Sunday Snapshot: River Sisters

{Canon Rebel XTi, Canon 100mm macro, f/3.5, shutter 1/500, ISO 400, edited in Photoshop CS5}

Renae and I had been talking for awhile about taking some pictures of her two lovely daughters. The original plan was to get some shots amidst one of the many flowering orchards in our area. The only problem is that orchards bloom during a very limited timeframe. And I went to Florida. And then I went to Spokane. And then I was trying to get life back in order. And then there were no more blossoms on the trees. Oops.

However, my inability to get my act together actually turned out to be quite fortuitous. I knew the girls loved to play down by the river at the bottom of my street, so I suggested going to this favorite hangout to capture the girls in their element. I had such a blast with these sisters…and it was a reminder that people truly are my favorite subjects. There’s just nothing like getting that one shot that so perfectly encapsulates the personality and character of a person.

There are several reasons why this morning in particular was so enjoyable:

#1: In comparison to my aforementioned squirmy niece, these girls were a cinch to photograph.

#2: The lighting was PERFECT…late morning light filtered through trees created some marvelous bokeh.

#3: The girls were in one of their favorite places, which means their joy was not contrived.

#4: I discovered my new favorite portrait lens.

In the past, I’ve usually turned to my 50mm for portraiture. When my dad (lovingly responding to a hint left on the blog) gave me a macro lens for Christmas, I wasn’t intending on using it for portraits. However, quite pleased with its performance on the blossoms, I decided to throw it on the camera and give it a shot this morning.

And I LOVED the results. The focusing seemed to be a bit sharper and more reliable than my 50mm.

I love me some bokeh, so with my fifty I’m always tempted to crank that aperture wide open…which means someone’s eye may be perfectly in focus, but her nose is just out of focus. My 100mm doesn’t let me get in that danger zone with the aperture.

Personally, I love shooting with a prime lens, especially in situations like this. The prime lens forces me to move instead of moving a lens in and out, and the more I’m moving, the more likely I am to find that sweet spot.

And for shooting people, I feel like the 100mm is a great focal length. It allows you to get a fairly close up shot of a person without being right in their face…which leads to more natural expressions.

And more natural expressions means you can capture sisters just being sisters.

Which is, in my book, a pretty beautiful sight.