One Lens Wonder: Shooting only with 35mm

Whew, what a month! Just a heads up, this newsletter is going to be a little on the long side. I do hope you get a chance to read through it all and see the pictures. I am excited to show you how I have developed this month as a photographer.

This month has been both one of the most challenging in my photographic career, but also one of the most rewarding. I don't want to focus too much on the issues I have had this month, but lets just say that I am basically a Lightroom engineer at this point (Lightroom is the editing software I use).

All jokes aside, I am actually incredibly happy with how this photo series turned out. The theme for July was for me to pick one lens and stick with it. Every photo I took this month was with my 35mm on my Fuji camera.

These first few photos are at my new apartment complex.

I want to begin this commentary with my change of perspective when it comes to photography. I will be honest and vulnerable here as well. I got into photography out of luck. I got a camera just to do it, my friends said I was decent, so I took it a little more seriously and began my business. That is cool and all, and I have continued to learn and hone my craft, but lately I have been asking myself "why?" Why do I take photographs? Why does it matter to me?

I could have made up some corporate speak answer to make myself look good, but if I was being honest with myself, I mainly did photography to make some cash.

Now nothing is inherently wrong with that. I offer a service, people need that service, bada bing bada boom. But when I sit and think about it, it doesn't completely fulfill me creatively. Like, it would be weird if I took family photos for one of y'all, then liked a photo so much in a creative sense that I printed it out and hung it on my wall (Don't worry, no one's family photos are on my walls).

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy taking photos for people, and I am going to continue to do that because I believe in LBP's mission statement, "Everyone has a story that deserves to be told", but I am going to approach things from a new perspective.

I am going to continue offering my photographic services, but I am going to take these photo series a bit more seriously, and start viewing photography as the art it really is. I want to start creating more art that means a lot to me that way I can feel fulfilled and good about what I am putting out in the world.

This photo series helped open my eyes to these more intimate truths within myself. One could say that my photographic eye is beginning to open.

So this one lens photo series. It was a lot of fun! I think I have tapped into some good creative energy with this photo series.

This series forced me to pick one lens that can work for many things. I chose 35mm because on a crop sensor, it is basically a "nifty fifty" equivalent on a full frame. 50mm is important because that is around the focal length our human eyes naturally fall under.

Without a zoom that has multiple focal lengths built in, I had to get creative, and I had to move. Another photographer would say that I "zoomed with my feet." This caused me to really think about where I stood and my position relating to the subject. It made me think of the Ansel Adams' quote, "A good photograph is knowing where to stand."

This image is one I am incredibly proud of. No, I did not photoshop the moon in the picture, I positioned myself in the middle of a parking lot to line this shot up just right. I might just print this one out and hang it on my wall. 

(Spoiler alert: I am thinking about offering some of my images as prints as well. Let me know what y'all think!)

Good ol' Benny Boi. This was a wholesome image as I just kind of pulled out my camera during one of our weekly lunches. Ben requested that I keep it as natural as possible, and that made me appreciate the image a whole lot more. One lesson I have learned from Benji is to appreciate where I am at in the now, even in the pursuit of improvement.

Also he helped me kind of solidify my current philosophy on photography with his remarks on when I showed him the images that are going out in this newsletter. He said "You found magic in the mundane."

Thanks buddy, see you next week for lunch ;)

While at a friend's house, they put the trash can under the chandelier for the get together we were having. For some reason, it spoke to me artistically. Don't ask me why, I still don't know, but here you go. It's your trash can to look at now. You're welcome.

Well, if you read this far, no one can say that you are a bad listener...

Jokes aside, thank you if you have read this far. I feel like I have been talking a while so I want to leave you all with the photos. The remaining photos are from abandoned places here in Oklahoma (probably worthy of their own photo series, but oh well), my dad cooking his world famous BBQ, and a much needed photo of a really good boy. I hope you enjoy this photo series as much as I have.

Thank you.