On the Fifty

I have three lenses I rotate through — a 50mm prime, a 24–105, and a 100–400 for surf and birds. The zooms get used. The 50 gets carried.

There's something about leaving the house with a single focal length already decided. You stop solving for what's possible and start solving for what's in front of you. If a frame needs 24mm, you walk back. If it needs 200, you walk forward, or you let it go. Most of the ones I'd let go weren't going to be good frames anyway.

I still need the 100–400 for surf — physics doesn't care about preferences. But for everything else, the 50 ends up doing more than its share. The bag is lighter, the decisions are smaller, and I notice more.

A side benefit I didn't expect: people stop asking what I do for a living when I'm shooting the prime. They assume I'm on holiday. I don't correct them anymore.