I tried to be a wide angle photographer. I really did pull out all the stops and work it. Here's three images from a park beside a river in Montreal. No, I don't go up in Ferris Wheels. It's too scary!

I took a 21mm Ksana f3.5 Thypoch lens with an M mount and an M to L adapter with me to Montreal. I used it on the SL2 camera. Even though I'm not as comfortable with the super-wide angle focal lengths I thought it would come in handy. And it did. Much handier than I imagined. In fact, I think I used it about 25% of the time, over the course of seven days. It's actually quite nice. It does vignette but that's no longer such a big deal since you can easily correct it in post. But it does allow for some BIG context. So different from the 50mm or 85mm focal lengths. Interesting for me. I like trying things that are outside of my comfort zone. I'll scrounge through my first distillation of images and find a few more, non-Ferris Wheel shots to share below the next two. Comment or not. 

Some other 21mm "Ksana" pics: 

Run out and buy the small, lovable 21mm f3.5. 

It's like...$600.

So much cheaper than the Leica 21mm f2.0 APO SL lens.

That one is currently about $6,000 in the USA. 

Not sure I'd get enough use out of something like that...

think I'll stick with this one.

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You buy stuff, don't buy stuff, it doesn't move the needle here.

We don't even have a needle.

Get off your chair and go shoot something; the "research" can wait.

The Extroverted Loner. (tm). A few more images and thoughts from Montreal.

A complimentary bottle of wine...

Thoughts all the way down at the bottom of the post.

No color to black and white (snob vocab: Monochrome) conversions in post.

Commit to black and white in the camera in Jpeg. No going back. No second guessing.

Honor your own intention in the moment. No surrender. 

Montreal Photographer, Pierre Charbonneau. 

Hotel Gault. One of my two favorite hotels in Montreal. 

Time out for novel reading. What?! You don't read fiction??? Barbarian.

I should have slept in more. 

Random underground architecture. 

Safe for work.

21mm f3.5 ASPH Thypoch Ksana....where have you been all my life?

A time for reflection. The mirror of Narcissus magnified. 

If he had seen his own pores would he have relented?

Thoughts while somewhere else....

1. Just because it's still chilly doesn't mean you don't need to slather sunscreen on your precious face.

2. A glass of wine at the end of a long day of photography can be just right.

3. Shoot it now because it might not be there when you come back next time. 

4. Don't take along more camera gear each day than will fit in one hand. Comfortably.

5. Toss out the schedule and just sleep in from time to time.

6. Don't scrimp on dinner.

7. Actual cash has now become meaningless.

8. Trust your initial gear selection instincts.

9. Call your spouse once per day and check in. Or not. Depends on your own relationship...

10. The best coffee is rarely served at the trendiest locales. Find good, really good coffee and make that location your first stop of the day. The coffee in the hotel was passable. The coffee three blocks away at 49th Parallel was absolutely just right.

11. Don't forget to hydrate. Better a search for a "washroom" (Canadian parlance) than kidney torturing dehydration. 

12. You only need one jacket. It's the smart layers underneath that count. 

13. You can't have too many sweatshirts. Well, okay, two is enough. You could get by with one. In a pinch. 

14. Good shoes are imperative. Walking is good. Sore toes --- less so. 

15. Don't plan too much. The universe might have better stuff in store for you than you've imagined on your researched itinerary. 

16. Set aside at least one full day out of every vacation week just to do nothing at all and be as lazy as you want to be. Remember, you ARE trying to de-stress, right?

But most of all, enjoy the whole experience. And next time buy your Canadian friend's coffee...