Week 46 and almost back where we started. At least the Christmas lights are going back up so the year is coming to an end and we enter the home straight of my #50WithA50. I wont turn them on just yet, I’m not totally crazy, but I always like to get the lights up around the middle of November before things get tool cold and there is snow on the ground.
Week 45 of my #50WithA50 and I took my camera to a hurling practice in St John’s. Maybe a 50mm prime is not the best lens for sports photography but isn’t that the challenge of this project. I decided to focus on the details like this image of a sliotar on the ground. Yes my Canadian friends that’s what the ball is called. First time in years I’d held a hurley and I was surprised I could still remember how to pick up a ball and shoot. These days the only shooting I do is with a camera. By the way, the front of my 50mm fell off again. I got it back on but if it insists on falling off regularly it looks like the last 5 weeks of the challenge is going to be a challenge. Tough little lens though, still working after falling apart 3 times. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.
Last week was Halloween and we had to carve some pumpkins. My daughter loves The Nightmare Before Christmas and she wanted Jack, Sally and Zero carved onto her 3 pumpkins. Jack came out the best probably because he had the least detail and was on the best pumpkin, but he is the pumpkin King so he had to get the best pumpkin. I decided to make him the star of this weeks #50WithA50
Still autumn of course. Most of the leaves are down now but we’ve still got some beautiful colour around the city. Here is a carpet of leafs on the ground for this weeks #50WithA50. I like the shallow depth of field this lens can give in photos like this. It allows me to pick out one leaf from all the others but still maintain the colour of everything around it.
Out taking more photos around the pond. It is beautiful in the mornings when the sun has just risen and the water is mirror smooth. This had to be the subject for week 42 of my #50WithA50. The lens is still alive after the fall a couple of weeks ago. It did fall apart once since but I took the opportunity to clean it inside and remove a broken piece of plastic that I think had gotten into the zoom mechanism and pushed it apart this time. It clicked back together again and once again everything seems to be working. I know I’m probably on borrowed time with it but just 8 more photos to go and then I can retire it to my old camera gear shelf.
More autumnal photos. The light and the colours are amazing this time of year. This photo almost didnt happen. In fact my whole #50WithA50 almost came to a crashing halt when I dropped my camera at our local camera club meeting. Foolish and entirely my own fault. I had my camera on a desk and must have been playing with the strap during presentations without realizing what I was doing. I stood up as one point to point out something in a photo and I sent my camera crashing to the ground. The camera was fine but the 50mm lens popped apart. The entire front element and barrel just popped out. I had seen it happen before so I knew that there was a chance I could put it back together again. With a few minutes of fiddling and a push the lens went back together. Even autofocus works. I got lucky, very lucky. I dont think I could have done that with any other lens but the 50mm 1.8. It is cheap and plastic and far from precision manufacturing but it can take a beating.