The weather took yet another turn here in Yerevan recently, going from the highs of 30s to now lower 20s with plenty of rain and thunderstorms. I love this weather, however. And I think Armenia's nature is also heavily enjoying the balance of intense sunlight and a few days to soak up some moisture with the rain. The green life of the nation is coming out incredibly quickly as a result, and it's something I have really been needing. For the months I have been here, it was cold, dark, and void of any nature. You can imagine what sort of impact sudden natural growth can cause on your mind, the ways in which it energises you and gives you a bit more happiness. After all, we are meant to be beings that live within nature, not the concrete jungles we have subjected ourselves to. And Yerevan, for too long, felt just like that: concrete. A prison, almost. One of intense beauty but also decay. I love the green that is appearing, having come here from the greener countryside of England. And it's that sort of time where the roses start to blossom. The spring moments in which many flowers and plants, even trees, throw out vibrant tones of beauty. Almost competing with each other for your attention, which I guess to some degree they are with trying to win over the attention of insects that could contribute to their process of pollination.
The other day, roaming through the city, and just after a bit of rain, I had my 85mm lens with me on the Sony A6000. This is a portrait lens that is incredibly versatile and beautiful. I managed to photograph a small patch of grass which held a group of beautiful, blossoming roses on it. With this lens, I got so close to the roses, to the point in which I could easily capture the sheer beauty of their details. Down to the point of seeing the little droplets of water that had landed and found rest upon the petals of the flowers. Their tones throwing out such strong red (aside from the yet to blossom white roses in the final image) that one might even find it a bit threatening. That blood red stance it held around the green. The ways in which shadows found their ways into the crevices of the flower's petals, and the incredible beauty of it all. This lens has made me fall back in love with photography again, after having used the 35mm focal length for so long that many of the scenarios I used it in felt a bit limiting, not quite being able to get close enough when I felt I needed to most. That 85mm focal length keeping distance while really creating that beautiful depth in the image that keeps foreground from background. Oddly this focal length is one of the most disliked, but I genuinely have no idea as to why. It's astonishing.
Perhaps it's a result of people not quite knowing how to best use such lenses, then finding themselves a bit stuck with it. A bit similar to my experience with the 35mm, to some degree: growing a bit stuck and not knowing what more to capture with a focal length when you feel perhaps another might shine better under different environments. Ultimately, each focal length best suits a certain time and place, and it's to know this that makes you a good photographer. And why growing a nice library of prime lenses is a powerful tool to have! To be able to get up close to certain subjects without having to really step that close is something to take advantage of. To see those details while being from afar, to get that detail in such minor moments of life and realising that these moments of beauty are all around you at every moment is something that definitely opens up your creativity and potential as a creative. But I think that's also a lesson that comes with time, as you build those observational skills and become more aware of your surroundings; seeing beauty that isn't actually that evident at a first look.
Photography is great fun that way, and I think challenging yourself with different focal lengths for a long period of time is something that starts to harness that interest in capturing something different somehow. Even if it does lead to you finding another focal length to check out. Growth is growth!
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