85mm Beach Day

I decided to only use the 85mm on this trip to the beach. The lens flares a lot when it’s pointed anywhere near the sun and the sensor on the camera seems to not handle direct sunlight well either. It seems to get banding and it just cant be removed even in post.

The weather was perfect for the beach. We arrived and headed straight into the warm water. I had to choose my shots a lot more carefully since I had to manually focus everything. Capturing birds in flight and people running was difficult but not impossible.

Luckily, Karina and Alyza were moving pretty slow. Alyza was a bit scared of the birds, which I found funny and cute. Karina only wanted to get her feet wet, so she stayed behind taking care of our stuff. She tried to take a few photos but they were all a bit out of focus. This is a heavy lens and it’s hard to focus at f1.4

The lens renders colors very well. I loved the slight compression as well. I think I am falling deeply in love with how this lens makes images. I honestly think I can use it for everything.

As the sun began to set, we headed to the pier. I knew I wouldn’t have any problems with the light. The colors this lens produced as the golden light swallowed the pier was astonishing. A perfect setting for a perfect day. The lens came through from start to end.

I took a lot more photos of Karina and Alyza during the sunset. They were my perfect models. The pier has so many cool spots to view the sunset from. I took some photos of some strangers that looked cool too before I finished the sunset with the family.

The only thing I struggled with a bit was that at some points, the lens was too long when I was close to the subject. It being an 85mm on a crop body, it really is zoomed in.

My favorite photo was of Alyza looking at the Ferris wheel. She was fairly close to me, but because of the 85mm focal length, the wheel seemed bigger and closer to her than it really was.

I was extremely happy to have chosen this lens for this day.