Challenging Myself: Revisiting 35mm Perspective

My old nemesis, the 35mm perspective that I never quite get when it comes to street photography, is something that is a work in progress. I have stated before, that 35mm is not something I prefer to use for my own photography, if I have the luxury of choice. Nevertheless, I am not giving up on 35mm just yet, and I intend to spend as much time I can with it, doing my shutter therapy session. Sometimes, to improve yourself, you have to face your weakness, put yourself in a difficult situation and deal with the issue head on.

I have kept the Olympus 17mm F2.8 pancake lens, one of the oldest Micro Four Thirds lenses out there, with possibly the slowest AF (perhaps the only other slower lens than this, is the Panasonic 20mm F1.7). I find myself difficult to let this lens go, since it is so small, and it does not cost much anyway. While the autofocus is not fast and the lens is not the sharpest of the bunch, I thought I would hang on to a 35mm equivalent focal length lens to help me with my personal battle.

Man, I just love pancake lenses. We should have more!

Looking Good, Feeling Great

Yellow Helmet and Boots

Destructive Convenience

Boy Band

Window Display

By The Window

I think the biggest challenge for me, when it comes to 35mm, is composition. Nothing feels right, the framing is always out of balance, and I find it difficult to create dramatic and compelling arrangement for my subjects. I know this is a personal struggle, and I just find it too troublesome to think in a 35mm perspective. On the other hand, it irks me when I saw that many of my friends can use the 35mm perspective so effectively, so effortlessly. They told me 35mm came naturally to them. To me, 50mm equivalent perspective is the most natural to shoot comfortably without thinking too much. I guess I have always been biased toward the longer side of the lens, but hey, I even bought an old Fujifilm X100 and used it for a year just to practice my own 35mm execution.

People always say that 35mm requires you to get close to your subject to get impactful shots. I do not have issues getting close to my subjects, those of you who follow me all this time will know that I can get as close as I need.

Or maybe I am just thinking too much. I know I can easily just disregard the 17mm lens and just use my favourite lenses to do my shutter therapy sessions. That would be too easy. If we keep making convenient choices and avoid our weaknesses, I do not think we can go very far. I think that is why I persist, and still do what I can to improve, and have a go with the 35mm perspective. I may not excel with this choice of focal length, but I sure can choose to get better and one day, not suck using it!