When I first got a dslr (Canon Rebel) and picked up my first decent lens (50mm 1.8) I was blown away. The sharpness combined with the narrow depth of field offered me opportunities I never knew existed. It also started an obsession with fast lens that is still biting me in me left back pocket. An unfortunate side effect was that I was relying on my lens to give my photos interest and to separate them from the pack. Almost any face shot with an 85mm 1.4 will look awesome.

To cure (to an extent) my reliance on my equipment to creat interest I picked up an el cheapo 25-50mm manual focus f/4 lens that isn't really tack sharp until f/8. And I started working on my compostion. And I'm glad to say it's helping quite a bit.

Here are (as usual too many) some photographs I made on my last trip up North (here's part 1, 2 and http://zalmyb.com/?p=414). Most were shot at f/8 or higher unless it was too dark. All were shot with old (and therefore cheap) manual focus lens.

On the way up I stopped off in San Francisco and picked up a few more lens. One of the seller was kind enough to drive me around Marin County for a few hours. We chatted a bit (he has quite the assortment of manual focus lens) and shot a bit more.

Thanks for looking.