One lens only.
Because I tend to concentrate on a style I find it impossible to take a lens like a 180/200mm street snapping along with something wide. The style of seeing and thinking is so different it’s all long or all short for me. I am intellectually incapable of suddenly switching from long to wide, a process I have found results in mediocrity at both focal lengths. I don’t know, but would be prepared to bet that prime snappers have a far higher success rate than zoom users. For the former, economy of expression and intensity of focus come with the territory. For the avid zoomer everything is possible and all is mediocre.
Here are a few more from the outing the other day with the 180mm Nikkor which may explain what I’m rambling on about:
There’s this silly rocket at the old customs house on the
Embarcadero, aptly converted to good use by the lone gull.
This lovely oriental girl, dressed in high style, was there
for a moment. I looked down to check something and she was gone.
Mysterious shadows in the style of the great Saul Leiter.
The waiter was polishing glasses for the evening’s festivities.
In deep shadow, the f/2.8 aperture sings here.
From any angle in any light, impossible to resist.
The Portside building, framed by the Oakland Bay Bridge.
Two Art Deco masterpieces, built 50 years apart.