I self-impose a series of limitations on my own photography
square format and the lack of colors being the most obvious ones
but I have more boundaries, more artificial boundaries
like the subject matter, the locations that I visit
the time of day, the weather conditions, the time of year... and many more
I create and embrace these limitations because,
even though it might seem counterintuitive at first
there is a lot of freedom in constraints
in this video, I hope to show you why I think that way
I'm gonna be doing it on one of my daily walks
and I'm gonna be setting yet another limitation, another boundary, for myself today
because I'm going to be doing all my photography with an 85mm lens
probably not the best choice for these landscapes, and these subjects around here
but I think it makes sense for the topic of the video
it is unseasonably warm
it's not only that we haven't had any snow in the whole winter
it's not foggy anymore in the mornings, it doesn't get cold enough
it's not raining either
it's cloudy today, and this was the worst weather we've had in the last 2-3 weeks
not ideal for a photographer like me
who relies on the weather heavily to create the images that I like, the mood that I seek
so, because we have such a gray and flat day
I was hoping that the fast aperture of this lens, it's a 1.4 lens
could help me finding... creating some contrast, and isolating some subjects
even though it's a cloudy day, and not as bright as a sunny and clear day would be
I still need to use an ND filter if I want to shoot this lens at 1.4 at the widest aperture
at this time, in the middle of the day
so I'm using a 3-stop ND filter and I find that to be mostly enough for these conditions
I'm shooting at 1/2500th of a second, 1/4000th of a second, stuff like that
still able to shoot at the widest aperture
but that's not the only reason why I'm using this lens today
it's not the only reason why I use prime lenses
as you know, I usually shoot with a super zoom lens
that I brought today just to show it to you, I'm not using it
but this lens is the Tamron 28-200mm, very versatile
I find it very useful, especially when I'm traveling to new locations
locations that I'm not going to be visiting again, or very often
or when the conditions are so good or so special that I want to take advantage of them
I want to be able to capture whatever I see without wasting time switching lenses
and stuff like that
but on regular days, like today, when the conditions are not that special
and in locations that I know very well, locations that I have access to very often
sometimes... more than sometimes, very often, I like to bring a prime lens
because that limits what I can capture, it narrows down my options
on one hand, that forces me... that pushes me to see the landscape
through the eyes of the 85mm lens
instead of having all the options in the world with my super zoom
that way, I'm more likely to find images that I had missed before
because I was focusing on the more obvious shots and pictures
on the other hand, and more importantly because it applies not only to your lens of choice
it narrows down my options when I'm out in the field taking photos
you know what they say about these lenses: that the way to zoom is with your feet
but that's a lie
you see, the field of view of a 35mm lens, for example
and a 85mm lens is going to be completely different
it's not just a matter of how far or how close you are from the subject
I have a video here
where I talk about how different focal lengths affect the way your image will look like
the way the subject and other elements in the frame will look like
so my point is: when you commit to a focal length, to a prime lens like I'm doing today
you're committing not only to how far, how close you have to be from the subject
to fill the frame with it
but you're also committing to the way everything else looks in the frame
the way I'd approach this place, this scene right here, if I were using my super zoom lens
at least initially
would be to try to fit the whole structure in the frame
using the widest focal length, in that case, it would be the 28mm
but I don't have that option right now, because I'm using the 85mm
so I'm forced to look for different images, for different pictures
it's all about focusing on how to isolate the interesting details,
the interesting parts of this water facility
of course, I'm not saying that I wouldn't have made
those very same images if I were using the zoom lens
because it's a 28-200, so I can shoot at 85mm, the same way that I'm shooting with this one
but it would be less likely, like a second, third, or even fourth thought
but the question still remains:
how can all of these limitations be freeing?
how can you achieve freedom through so many constraints?
well, the answer is that by narrowing down our options
by limiting our tools
by setting up artificial boundaries, because they are artificial
we are actually able to focus more on what's left
because otherwise, the situation could become very overwhelming
if we were out to photograph anything, and everything, and in any way our cameras allow us
this is another example
because I'm using a long lens, I wasn't able to fit the whole power line in the frame
so I decided to go for a more abstract image
well, I was forced to do it that way
because I have this lens and not the other one
so yeah, another example of an image that I might have not made if I weren't using this lens
but using a prime lens is not by any means my favorite way
to set boundaries for my own photography
that'd be, as I said earlier,
restricting myself to mostly square format and only black and white imagery
now, some might think that this approach is too restrictive
and that might be the case for them, even for most people
but it is not for me, personally
of course, it is restrictive but it's not too much
it is within those restrictions that I thrive
and that's because those are the images that I like to create
those are the images that inspire me to get outside and take photos
I don't take pictures of people, I don't take pictures of colorful sunrises and sunsets
I don't take pictures of cars or... you name it
it's not because I think that what I do is better
it's because I am better at doing what I do
I also find this approach to be very helpful when it comes to consistency
I think that consistency is a little bit underrated
of course, there's got to be room for experimentation
and again, I have another video about that
but creating a consistent body of work over time is very important, in my opinion
I'm sure this all sounds familiar
because we all have found ourselves in situations where we had too many options
so many that we had a hard time choosing what to do
it happens very often to me when I'm trying to decide where to go to take photos
sometimes, I'm just paralyzed staring at google maps
because I have many options, and I don't really know which one will be the best one
the same happens when I have too much camera gear
I don't know which lenses to bring, which cameras to bring
of course, this applies not only to photography but life in general
options are good, but too many options are not that good
and that's the point I wanted to make in this video
that there is freedom in constraints, as long as we choose them wisely
I would like to know whether you impose restrictions on your photography or not
and if you do, what are those constraints?
what are your favorite ways of setting boundaries?
I might not get back to all of you, but I read all the comments
I really appreciate all of them, so please feel free to share your thoughts down below
I hope the topic was interesting
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thank you so much for watching, and see you in the next one!