NYC + 50mm

My partner Jen and I recently spent a week in New York City. It was her birthday gift to me earlier this year. Although we have only been there once before it is one of our favourite places. There is just so much to see and the city has an amazing energy.

Whenever we travel we try to pack a light as possible, it just seems to make everything about travel that much easier. The same thing applies to my photography kit - pack as light as possible. My “normal” kit usually includes two lenses and those two lenses are typically my 70-200mm f/2.8L and my 24-105mm f/4.0L. They make a great team, handling most every situation with ease. For this trip though I wanted to pack even lighter so I brought only one lens, my 50mm f/1.4. For the price this lens can't be beat. It's sharp, it's fast, it's light and inconspicuous. The downside is you're stuck with one focal length and that means you zoom with your feet and you are forced to be more creative with your shots.

Sticking to just one lens is exactly what I needed. I wanted to force myself to think more, to be more creative and to break away from my typical shots. There were times that I really regretted not having another lens *cough* space shuttle *cough* but the objective was to be forced out of my comfort zone and look for more creative captures and this was just the ticket.

Keep shooting.

Blue Hour in the City

Making pictures in the city after the sun goes down is one of my photography favourites. I went out on Friday night to see if I could get a picture of something I saw the night before on my way to hockey. I came pretty close.

On Thursday night I was just pulling out of downtown, heading south, just after sunset and looked back to see the downtown towers glowing as they bathed in this gorgeous, warm light. The warm light was also illuminating the newly constructed CTrain platform just west of the core. And, best of all, dark clouds hung over the core, increasing the colour and saturation of the light and providing this amazing contrast. I wanted that picture.

On Friday night I set out to get the shot. The light was close but not as good as the night before and my location was OK but not quite the vantage point I had the previous night. Still though, it was decent light and a pretty good shot.



The best part is there will be many, many more opportunities to find a better spot and that perfect light.

Keep shooting.