Jason Tag Photography

Yesterday’s shoot went exceptionally well!  I was worried that the weather wouldn’t hold up.  That it would rain like cats and dogs, as it did on Saturday!  But the weather held up and gave us great light to work with.

I started out the shoot using my new 50mm lens that I recently bought.  I want to emphasize the word Bought!  Nikon doesn’t send me equipment to play with and I do not work for Nikon in anyway, shape, or form.  SO I started out the shoot withthe new lens.  I had heard so many wonderful things about the lens, that it was extremely sharp and very fast at focusing.  And for the price at a whopping $130, Everyone told me that I had to have it in my bag.  Most of the time I see pictures taken with new equipment, it’s usually a landscape or a portrait shot.  Both of which I know how to do, but this isn’t the kind of photography that I do most of the time.  SO I wanted to test out this wunder-lens, under my real world conditions.  Outdoors, on top of a mountain, shooting nudes.

I know you’re dying to find out… The lens performed wonderfully!  It felt weird because it’s so much smaller than any of the other lenses I’ve used in the past but the shots it got were fantastic.  Very clear and clean images, the aufocus with the D80 and the lens performed flawlessly.  I don’t think I ever had a moment where I had to re-focus because the lens couldn’t.  Although this probably has more to do with the camera and the light conditions rather than the lens.  But the point is that the lens didn’t slow me down.  I was able to move just as fast as I always do.  I was able to run around and get most of the shots and angles I wanted with it.

On the mountain with the Nikon 50mm ƒ1.8 D

The only drawback that I could see with it was that In order to get all of the model’s body into the frame I had to stand back about 15-20 feet away.  With my usual lens set between 18-25mm  I’m able to be close to my models and still get full body shots.  I like being close because then we don’t have to shout at each other to be heard and to communicate.  And it seemed that I had to keep stepping back with the 50mm lens.  But eventually I got used to it and just accepted that that was the way it was going to be with that lens.  It’s not that big of a deal but it did catch me off guard.

All in all I would say that the 500mm ƒ1.8D is a great lens and an excellent choice for people shots.  I like the results this lens gave me and it might even become my preferred lens!