This Conversation...
Dec. 25th, 2025 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seeyatI've been brainstorming for about 2 years, now... how I can describe a fundamental aspect of photography for dad in a way that he'll understand and support it.
Prime lenses... stationary lenses are great for **planned** portrait and subject isolating photos. They're semi-inexpensive, offer gorgeous clarity and depth of field (DoF) for a specific focal length but they are severely limited for active events like racing, rallies, fundraisers, etc. Sure, if you're just relaxed and waiting for the perfect scene or stand where you can expect people... bam, a good portrait prime will help.
"Zooming with your feet" is also extremely distracting and sometimes disruptive or dangerous in a fast-paced environment.
I personally prioritize primes for what I want to be doing... in planned portraiture.
however, I also have a selection of lenses I personally want for crowd work and events. Either a 24-70/4 or 24-120/4 AND a 70-200/2.8
The number after that slash is essential knowledge, as well. A 4 means it's a fixed maximum aperture that might operate well outdoors or when you don't want extreme subject separation/isolation. Primes usually fall between F-stop 1 and 3 for their maximum aperture. The lower the number, the 'faster' the lens soaks up light so you can bring shutter speed up and still get a good exposure... and with a lower number, you get creamy, desirable bokeh or blur... that thing phones are now trying to fake and can't quite get right.
Bokeh is that creamy blur of color and light at the forefront and background of an image. It's that Out of Focus area, which draws your eye to the crisp subject... a car or face.
So, the 70-200/2.8 is a brilliant, all-in-one long focal length/telephoto lens that allows for spur-of-the-moment portraits like driver headshots and crew portraits because it has a wide maximum aperture... lower number... plus it features telephoto lengths which allow me to zoom in for rally cars, blasting around the stage without being in danger or zooming into pit crews running around a car without being in the way.
It also lets me pull back to 70mm which allows for decent shots of the whole car, surrounded by team members from a distance.
I already have an establisher... my 28/2.8 and a decent general prime, my 50/1.8
The NIKKOR Z 70-200/2.8 S is also designed to be fitted with the 2x teleconverter, not compatible with all lenses... but it can bring the range up to 400mm with limited clarity loss.
That means one lens to fit into my backpack with a small teleconverter for further functionality.
My concern is sort of frantic, because dad's getting older, I'm still on disability income and I'm desperate for supportive, healthy community connections. In my experience, all it takes is meeting someone once or twice to get acquainted as a photographer. I show up to SnoDrift or any Viper events, looking and sounding like I know what I'm talking about, with dad... who's sort of an automotive icon... and I have networking potential.
There are many, more expensive lenses... and also many cheaper lenses. Very few, if any, have the potential of a native mounted 70-200/2.8.
It's a standard, well-recognized event lens and an essential for any photographer's kit. That's just how the nature of light, positioning and movement work in certain situations. The 70-200 allows for exactly the sort of photography dad suggested... "Fly on the wall" photography.
It lets me exist but not insist... allows me to capture moments without stepping on toes.
Yes, I'm working on work... and getting off guardianship and disability. I'm in therapy... and I'm doing more than I've ever done to make a life for myself.
I'd really appreciate some grace, here.
There are certain requirements because I can't change physics. I can't give my camera more megapixels for functional crops... all I can do is basically give my camera binoculars.
There's a reason professional cameras are celebrated. They work with physical reality instead of digital adjustments like a smartphone. They also offer a sense of mindful intentionality which is peaceful and grounding.
It's essentially a perfect tool for someone in my position, with family so enmeshed in such cultures and lifestyles.
It wasn't my choice to be on disability income and I won't likely be able to get off, earn the lens AND pay off debts before dad passes away. Sure, we'll still have the house on Columbia... so a lake house in the family. We'll also have ties to cosplay and convention communities plus a massive Star Wars fan cave and... Jesus, the kids got a proper Spongebob claw machine for Christmas.
