I couldn't decide on just one photo this week, so here you go, you can have two. It does fit nicely with what I wanted to talk about regarding my longest lens, though.
Someone in one of the photo spaces I follow recently asked the group what their favorite lens was, and oddly enough that was a question I had never actually considered before. For a lot of people, the facetious answer is probably "the next one", considering how notorious photography can be for causing its adherents to want ever-increasing amounts of gear, but I digress. Although I appreciate the possibilities afforded me by all the lenses of my arsenal, my favorite has to be the most recent one I acquired, the 70-200mm (That's the focal length, which is how lenses are broadly differentiated. To oversimplify, the higher the number, the greater the magnification of the lens) Partly that's because of how long it took me to actually get my hands on it, but more significantly because it allowed me some options I didn't previously have yet often found myself desiring.
To start with the more obvious aspect, as exemplified by the swan, you can get a much closer view of things that might otherwise be a bit tricky to get close to, like skittish wildlife. Meanwhile in the shot of the pelican, I made use of the lower f-stop to get a shallower depth of field, which you'll notice if you compare the pelican to the ibises in the corner. Granted, this particular shot doesn't gain a *huge* amount compared to what I could have done otherwise, but anything that helps guide the eye where I want it to go is always welcome.
EXIF data:
1/1600, f/2.8, ISO 100
200mm focal length
(Pelican)
1/1600, f/2.8, ISO 100
200mm focal length
(Pelican)
1/320, f/2.8, ISO 100
200mm focal length
(Swan)
200mm focal length
(Swan)