I was really happy with my Canon EOS 20D and reviewing my images I saw that I was drawn to what is called available light photography. In short, it means using only the light sources that are already in the scene, and this mostly under difficult or low light. Prime examples are candid portraits, indoor concerts or evening and night photography. The latter was of interest to me. I like how cities change their appearance when the sun goes down and the only illumination comes from artificial sources.
Usually, taking pictures in low light can be accomplished with a tripod for static subjects. But I am an opportunistic photographer. I like to take long walks and shoot whatever catches my eye. So carrying a tripod was something I wanted to avoid. Besides, I do like the grainy, slightly blurry documentary look. So what I needed was a lens with a fast aperture that I could use in low light. Still a student, I could not really afford one of the fast wide angle prime lenses. So I bought the cheapest prime available. A Canon EF 50 mm F1.8 lens (link to the successor) made out of plastic.
This was not really a lens for city or street photography, and on the EOS 20D it came to about 80 mm equivalent. So this was really more a portrait lens but it was all I could afford and I learned to use it. I also learned to enjoy using a single focal length, being constrained seemed to sharpen my own view. I used this lens from 2005 to 2011 and shot (kept) at least several hundreds of photos. Again, my records are still a bit spotty.
I took this photo on a snowy night somewhere in West Germany. I could have corrected the orange light in post but I do like the eerie look. Furthermore, I like how the background is almost black and one can see only the orange and white train station and a few cars driving by. It is a very lonely place and I was practically alone.The middle of Berlin. I think I used a handrail on a bridge to stabilize this shot. Usually one would make this picture with a tripod to achieve a smooth look with high dynamic range. But I find those pictures somewhat artificial. The slight grain and blur makes the scene more akin to what the human eye sees.It is not low light but I do like the scene. There is a single flag bearer coming home from a protest. The flag reads "ATTAC". Remember this anti globalization group? They used to be quite active in Germany, but nowadays, no one really cares about them. Globalization is a fact. I used to go to their meetings when I was really young (and naive) but soon saw that they did not offer anything substantial in terms of solutions. They rather basked in the glow of exposing "exploitation" however they defined it. It was a taste of the things to come with today's woke people. Loud, shrill, accusatory and of little substance. Sadly so because there are things that really need to be addressed.Another use for such a large aperture lens was to have a narrow depth of field. This is something I rarely use but it felt alright for this little snapshot. Again, this is a taste of things to come. Today people use public parks for barbecues and every bin overflows with garbage. Which gets picked up by the wind and crows and deposited throughout the whole park and city for that matter. It saddens me to see that many people no longer respect their surroundings or live under the assumption that public parks are a kind of personal garden where they can do as they please.In 2006 many houses in my neighborhood were being renovated and they often transformed the first floor apartments into commercial spaces. For a short time there was a glut of commercial real estate and the empty places were illuminated in bright colors at night. Not only to attract potential tenants, but also to avoid vandalism. Everyone could look inside, so no space to sneak in for the restless youth.This is one of the many serendipitous shots I took whenever I travel through Berlin (which is always by public transportation). I wish I could have framed the shot better and aligned it to the two pillars, but alas, I just had a moment to press the shutter. The station was actually quite busy and people would walk into my shot. Also, slowly framing an image as such in public seems a bit suspicious.Just an empty subway car. I am really fascinated by subway systems. I do not care much about the new fancy ones but rather the old systems that were built before Second World War. There is just so much history in these tunnels. You can actually get tickets for an open air ride through the tunnels, but those are usually sold out in a short time. Sometimes they offer walking tours through unused tunnels. Highly recommendable. Again, this was a quick shot before people would walk all around the place.