Re: Standard Focal Lengths

[Paul Schliesser <paulsc@eos.net>]

>I am a 90mm standard lens photographer.  I am most comfortable working
>from a distance but appreciate detail more often than the larger scene.
>This will probably be too imprecise a usage of the term 'standard lens'
>for some, but it is important to deal subjectively and practically with
>some questions, as well as technically.

Rob,

I really like the 90mm focal length, too. when I first started taking 
pictures seriously, I found myself using my widest-angle lens all the 
time, trying to "get it all in." I found the resulting pictures were 
generally pretty disappointing, and didn't seem to capture whatever it 
was that excited me about what I saw with my eyes.

I learned to see that what often makes a scene interesting is not the 
wide-angle view of everything, but the interesting details within the big 
scene. For years, I have been using 50mm and 90mm most of the time. I use 
Contax SLRs, and the f/1.4 85mm is practically my normal lens. I almost 
never use anything wider than 35mm. For the things that I do, I like the 
shallow DOF and the slightly compressed perspective.

Now I'm trying to force myself to use wider angles again, and to learn to 
use them well.

- - Paul