Prime Wars

I've had one of the early generation Canon 85mm F/1.2 lenses, and have used it a bit in some of my fashion/glamor work, but never with a wide open aperture.  Slow to auto focus, I never considered it for work that needed fast focusing capabilities.  Working with dogs definitely falls into that category - I thought.

I'm currently fostering a HUGE black lab (I think she has some horse in her, however) for surgery, which she goes in for tomorrow.  Yesterday I decided to play with and compare my 50mm F/1.2 to my 85mm and see how they compare to each other.  Following a suggestion I picked up along the way, I chose to only shoot at F/1.8, and here's the results:

85mm  @ F/1.8

Here we go again - take the picture, this IS me smiling

This is the only picture I could get of Skittles. All the outdoor shots have either Journey's butt or Candy's nose poking in at just the right time.  I love how fast the Depth Of Field (DOF) falls off here.  It just takes your eyes right to Skittles beautiful face.

85mm @ F/1.8

Can't you just go shoot someone else?!

At least Journey didn't immediately get up and come lick the lens, at least not till after I took this shot.  With such a tight DOF, I think I like the lack of background clutter better here.

50mm @ F/1.8

Why is that guy pointing that thing at me?

This shot was taken about 6 feet away, the furthest I could get Candy without removing the leash.  Try as I might I couldn't get her to look at me, she was too interested in the birds, kids and other distractions.  At least she finally sat still for a couple shots.  DOF falloff at 6' on the 50mm isn't as fast as the 85mm, and looks better to me, especially when there's a busy background.  Nice, clean separation without looking like I pasted her into the scene.

50mm @F/1.8

Take this profile, it's my best side!

 Another advantage of the 50mm, I can still get a nicely focused head shot when my model comes in for a kiss and a hug and sits down on, not at, my feet.  Lean back just a little and voila - great head shot of Candy!

And just cause I feel like it, a couple more of my favorite shots from this experiment:

85mm @F/1.8

I think I smell a Puddy Tat!

This close with the 85mm and Journey almost looks like he's been pasted into the picture. But with the exception of a little exposure, vibrance and saturation tweaks, this is straight out of the camera.

85mm @F/1.8

Grass is always greener, ain't it da truth...

Candy's mission in life seems to be finding out how much a nylon leash can stretch.  Like Skittles, Candy is very interested in her surroundings. Going for walks is an adventure keeping her focused on her job. Which is also in contention. She thinks she's in charge...  (grin!)

Hope you enjoyed...