My family and I just returned from a few days in Florida to visit family. The break from the cold of winter was very welcome and the chance to relax was much needed. Even though the camera wasn’t out much, I managed to get some interesting shots.
One of our favorite places to vacation is a very specific neighborhood in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It’s a small community sandwiched between the State Park and a large campground. No high rise hotels within a mile and the only people on the beach in front of the house is people in the neighborhood. It’s very quiet and the beach is great. Walking a half mile to the north is the Myrtle Beach State Park pier. This provided me something to include with the sunrise shots. A tripod and variable ND let me slow the shutter down enough to flatten the water.
We also visited the aquarium down here and just had a wonderful week relaxing on the beach.
Having just returned from San Diego, I’m realizing just how much my new 23mm lens is my sweet spot. My travel bag contained the 23mm, 35mm and the 55-200mm. The Fuji XF 23mm f/1.4 R lens performed amazingly well. At first, I was a bit worried about the single focal length and if I would miss any opportunities because of it. After shooting with it primarily for a few days, that couldn’t be further from the truth. It felt great to be focused on a single focal length and walk around without a bag full of glass. Here are some of shots while walking around.
The 55-200mm only came into play when I ventured over to the San Diego Zoo. As much as I’m loving the 23mm, it really isn’t suited to the job.
On my last day in San Diego, I explored the USS Midway. This is a decommissioned aircraft carrier that is now a floating museum and educates the public about life on a carrier. For this, the 23mm was back on the X-T1 and never came off.
The interesting part of this trip was that the 35mm only was on the camera for a few shots inside of the reptile house. The 55-200mm wasn’t bright enough, so the f/1.4 35mm lens came out of the bag for a few shots. I love the lens, but the focal length may not be my favorite anymore.