An impromptu trip to a beach....

divamum

... that until yesterday I didn't even know was there, and only 15 minutes from my house!!

All taken with the new 200mm lens (I wanted to put it through its paces to see how it behaved - see thread in Tech forum for further details). C&C always welcomed.

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We needed something to do just for fun that wouldn't break the bank, and I tripped over this while googling something else. The weather was a bit cool with rain predicted, but we decided to go look and see if it might be fun for a family day out in nicer weather.

We arrived around 1pm, and started at the playground
1


2


3.... but it didn't take long before we were lured down to the water, especially since the sun came out, and it became deliciously warm, with a light breeze. Perfect weather to wade.....



4.



5. It kept getting warmer, and swimming sounded a lot more fun than wading. Fortunately, there was a spare pair of shorts in the car



6. Mom's favorite shot of the day, despite the high sun and harsh light

7. Who says California Girls have all the fun?


8. We headed home after several hours of sun, sand, blown-out backgrounds (!) and a lot of fun...

jeffreaux2

I think the exposure on 3 could be pushed a bit more....but these are nicely done.


So what about the new lens...is it a keeper?

I have used the 70-200 far more than I expected to for portraits, but I suspect that a 200mm prime can be a frustrating jump from a 50mm focal length(remembering my 1st outing with an 85mm prime here). In any event, starting at about 135mm and up the DOF gets more delicious, bokeh turns to butter, and subjects flatten nicely in the frame.

What doesnt work so well at those lengths is tilting....which just doesnt seem right over 50mm....and is only really good below 30mm....IMHO.:D

divamum

Thanks Jeff.

I think the 200 IS a keeper, although there is a definite learning curve with it, and one which I didn't expect since I've used long lenses before (I still have my 70-210, and sold a 55-250 to fund this purchase), and didn't have THAT much trouble acclimatizing to the 85 1.8 and 100 2.0.

But 100 to 200 is a lot more magnification, and it seriously requires accuracy from me! Good glass can make amazing pictures, but it also shows mistakes more too (ie if I miss the focus point or don't hold it steady enough). This session yesterday was the best I've done with it (sneaky mom that I am I knew I'd get a chance to take lots of shots without complaints, one of the reasons for the outing )- much though I loves me some bokeh and shallow DOF, I stopped it down to give myself some more dof leeway and the bright sun meant I could keep the shutter speeds high enough and hey presto - a whole bunch of better shots. (It has also made it abundantly clear that replacing my monopod head is no longer merely a nicety but a necessity for this lens in lesser light, so I'm pressing ahead with that too - watch this space).

Bottom line is that when I nail it, this lens is spectacular, and WAY better than any long lens I've used previously; the rave reviews it gets as one of Canon's hidden gems (especially if you're on a budget) are absolutely justified. It just requires me to do the job right to get the most out of it

jeffreaux2

I had less than crisp results when I first got the 70-200 as well. I shoot it plenty at F2.8, but in reality the DOF at F4 anywhere near the long end can still be pretty shallow at distances set up for a 3/4 length shot. I love that!!!

Elaine

These are super fun! I love the motion in #1, the comp in #2, the expressions in #3, 6, 7. And what a darling hat on a darling girl. Glad you're enjoying the new lens!

divamum

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I had less than crisp results when I first got the 70-200 as well. I shoot it plenty at F2.8, but in reality the DOF at F4 anywhere near the long end can still be pretty shallow at distances set up for a 3/4 length shot. I love that!!!

Hehehehe... well in my world "stopping down" seems to mean something along the lines of, oh, 4.0 and 5.6. (Ok, #4 was at f8, but only because I was experimenting and pushing the envelope )

I simply love that wide-open, melting-away, creamy bokeh look. This lens does NOT disappoint on bokeh, as you can see - absolutely love the smoothness visible in 1 and 6 where it is everything I could have hoped for

divamum

Elaine wrote:

These are super fun! I love the motion in #1, the comp in #2, the expressions in #3, 6, 7. And what a darling hat on a darling girl. Glad you're enjoying the new lens!

Thanks Elaine! Yes, I am enjoying having a decent long lens ... at least now I'm getting the hang of it better

I like the comp in 2 as well - sooc it didn't quite work, but bless LR's cropping interface, because it made it so easy to see that a small angle adjustment was just the ticket. I wish there was a little more of the top of her head, but that was clipped in camera, so I just had to work with what i had.....

heatherfeather

Yup, #2 is really cute! I am glad you are enjoying your new lens! New lenses are more fun than Christmas!

Scott_Quier

#1 and #2 - these are my faves. I love the happy expressions. The hair in the face in #1 give it such a sense of motion. Nice!

JulieLawsonPhotography

heatherfeather wrote:

Yup, #2 is really cute! I am glad you are enjoying your new lens! New lenses are more fun than Christmas!

I know....:D

These are beautiful. It looks like you both had a great time.

divamum

Thanks Heather, Scott and Julie! We had a good time. I'm still just boggled that I've lived here for 11 years lamenting that there isn't any kind of beachfront nearby and... there it is! Practically on the doorstep. Ok, so it's not OCEANfront, but it's sand, tide and saltwater (mostly - on the other side of the inlet is one of the other rivers that feeds into the bay, so it's both salt and freshwater simlutaneously which is weird to me since as a teen I lived in So Cal just a mile from the Pacific, but I'll take what I can get!)

Heather, I have to laugh- when I saw #2 I thought, "Ooh! A Heather shot!" - something about the comp just reminded me of some of yours.... (ok, I flatter myself since nothing I get is even close to the same league as yours, but you know what I mean - slight tilt, edge of the frame, a diagonal to lead the eye, shallow dof providing subliminal information etc etc).

heatherfeather

divamum wrote:

Heather, I have to laugh- when I saw #2 I thought, "Ooh! A Heather shot!" - something about the comp just reminded me of some of yours.... (ok, I flatter myself since nothing I get is even close to the same league as yours, but you know what I mean - slight tilt, edge of the frame, a diagonal to lead the eye, shallow dof providing subliminal information etc etc).

OK, now Diva you are looking waaay to deep into my compositions .... I just shoot what looks good to me and go from there. But I do like #2, so you might have me and my "magic formula" (that I didn't know I had) figured out!

(And your photography has improved so incredibly much this past year I am flabbergasted! I mean, just think back..... and then realize that you getting pretty darn good at this really quickly!)