A few pics from today.

 

 A few random shots from today.  The portrait is high iso 12.800 and cropped a fair bit.  All shot on a Canon 6d2 with various lens.

 

Challenge, what have I learned?

 

 After just using prime lens, an 85mm and a 35mm for about a week I have made some discoveries.

 The first thing I learned is that my one time favorite focal length of 35mm on full frame, doesnt work for me any more.  I found myself using the 85mm a lot more.

 The second thing I learned is you change lens a lot more with prime lens unless you want to carry two bodies around.  Which I didnt for this experiment.

 Now back in film days changing lens wasnt an issue, now though with digital it's a lot more dodgy.  Every time you change dusk can get on the sensor, this means being a lot more careful than we had to in film days.

 The last thing I learned (or relearned) is fast lens need high shutter speeds, yes it's great fun shooting at 1.8, but on a bright sunny day I'm running out of shutter speed at 1/4000 or 1/8000.

 So whats my take on this test.  Well while it's fun, I think I'll stick to mostly zooms, I dont really need fast lens with modern cameras able to work at high iso.  You can still get nice out of focus backgrounds at F2.8 or F4 with the right lens, and best of all I'm not playing silly bugger changing lens every five minutes .

 Good fun, but as the say on Dragons den.... I'm out.

More challenge pics.

 

 Went out for the two lens challenge today, just used a 35mm and 85mm lens.

Heres a few from the shoot.  Two are cropped a lot, and only the shadow pic is off the 35mm, I seem to be using the 85mm more.

 

Odd name choice?

 

 A Piper made a forced landing after engine problems.....  It's the name that gets me.  It's owned by the ICARUS flying academy.   

 For those of you who dont get it.  Icarus is from Greek mythology.  He was the son of Daedulas.  Daedulas made wings for himeself and his son Icarus, sadly Icarus ignored his fathers advice and flew to high melting the wax holding the wings together.  The wings failed and he fell into the sea and died.

 So they named a flying academy after someone who died in a flying accident because he couldnt listen to advice?   

 Wow!  Good choice considering the plane forced landed on a beach, a bit further and they could have made the sea like Icarus....... 

 What next, a sailing academy called Titanic sailing school?

One from last nights dog walk.

 

 Got this last night, shot on the Lumix TZ80 compact.  I'm hoping to get out later with the 35mm and 85mm and do some more challenge pics.  Fingers crossed.

 

 

Some challenge pics

 

 Well I went out with the 35mm qnd 85mm for the challenge, but ended up only getting a few shots on the 85mm.  I didn't find a shot that worked for the 35mm, mind I wasnt out for long.  So I'll have another go next time I go out.

 It's still a fun challenge.  Canon 6d2 Canon 85mm lens.

 

Set myself a challenge.

 

 I've decided to set myself a photography challenge.  It's called the two lens challenge.  Now I have done it before (few years back) but it's time to do it again.

 The idea is you use just two focal lengths, I'm taking a 35mm and an 85mm prime lens, and the plan is to nly shoot on those two lens.  You could do the same with a zoom lens if you want, I'm lucky enough to have the prime lens to play with.

 The logic behind it is to make the photographer think.  Not just zoom on a shoot and click.  Now you have to move closer or further away.  It also makes you look for shots that work with the lens you have.

 Ok I'm going to cheat a tiny bit by taking a 28-300mm and a 20-35mm  Just in case I see a shot I cant get with the 35mm or 85mm but I'm not planing on using them otherwise.  Thats the point of the challenge.

 Ideally I'd take a 24mm or 28mm prime, but the 35mm is more of a challenge.

Few random pics

 Couple of odd pics.

Paddle boards

 

 This isnt the best shot I've posted here but it was a challenge.  First off it's shot on my TZ80 compact zoomed all the way (720mm equiv  FF) then it's cropped to about a quarter of the frame as well.  So pushing it a bit.  To make it worse it was taken in a hurry as the dog didnt want to wait for me (it was dog walking time) Considering I think it's not bad.

Random photos and model

 Yet more pictures.  It's the last of the medel shots.

Going through a bad patch.

 

 Truth be told I'm having a bad time at the moment.  My life is not great and I'm struggling to cope.   

 The last year or so has been very hard with the loss of my mother hitting me harder than I expected, I coped much better whan my father died many years ago.

 Over the last few months theres been other family issues that have put strain on me.  Saying I was streesed is putting it mildly.  Plus I still havent really had time to grieve for my mother properly, that and other factors are catching up with me.

 While I put on a brave face to the world, inside I'm struggling, really struggling.

 I'm really wondering how much more my aging body will take before the stressful life I've had will catch up with me (my lifes more or less been stressful forever)  I've noticed my health declining recently, old age is drawing me in.  

  Oh I try and stay fit, walk as much as I can, try to relax by walking and shooting the pics you see on the blog, but as the adverts say "it's a time limted offer" one day it will run out. Then it's half a day with the undertaker.

 Dont take this the wrong way, I'm not thinking of self harming or anything like that, thats not me.  I just think that time is getting low, one day the clock will beat me.  Like everybody else.

 Dont get me wrong, I'm not afraid of death, to be honest many years ago I never expected to live past 45, I'm the wrong side of 70 now.  And death has no fears, I'm not a religious person I just think we knew nothing before we were born, we'll know nothing after we die.  You cant avoid death so why worry about it.  

 My mother had a fear of dying alone, she had my brother and I there when she died.  It's not nice watching someone you love die (I've had more than my share) I'd rather not put my children through it.  Yes it's nice to say goodbye, my mother couldnt, she was too ill, but she knew we were there.  Thats what mattered.  

My boys and family know I love them.  I dont need to say it.

 More pics tomorrow.  Thanks for staying with me on this post.  Hopfully tomorrows will be more cheerfull.

More abstract and model shots.

 Some more shots. The abstracts/odd pics are Canon 6d2 and Tamron 26-300mm lens.  The model shots are Canon 6d2 and Canon 24-85mm lens.

The model reminds of Jane Fonda in the picture where she's standing in the window.

Abstract and model photos.

 Got a few abstracts yesterday.  They are shot on a Canon 6d2 with a Tamron 28-300mm lens.  The model shots are also on a Canon 6d2 but with a Canon 24-85mm lens.

Food and model shots.

 Some more from recent shoots.