Ninth Day of Christmas: Lensing around

Just before I returned the 100mm rented lens I took it out to try a bit of non-macro work.
Bitsy was nearby; I took her picture then took the shot again with my 50mm lens to see if I could really see any different.
Oh yeah.  There was a real difference.
With the 100mm I could crop down to her eyes and see a perfect reflection, with the 50mm the crop went soft/fuzzy.
I had a chat with the folks at Pictureline where I rented the lens (a local owned shop, but lens are rented by other stores around the country btw).
For about a third of the price of the 100mm I could acquire a 60mm which I was assured would give me the same degree of focus with about the third of the lens weight.
Guess who really, really wants a 60mm lens now?
(btw again...they do awesome infinity work too, a "one size fits all", no zoom, so one "zooms" by moving one's feet, but the trade off is crispness in the photography that the zoom feature just doesn't allow.)

I decided to try water drips again, this time with my 50mm lens.
A 50mm is usually available for under $100; I picked one up a year ago.
Yes, drips can be captured nicely with the 50mm, but there is a tiny bit of softness compared to the 100mm shots.
Ignorance is bliss...I have ruined my bliss by knowing the difference.

 

Still fun...

If you own a "nifty fifty", give drip photography a whirl!

No snow was suppose fall all week.
I was geared up to get some stuff done inside, and indeed did acquire a nice sized house plant to place in the spot where the Christmas tree stood.
Now I have to go buy a big pot for it. 
One thing always leads to another.
Anyhoo...after dark the snow started up again.
It was bitterly cold, down around 10 degrees out there.
I gave my EF-S 18-55 "kit" lens another shot, again with the magnifier screwed on to the front of the lens.
Since it was night out, the porch light gave the snowflakes a golden glow.

I used the Picasa editing options to reverse the colors, from yellow to blue,  on this shot

 

Since the snowflake was on a magnifying lens, I got the snowflake shadow below.

 

 

 

 

 

A constellation of flakes!

I hadn't noticed the tiny strand of fiber until I cropped this photo down.

By placing the lens beneath the light of the porch light, I got a reflection of the porch light light, which back lit the snowflakes.
Cool!
I learn something every time I go shooting!

 

My favorite shot of the evening.

Title:

"Snowflake flower with dragonfly"