365 | seven

{perspective}

I originally thought I would satisfy this prompt by literally shooting from a different perspective than just straight on.  But then I read this article Nothing is Wasted and it made me think about how I see things through different lenses - both literally and metaphorically.

I have three different lenses right now.

One is a 50mm lens.  That lens is supposed to "see" things how they actually are.  No distortions, not closer than they are, not wider than they are.  Just how they are. (this isn't really true for me, because it's a full-frame lens on my cropped-frame camera so it really sees a little more telephoto, but for the sake of this post, we're going with it).  I use this when I want a true-to-life, here and now, in-the-present view of things.

The second lens is a 70mm-300mm lens. This means that it "sees" things in the frame closer than they really are. (and much closer on my cropped-frame camera).  I love this lens for capturing close-ups of things that are seemingly far away.  I can sometimes see little details that would have otherwise been missed with a different lens.

The third one is a 35mm lens.  This is considered a wide angle lens.   It "sees" the forest, you might say.  I use this when I want to capture more of the environment in the image, when I think the things around the subject are just as important to include in the story.  It also distorts the scene a bit, making the center of the image a little more prominent than the edges, almost as if you are looking through a fishbowl.  The wider the lens, the more the distortion.  

So after reading the article, and thinking about these lenses, I started thinking about how they are very representative of how I (and probably everyone else) look at life and the world around us.

Sometimes I like to have the 50mm view.

Everything is just as it seems.  Whatever I see is exactly how it is.

This is the ideal to me, if things were always as they seemed.

But although I love this in photography, it doesn't help me much in life, to not look beyond what is right in front of me.

A lot of times I have the 70-300mm view.

I inspect things at a much closer view, study all the details.

Sometimes that is helpful.

Sometimes it's a hindrance.

I can easily get caught up in the details and miss the big picture.

Which brings me to the 35mm view.

The big picture view.

I think this one is the most difficult for me, but I don't know why.

I actually love this perspective in photography the most.

I love how it documents more of the story and gives that photojournalistic feel.

But for some reason, in real life, it's easier for me to look at things close up, one at a time, rather than a broad view of many things.  Maybe my right brain can multitask, but my left brain is lacking in that area - who knows.  But rest assured, I have plenty of people around me who help me out with this :).

I think each perspective is needed - both in life and photography.

And if you see my husband, you can let him know that I might need more perspectives in my arsenal.....like a 28mm or an 85mm or a 105mm.....

{technicalities}

I like this picture, especially how the background has a good blur so that you can focus on the subject, which is the lens.  I think the exposure is a little off - more light would have helped.  And I feel like the bright blurred spot in the upper right area (probably a reflection from a silver picture frame) is a bit distracting.  My eyes struggle with whether to look there or at the lens.  I wonder how it would have turned out if I had moved a bit so that the light was more at a 45 degree angle to the lens instead of 90.  Things to ponder :)