Weekend Challenge - 1 Focal Length Weekend

[Darren Rowse]

This weekend I thought I'd throw out a weekend challenge to DPS members. I'll write about it on the blog later today (update: the blog post is here) but here's the challenge:

This is something that anyone can do - whether they have a DSLR with a prime lens, a DSLR with a zoom lens or even a point and shoot camera.

Choose a focal length to shoot at this weekend (or for at least one day) and don’t allow yourself to shoot at any other focal length.

* If you have a prime lens it’ll be easy - fit it to your camera and don’t take if off.

* If you have a DSLR with a zoom lens just choose one end of the focal range and resist the temptation to zoom.

* If you have a point and shoot camera with a zoom - again, just choose one end of the range and stick to that.

When choosing which focal length you go with - try to pick something you don’t normally shoot a lot at. For example if you tend to shoot fully zoomed in - try shooting with a wider angle. If you normally shoot with wide angles challenge yourself at the other end of the spectrum.

Over the weekend I'd love to see you share some of your shots in this thread (try to keep it to just a few of your best ones) and to give some feedback on how you found the process. Don't forget to tell us what focal length you've chosen!

ALSO - if you're on Flickr and are sharing your shots there tag your images 'dpsfocalchallenge' so we can see them all in one spot there too!

As I say - I'll be promoting this on the DPS blog in the next 10 or so hours so hopefully there will be quite a few doing it together. Have a great weekend!

[jiminyClickit]

OK, not a stretch, I seem to be in 6mm (Fuji S3100 equivalent) most of the time. So, I'll do this weekend in 9mm, as in this image of a half-inch wildflower:

[Darren Rowse]

fantastic - I wish I had something that wide to play with - am tossing up myself wither to go with 14mm (my widest) or 200mm (my longest)

[jiminyClickit]

Shooting - what's your favorite subject at each end?

[corry]

interesting challenge.....i just got my set of close up filters....perhaps i'll be getting close to my subjects this weekend. will ponder more though.

[Darren Rowse]

well at the moment my main subject is my kids - a 3 week old and a 2 year old - might go with 14mm and have some fun with the distortion

[dannyrich]

Im gonig to go for the 50mm as i'm going to a christening and i dont think they would appreciate an arsenal of fisheye pics of a special day!

[Sime™]

Yep, 50mm for me... I started a new group on flickr today too.. "work day challenge" ..And I only have my 50mm on me, so, that's it.. had it on for a couple of days... here's my little bit of fiftymill action from today.

wdc | plastic cutlery

[HockeyFan]

I don't think I could do it for an entire weekend. I'm going to be photographing fireworks from my roof, but I'm also going to be photographing construction progress (details) on my house, as well as having guests over some time during the weekend. I know there'll be times when I'll need different focal lengths. It would be a good exercise for a day's photo outing though.

[Saralonde]

I'm game to do it! Either I'll try my 85mm f1.8 (I grab the 50mm way too often) or my 70-200mm f/4 (set at ?), which I rarely use. Might be getting some unusual self-portraits for my threesixtyfive!
I've tried this before on my own, usually to get out of the rut of using the same lens most of the time. Usually by the end of a day or two, I find I've learned a lot about what I can do with a particular focal length and have a new appreciation for a different lens.