Canon EF 50 mm f1.8 STM

Flashback — February, 2017 — Anyone that shoots Canon, knows about the “Nifty-Fifty” — the cheap yet powerful lens that almost every starting photographer must have.  So in the early days of February, I dragged a friend to model for me at a beach right before golden hour as I tried it out for the first time.

Yes, it was cold.

From a technical side, I’ve learned that 50 mm on an APS-C camera (Rebel T6) is just perfect for portraits where you can shoot headshots and still be within talking distance. (I’d learn later that its not that friendly for close quarter pictures indoors.)  I also love shooting at the 1.8 – 2.8 F-stops, where the background blur is just perfect to isolate the subject.  Only problem is that the autofocus system isn’t that great on the T6.  At 1.8, it can be tricky to get what you want in perfect focus.  More on that later.

But all in all, it was a successful day.  We left right before the sun fully set because the temperature was dropping too quickly for our liking.  But I’m very proud of what we managed to pull off as a first time photographer/model duo.