New Lengths Part I
I’ve recently been fortunate enough to receive the Sigma 14-24 2.8 art lens. I have wanted this lens in part to complete my focal length line up. My bag now has what I would consider a complete range, from 14-180mm. The other telephoto that I own is the Tamron 70-180 2.8. I still have three primes, the Zeiss 55 1.8, the Sony GM 24, and the Sony G 90mm 2.8 macro. This, to me, is a versatile and complete collection, so that I really have a lens that should accommodate most every type of photography that I enjoy. Sure, there are other specialty lenses, but these are workhorse lenses.
While we were in Dallas for a wedding, we picked up the Sigma at Competitive Camera.
The day after the wedding, we went to Legoland and the aquarium. Neither place is really the best area to take handheld pictures, but I was too excited not to try. While the majority of the aquarium was too dark and too blue, there was one exhibit that was just fascinating.
The jellyfish exhibit was in a small-ish tank near the end of the first floor. The walls are blacked out and a light that shifts colors illuminates the exhibit. The jellyfish are translucent, so when the color of the light changes, so do the jellyfish. It makes for a surreal scene. The jellyfish are so careless and beautiful, but also dangerous. Their encasement was so small, but being blacked out, reminded me of the vastness of space. And the jellyfish, which might as well be alien, are just there, drifting purposelessly. I was fairly entranced by the exhibit, and I wish I had more time to photograph it.
The rest of the aquarium was very normal. I love how in the big tanks, with groups of fish, there always seem to be those fish that are fairly interested in people. The other fish always just look like they are all late for a business meeting. But there’s always one or two that like the just watch you. I tried to catch a few of those as they swam past.
So that’s the Sigma 14-24 2.8 in use in possibly one of the worst environments to use a lens. But, this isn’t a blog about testing out gear, or pushing gear, or making technically excellent photographs; its about my love of photography. And I’ve given a lot of thought to, particularly, these jellyfish, and why I loved taking these photographs. I love that someone designed this very interesting exhibit based on light and form, and not much else. That’s fundamentally what photography is about—the intersection of light and form, and the feelings it produces.