...how the fuck does anyone expect me to belong in this family if my own practical hobbies or skills aren't at a level that actually makes it useful and not gimmicky or distracting?
Prime lenses... stationary lenses are great for **planned** portrait and subject isolating photos. They're semi-inexpensive, offer gorgeous clarity and depth of field (DoF) for a specific focal length but they are severely limited for active events like racing, rallies, fundraisers, etc. Sure, if you're just relaxed and waiting for the perfect scene or stand where you can expect people... bam, a good portrait prime will help.
"Zooming with your feet" is also extremely distracting and sometimes disruptive or dangerous in a fast-paced environment.
I personally prioritize primes for what I want to be doing... in planned portraiture.
however, I also have a selection of lenses I personally want for crowd work and events. Either a 24-70/4 or 24-120/4 AND a 70-200/2.8
The number after that slash is essential knowledge, as well. A 4 means it's a fixed maximum aperture that might operate well outdoors or when you don't want extreme subject separation/isolation. Primes usually fall between F-stop 1 and 3 for their maximum aperture. The lower the number, the 'faster' the lens soaks up light so you can bring shutter speed up and still get a good exposure... and with a lower number, you get creamy, desirable bokeh or blur... that thing phones are now trying to fake and can't quite get right.
Bokeh is that creamy blur of color and light at the forefront and background of an image. It's that Out of Focus area, which draws your eye to the crisp subject... a car or face.
So, the 70-200/2.8 is a brilliant, all-in-one long focal length/telephoto lens that allows for spur-of-the-moment portraits like driver headshots and crew portraits because it has a wide maximum aperture... lower number... plus it features telephoto lengths which allow me to zoom in for rally cars, blasting around the stage without being in danger or zooming into pit crews running around a car without being in the way.
It also lets me pull back to 70mm which allows for decent shots of the whole car, surrounded by team members from a distance.
I already have an establisher... my 28/2.8 and a decent general prime, my 50/1.8
The NIKKOR Z 70-200/2.8 S is also designed to be fitted with the 2x teleconverter, not compatible with all lenses... but it can bring the range up to 400mm with limited clarity loss.
That means one lens to fit into my backpack with a small teleconverter for further functionality.
My concern is sort of frantic, because dad's getting older, I'm still on disability income and I'm desperate for supportive, healthy community connections. In my experience, all it takes is meeting someone once or twice to get acquainted as a photographer. I show up to SnoDrift or any Viper events, looking and sounding like I know what I'm talking about, with dad... who's sort of an automotive icon... and I have networking potential.
There are many, more expensive lenses... and also many cheaper lenses. Very few, if any, have the potential of a native mounted 70-200/2.8.
It's a standard, well-recognized event lens and an essential for any photographer's kit. That's just how the nature of light, positioning and movement work in certain situations. The 70-200 allows for exactly the sort of photography dad suggested... "Fly on the wall" photography.
It lets me exist but not insist... allows me to capture moments without stepping on toes.
Yes, I'm working on work... and getting off guardianship and disability. I'm in therapy... and I'm doing more than I've ever done to make a life for myself.
I'd really appreciate some grace, here.
There are certain requirements because I can't change physics. I can't give my camera more megapixels for functional crops... all I can do is basically give my camera binoculars.
There's a reason professional cameras are celebrated. They work with physical reality instead of digital adjustments like a smartphone. They also offer a sense of mindful intentionality which is peaceful and grounding.
It's essentially a perfect tool for someone in my position, with family so enmeshed in such cultures and lifestyles.
It wasn't my choice to be on disability income and I won't likely be able to get off, earn the lens AND pay off debts before dad passes away. Sure, we'll still have the house on Columbia... so a lake house in the family. We'll also have ties to cosplay and convention communities plus a massive Star Wars fan cave and... Jesus, the kids got a proper Spongebob claw machine for Christmas.
...how the fuck does anyone expect me to belong in this family if my own practical hobbies or skills aren't at a level that actually makes it useful and not gimmicky or distracting?
