected that strongly from the hurricane. My heart goes out to everyone on the east coast.

Roman

LOL, Roman, I wish I could use the hurricane as a complete excuse. I am super lucky. No flooding and no power outage. However, the parks (where I would be taking this) are a complete mess. Technically, they are all still closed. Add to this that I have just had my floors sanded and cannot walk into my own apartment and you see that there are problems...

James

Looks like I am not the only one who needs a bit more time.. Roman, you OK if I extend this? I apologize I have been so absent.

James

No problem at all. Extend it all you need to.

Don't want to win first prize at a beauty contest only because I was the only contestant. :~)

Roman

LOL, you could have taken 2nd place!! Don't worry, I have access to my apartment as of yesterday. I am going to get my butt into gear. If it is OK, I have extended things to the 1st of December.

James

So far, nothing exciting. I am taking the camera with me to Saratoga for a conference I am attending. Hopefully I will get something there in my free time.

James

Hoping my 50 arrives before the 1st .

Jim

I am still having trouble. I have a shoot later this week, so we shall see if I can get something of value.

James

I got a shot....now I just need to get home and process. :p

...OK, so it is not really a contest. LOL, you try photographing a 15 year old ill cat.

James

Maxwell @ 50MM. (Canon 50MM 1.4)

Thanks, Preston and Roman. This is a bit of a disappointment. LOL, I think it is fair to say that mine is the weakest image from the lot. It was harder than I thought it would be given that I had a dickens getting out the way that I should. Having said that, I am also disappointed by the lack of entries.
Do you guys want to go ahead and have a vote on the three images or just say "well, we tried...?"

Thanks
James

James:

FWIW, I think if you extend it through the end of the month you might garner some more entries.

Jim

Yeah...sure. I am game. Lets give er another month.

Roman

My 50 will be here later this week ! I'd love to be able to participate.

Jim

James,

Thanks for doing this. It gave me an incentive to take off my go to lens and put the 50mm on and see what I could get. Now I'm wondering how different this would be on my 7D, given the crop factor. I already threw mine in a day late, so I'm all for extending the time :-).

If it goes another month can we have more than one entry? I'm not looking for a prize, just another excuse to do something that I don't normally do.

James, this is full of character and the eyes are full of cat wisdom.

All right. We have already had one extension - but I am OK with giving it a second one, as long as Preston and Roman are OK with it.

James

PS Thank you for the very kind words, Preston. Honestly, I am always really embarassed to show cat photos on the site when I know that you or Helmi might be looking. :P

Let me know if you're going with the additional extension. I have a few shots I could share but today is the first day I actually have the time to do a formal shoot. Should have an entry by the end of today. Lens arrived on Tuesday.

Jim

Well, since I didn't get a reply to my question this morning about whether or not the contest has been extended, I'll just submit my entry and you can do what you will.

First, a point of order: while I appreciate the artistic merit of all the submitted entries in this 50mm Challenge, I'd like to suggest that special consideration should be given for not just artistic merit but also degree of difficulty . I would suggest that taking great pictures of kitty cats or puppies takes great skill. However, it does not take pure, adrenaline-producing courage. That comes from taking pictures, with a 50mm lens, of creatures that can be positively vicious. To wit: the nasty Black Swan.

Well, OK, maybe not Creatures of the Serengeti but these guys have been known to bite and peck. And to fill the frame with a 50mm lens -- even on a crop body -- means working within 3 ft of these creatures. I'm just sayin' .

Here is my submission: a Black Swan from Lake Eola in downtown Orlando.



Enjoy. Note, no photographers were injured in the pursuit of this photograph.

Jim

LOL, awesome, Jim. I was waiting for Preston or Roman to reply. Having said that, my general feeling is that since this is mostly 'family fun' that it should not be a problem to accommodate everyone. So, let's just go til the end of the month.

James

I did reply, James.

Jim, do these swans chase your Rotties?

Preston,
Worse. They chase me!! Actually, these guys are pretty tame and there are feeding stations set up around the lake so they get pretty spoiled. It's a great family location right in the center of downtown Orlando. They have Swan Boats, a fabulous fountain, a band shell for outdoor concerts and events and these wonderful birds. For someone who is used to having to stalk wildlife at refuges and wetland preserves, this is a little different and you can get very close. But I overcame the urge to bait them with food -- like I do my Rotties. I've walked Cassidy Ann down there. She's not impressed .

Jim

Hey...don't discount the dangers in the japanese gardens (my first entry)

Ninjas everywhere...killer koi.....its a jungle out there!!!

Roman

. Thank goodness you survived!

Jim

Thanks to everyone who participated. I am going to put up a newsletter as soon as I get a new article done. I apologize for my slowness.

James