This Christmas Santa gave me a wonderful Holga camera but we didn’t realize it was going to use 120 film so were were forced back to the digital world for Christmas photos. No great hardship resulted however, as I got a chance to head out the door with my trusty 50mm f/1.4 portrait lens – an ideal lens for low light photography – you simply don’t have to worry about light with this lens – it shoots fast in just about any situation. And, because it is f/1.4 it has a tiny point of focus when you shoot close up. You get photos that have a small area in focus and everything else is wonderfully blurred. You can ignore messy backgrounds – they simply don’t show up.
I totally love this lens and today, thanks to some totally wonderful food cooked by friends Mindy and Frank, I came home with wonderful presents, a stomach aching from great food and a fist full of food images to celebrate the day. The secret of the photos is to get close enough that you fill the viewfinder with the food but not so close that the lens won’t focus. Make sure the focus is exactly where you want it and go for it…
And here are Mindy and Frank’s wonderful cats..
And, because it is Christmas, here are photos of the cool boxes we have used for years for present exchanges between houses… each time a box goes from one house to the other, for birthdays, Christmas and Hanukkah some of the papers we use to wrap are torn and glued to the box. There are 12 years of friendship and gifts celebrated with each box. There are Barbies, X-Men, Hanukkah stars and Christmas trees – there are M & M stickers and so much more in the memories the boxes contain…
And one photo of some of the funky presents. I have to explain that the snowman makes appropriate Christmas noises and poops candy into his hat – as for the rest of the presents, most defy explanation… sorry, but you really had to be there…
Happy Christmas to you and yours..