New Glass

I have a new lens, just got it this past Monday. We staffers at the Telegraph provided the bulk of our photo equipment for years. With the coming of the digital age, the newspaper began providing our equipment.
I have been using a Nikkor 300f2.8 and a 70-200f2.8 provided by the paper, both sweet lenses. My wide of choice for my daily work has been a Sigma 15-30mmf3.5/4.5. My personal lens. The Sigma has been a good lens, no complaints on sharpness, and it was used 99.9 % of the time on 15mm. I love wide.

For years shooting film my "normal" lens was a Nikkor 20f4. I carried two cameras, one with the 20, and the other with a 180f2.8, later replaced by an 80-200f2.8. Then we went digital. My 20 became about a 30mm or so due to the 1.5 magnification factor with the DSLR's. So I went to the 15mm.

The lens was not bad, but when you looked at images shot with it compared to the 300 and the 70-200, you could see a difference. Now I am using this new one, a Nikkor 17-55f2.8. It is sweet. Sharp, oh so sharp. And the contrast is kicking. The color is really saturated, too. Just some uptown glass.

Nikon seldom makes bad glass. Back in the old days they came out with a 43-86 zoom that was a real dog. Flat and fuzzy ain't good for a lens. The 35-70 is not one of my favorites either. But this new one sings. The 17 to 55 focal length is pretty handy. I have not shot with anything close to 50mm in a long time, but after this track Tuesday, looks like that will change.

So, let me take a minute to say Thank You to our Photo Director Woody Marshall and our Editor Sherrie Marshall for putting this one in my hands. It is gonna get some heavy use.

Sorry Ansel...

I love my job. I have said that quite often, I know. Hey, I am old and I do repeat myself. Old age is an excuse for so many things. Like I said, I love my job. I love shooting pictures. But I also love people. One of the really neat things about my job is the people I meet, new folks every day. I enjoy telling their story, and putting them in the paper.

What I am about to say will seem almost blasphemous to some folks, so be warned. I have never been a big Ansel Adams fan. Sure he did some beautiful pictures, just incredible work. But I can't sit and go through a book of his pictures. Too boring for me. Much rather look at work by Eugene Smith, Avedon, Herb Ritts, or Hurrell. I want pictures with people in them. I want to see faces, and prominently. One of the old newspaper rules of thumb was if you can cover someone's face in your picture with a quarter, they are too small. Also heard from a bunch of the oldtime editors "if it ain't got people in it, don't bring it to me."

One of my all time heros is Eugene Smith. Google some the the above names and look at some wonderful pictures. All of them completely different in subject and approach, but all make me just go "WOW.' People pictures rock.

Some really neat people like Ms. Hazel Floyd who won Best Of Show at the Georgia National Fair with her
crocheting. Never entered a contest like this one, did it on the urging of family who loved her work. A sweet, super-modest lady. Or Brian Hampton and his Bam City Boxing Club. Hanging out with Shane Brooks and other members of the Fort Valley Police Department's SWAT team. People doing the things they do every day. Sorry Ansel, it beats shooting rocks and cacti.