Some Practice

I finally got a new lens for my camera. Every forum I've been to, I kept hearing about this "nifty fifty" lens that was pretty inexpensive (compared to other lenses) and was a great buy for the money. Ok, compared to other lenses, this one is CHEAP. I'm all about cheap right now. I don't have any formal training in photography, the only pictures I take right now are of my kids and sometimes of other kids that are at our house while playing with my kids! I'm not a professional by any means and just can't justify paying for a "professional" lens.

Anyway, the lens is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. Basically, I was looking for a lens that had a smaller f-stop (the 1.8 number) than what my kit lens has. The lower f-stop is what gives you that great blurry background (aka bokeh). I read the reviews and while it had a few negative ones (didn't hold up as well as the more expensive lenses), the positive reviews really blew it out of the water for me. Even the people who gave bad reviews for durability said it was great at what it did.

With Christmas coming up, I didn't want to spend the $100 or so on this lens, so I figured I would wait until the Spring to get it. Well, I just happened to have a GREAT Christmas with awesome family members who gave some very generous monetary gifts. I was not only able to buy my lens, but a few other things for myself as well!

I ordered the lens on Amazon and just could not wait for it to get here! It finally did, but on the exact day that I had playgroup date over at my house! It arrived right after everyone left, but I had a little bit of cleaning to do and was just exhausted. Colten needed a nap, Austin needed some down time and while I did get it RIGHT out of the box and on my camera as soon as I got it, I didn't get to play with it as much as I would have hoped. Here's a picture that I got of Austin about 5 minutes after receiving it:

The next day, I got to play with it a little more. The boys room gets some pretty good light. Better in the morning than in the afternoon, but Austin had pre-school that morning and I took a nap while Colten napped. So, that afternoon, while the boys played, I snapped a few shots.

Yesterday morning, I played a bit more and got this shot of Colten that I just LOVE. I am STILL not sure what color his eyes are right now, much less what they will end up being! I'm guessing Hazel, but I guess only time will tell.

I had planned on doing a photoshoot of the boys for their birthdays. However, Colten just wasn't having it and Brian was gone so he couldn't help me. I gave up on the idea for now and might try again on Friday when I can get some help. Colten doesn't sit still for a minute, so getting a certain shot is sort of hard at the moment.

I'm still practicing...this lens is harder to get what I want in focus if I have the f-stop lower. It's the look I am wanting though, so I just need to keep practicing.