Simplify, simplify

I might have mentioned that last week I sold all my cameras and lenses and lighting gear, so now I have loads of room in both the garage and on my office shelves. But no camera. I don’t want to end up where I was before —- two cameras and so many lenses —- not just because of the room it all took but more importantly because of the weight and the thinking that went into every time I went out to shoot. If I was traveling, I took a smaller camera and a couple of lenses, but I wasn’t always thrilled with the picture quality. My “home” camera was heavy and the lenses even heavier, so I had to load a backpack if I went out to shoot in the desert. I’d take a 24-70, a 70-200 and, just in case I found a small good thing, a 100mm macro lens. I was generally happier with the results, but it was exhausting.

I’ve decided to replace all that gear with a single camera and a fixed lens, but I was up in the air about what focal length lens to commit to. A few years ago I had a 28mm lens, and I shot with it almost exclusively on a trip to Ankara. As you can see in the first photo, it made lovely landscapes, and if I got close enough (as in this photo), I could make decent portraits. I had a blast in Ankara with a 28mm mounted on my camera. I could walk around with a relatively unobtrusive camera, getting closer or going wide by moving my feet. I felt free to shoot, and it made me —- get closer —- photographer Robert Capa’s solution to not-good-enough photos. In short, it was fun.

I love the process of making photos, and the 28mm lens engaged me in the process like no other lens I’ve used. I like a 50mm and love a 35mm, but I find myself most comfortable with a 28mm —- it’s how I see the world. My new camera, equipped with a 28mm lens, arrives Thursday. I’m already itching to shoot.