When in Australia a couple of weeks ago I simplified my lens lineup back to what I originally had.
There are so many nice lenses, but basically all you need is one, and my main one is a 50mm. Though some times you may need more lenses, and in my case I have had the 21mm as the widest lens and a 90mm as the tele alternative.
But over the years I have collected a few more, and also more than I used. It adds weight to traveling, but also to the way you think visually.
With the words from lens designer Peter Karbe in the back of my mind that the 21mm Summilux-M ASPH f/1.4 doesn't have distortion, and can be used even for a close-up portrait, I threw all the lenses I didn't use into Camera Electronics in Perth, Australia.
In return they shipped me the 21mm Summilux-M APSH f/1.4 that arrived at my favorite coffee place for breakfast at 9:10 AM the next day.
The photo of the girl
As part of a one-on-one workshop in Sydney we took a bus to the famous Bondi Beach and walked about for a couple of hours.
On our way back to get a taxi home, I came upon a young girl sipping a fruit smoothie with her parents. I knelt down to take her photo from her height, with straight lines in the horizon.
She kept eyeing me in character and the parents kept talking, so I took a few more. And the above is the one I liked the best of all them. I didn't notice till later that she was standing on her parents hands.
A combination of simplifying my lens lineup, as well as having the most spectacular 21mm lens ever made (because it is f/1.4 and allow you to work in Depth Of Field (DOF, making the background blurry), inspired me and still does.
The Family in Australia
Often when someone asks for your e-mail, they never mail to you. This is an experince I share with many photographers. If you want someone to get a picture you took of them, you have to get their e-mail. But the family actually mailed me some months later and got first a small copy of the image but later asked for a very large print.
The image has also been on Expo in Black Box Gallery in Portland in Octber-November 2014 and now exist as both large aluboard print and normal sized print on C-print. Both limited, signed editions. E-mail for further info.
