The Best Light

I slept bad again. I got to work late, and I had to work extra so I missed my gym class. It's the second time this week! This meant that I had a lot of time to kill after work, so I walked home instead of taking the bus.

The sun was setting and I took the longer route home to avoid the areas with the most traffic. Luckily I brought with my my camera (but not my motivation). I passed by Vigelandsparken, and seeing that there aren't that many tourists, I took out my camera and began taking pictures of some of the statues.

I was amazed at the results. No wonder landscape photographers only take pictures during sunrise or sunset. The light was golden orange and subdued, casting shadows on the statues and giving them a subtle glow, almost bringing them to life.

Viewing the results from my camera I knew there would be some good pictures today! So I got a bit of inspiration, and solace knowing the day had not been in vain. I think today was actually a blessing in disguise!

I was missing a lot of bokeh on my shots though. I was able to get this effect easily using full-frame cameras or fast F2.8 lenses. I was able to get good bokeh on the EF 70-200 F4L USM too, when shooting long that is. Unfortunately the range of the zoom lens on my Pentax K-5 isn't far enough to get nice OOF effects. I only have a 16-45mm F4 lens, so even shots taken at the widest aperture still appear to have in-focus backgrounds. Now I am starting to wonder if I should get the AF-S Nikkor 24-120 F4 G after all, or if I should just stick to my initial plan of a two prime lens setup. That or invest in the expensive AF-S 24-70mm F2.8G ED lens! That will give good bokeh, and better shooting opportunities in low light. But at the expense of weight, VR, and expense!

One thing I cannot complain about the Pentax 16-45 F4 lens however is it's ability to resist flare. There is still a bit of flare and ghosting in this shot, but not a lot! I shot at F4 and focused directly at the sun. Pretty impressive performance I might say! And a pretty nice shot overall.

It's getting a bit late now, so no more time to read the new photography books I purchased. But stay tuned for a quick review of these books soon.