You buy a new lens and you don't have time to put it on your camera and test it right away? I headed over to Precision Camera this morning to pick up the Fujifilm 90mm f2.0 lens I asked them to put on hold for me yesterday. My sales guy and I we're catching up; post sale, when I realized that I was supposed to be at lunch with a fun, happy, creative director at Maudie's Restaurant in mid-town. I said a hasty goodbye, grabbed my new lens and headed South. Driving on the freeway is not the time to open a box and marvel at the fit and finish of the latest acquisition and I didn't feel right about bringing the box into the restaurant and ignoring my lunch date. Immediate gratification partially denied... ("partially"? Well, yes. The Caldo, chips, hot sauce and tacos momentarily distracted me from all things optical....).
When I got back to the office I was about to de-box the lens when Studio Dog gave me a wry look and telepathically suggested that she needed to be brushed, walked and given a treat of some sort. That of course takes precedence over lens openings. We're back now and I'm heading into the studio to see exactly what it is I've talked myself into this time. Studio Dog is uninterested in the unveiling so I guess I'm on my own.
Normally I'd put the lens on a handy camera body and go for a walk through downtown but I've got a happy hour with a CFO at 5pm and I'd hate to try my luck at getting back over to this side of town through rush hour traffic (which, in Austin, is from 4 am until 11:30 pm most days...). I guess I'll just put the lens on an XH1 and point it around the studio for a bit.
Anyway, the eagle has landed; the lens is in my possession. Now we'll see if my family's food money for the month was well spent or not. *
* For the staunchly literal I have to make this disclaimer: I did not use money earmarked for my family's food budget and I am not plunging myself into poverty with this lens purchase. In fact, I bought it only because I know I'll use it for at least three jobs in February that call for people photographs in which the backgrounds are rendered mostly out of focus. We budget a certain amount each year for equipment to be used in the business and we are pretty frugal about hitting budgets and staying in the black. We are not in debt and I no longer have a tuition/room/board bill to pay for the kid. He's launched. The lens will be expensed, over time. Please rest easy knowing that I'll still be able to pay my swim team dues going forward.
More about the lens as the information (and experience) become available. Thank, Kirk
(Photos included just to spark up an otherwise drab post...).
A.B.T. = Always Be Testing.
6 comments:
LOL, the GAS gratification will have to hold out a tad longer.
I like the ABT point. For me it’s ABE (experimenting). My shooting time has been severely curtailed, which means my skills are going backwards. So when I do get the camera out, my mind is thinking “what if I tired it this way”, “how about that angle / perspective”. A lot of it doesn’t work, but that’s what experimenting is about.
Good luck with moderation and managing insta-expectations ;~)
Cheers
The very first picture is truly outstanding. Love that building and the reflection (worped)of another in it.
What rig did you use it to capture it? Not new 90mm F2 I reckon?
"* For the staunchly literal ..." You're a funny guy.
Serious question: Are there really people out there who don't get it? I suppose there are, but even if you were spending your food budget on camera equipment why would it be any concern of mine? I saw Janis Joplin in concert on Dec. 30th of 1968 and didn't feel at all compelled to tell her to sober up. She didn't last too much longer and you may not either, but I loved her music while she was alive just as I look forward to reading your stuff for years to come.
Ray, you would be amazed at the number of responses I get to what I consider obvious jokes, sarcasm, etc. I fully expect someone will contact Child Protective Services and report me for endangering my family by depriving them of food because of my severe camera buying habits. Many people seem programmed to understand things only in a literal fashion. I am not in any danger of starving. In fact, I could do well to lose another five pounds. I might swim faster. My child is fully employed and a professional job and my spouse holds the critical purse strings. No mortal danger here, other than the usual mortal danger = meteors, locust plagues, central Texas volcanic eruptions, etc.
Nice photos. That blue drain is really cool.
Just curious, Kirk. Does Studio Dog have a more formal name. You've never mentioned it to my memory and I've been visiting your site for years.
Yes. Studio Dog has a delightful name. Much different than "Studio Dog" but she is very protective of her anonymity and, via telepathic communication, has asked me to refrain from making it public. Someone in the family has to operate behind the scenes.
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