Lens! There are so many options out there and depending who you talk to you will hear totally different recommendations. What lens is best for you comes down to what is YOUR style and what photography style is YOU? Right now our team is working with several mentor clients. These are photographers and creatives that are ready to RUN, set goals, make things happen, and take their business to another whole level. We come along side them, teach, give them the tools needed, and enable them. Enabling others is part of our mission statement and we love living this out in the form of mentor sessions.

When working with photography mentor clients, the topic of lens always come up. Now I am a huge believer in it is not the gear but the eye behind the gear that makes a beautiful images. HOWEVER, we need to tools to do a job well done. Kinda like making a gourmet cake. Take an inexperienced baker and give him the best chocolate, richest cream, and the finest flour…you are not going to get an amazing cake. Give dollar store chocolate, skim milk, and old flour to a top notch chef….you are not going to get an amazing cake. BUT give the best to experience…..there is the sweet spot. :)

The 50mm is my go-to lens…LOVE it. Use it all the time. However, recently ANNA sold me on the 135mmF/2…and well, I fell in love. Now it is one of my go-to lens and I use it at some point on all my shoots. It adds a creaminess and a softness that the 50mm just can’t quite do. The 50mm is way more versatile and every photographer should have a 50mm in their bag. I still use my 50mm way more than the 135mm. But I am in love with the 135 almost as much as my 50mm.

The 135mm is especially great when the background is not awesome and it needs to be knocked out. Also, there is something about how the 135mm captures backlight that I love. It adds a soft haze…almost a dreaminess. A downside of this lens is that you need to be far away from your subject, so any communication has to be shouted. :-)

Here is an example of the 50mmF/1.2 versus the 135mmF/2. Sarah was standing at the exact same spot, I just changed where I was standing and the lens. I loved the 135mm results so much more than the 50mm results.

And another one of our lovely seniors, Julia….

See the creaminess the 135mm added? Although subtle, I think it can make the difference between and good image and one that is compelling. I love pulling it out of my bag and utilizing it!

If you are looking at buying a new lens….get as awesome of a 50mm as you can afford. After that, keep the 135mm in the back of your mind as an option to invest into at some point…if it fits your photography style, that is. :)

Happy fall time Thursday, all!