Happy F2.8 Day!

It could have been official, but it isn't.  I was walking around the city center of Oslo, taking a few snaps here and there. But the challenge was that all photographs were to be taken using an aperture of F2.8, no matter what the focal length (my lens permits it). Why did I do it? Well, the day was nice and sunny, but I didn't get off work until 5PM, so by the time I get to the more picturesque places in Oslo (which are usually outside of the city center), the sun would have already started to set. The light would start to diminish, and I didn't have my tripod with me to take evening shots. So I was stuck in the city center: the familiar, the already explored, and already starting to get a bit boring.  Hence today.

It wasn't a total waste of time though. Small challenges like these keep me on my toes. And I was really surprised by the results. Close in on the subject and f2.8 completely blurs out the background, resulting in some nice bokeh. Have the subject a bit further away, and the blurring hardly occurs. I am SUPPOSED to know this already, but it was still a bit of an eye opener. You CAN shoot at wide apertures and STILL get a huge depth of field. No wonder journalists and wedding photographers swear by this lens! It is indeed quite versatile.

On a sad note, though. I had to say goodbye to my Canon EF 70-200mm F4L USM lens today. It got sold. But like a father giving his daughter's hand in marriage, I picked out who I sold it to. I posted it at the foto.no so anybody would have been a good candidate. But now I know my beloved lens (though the love affair was short-lived) is now in the hands of an aspiring 16-year old boy who is very much into hunting and nature photography. He owns a Canon EOS 7D, so the crop factor of his camera makes this lens a 300mm, perfect for shooting fauna and large birds from quite a distance!

He also writes a blog, and I am ashamed to admit that his blog has more content than mine. But to my defense I only started this blog in April of this year. You can check out Even's blog here.

Weekend is fast approaching! Just a couple of more days to go, and soon it will be time for some much needed RR again. I need to place an emphasis on the second R, and that recreational activity will be, of course: PHOTOGRAPHY!

Happy F2.8 Day!