Here are some recent shots of the girls out in our yard enjoying the nice weather (which of course has not been as nice the past few days). These were taken with my newest lens acquisition, the Canon 135mm f/2L. It’s one of those lenses that is only useful for one thing, and that is outdoor portraiture. Portraits have not traditionally been my forte, I now that I have kiddos I find myself doing more of this type of photography.
Most portrait photographers seem to prefer a 70-200 zoom because they are more versatile. I would agree, the 135 is NOT versatile. But like any specialty piece of equipment – when it’s used for it’s intended purpose it really excels! Anyone who has talked photography with me knows that I like prime lenses. They force me to be deliberate with my shots, get up and move around, and because of that I find that I usually end up with more interesting images. In fact of the 4 lenses I use, only one of them is a zoom. I guess I just like doing things the hard way.
The 135 is one of the least expensive Canon “L” lenses, it’s super fast, very sharp, and the background blur is unlike anything else I’ve seen (on head-shots it’s almost TOO blurry at f/2), so I am not sure why it isn’t more popular among portrait photographers. All I know if that for me this lens is exactly what I was hoping it would be.
