Free hugs

Posted by Andrew Gould (Sydney, Australia) on 25 October 2007 in People & Portraits and Portfolio.

This afternoon I bought a new lens. It's the replacement for the Sigma 18-200mm zoom that I already have. The new one is the 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC OS. "OS" stands for optical stabilizer, and with this lens it's possible to shoot with a shutter speed 3 times lower than normal for any particular focal length.

Note that this is 154mm in the 18-200mm range, which equals 246.4mm in 35mm format. Shutter speed 1/40th of a second! I was a lot further away from them than it appears.

The lens is actually totally redesigned, and is a bit longer and heavier than the old model. The unfortunate part is that I had to buy a new UV filter as the diameter is larger, too, because the front element is now wider.

Now my "all in one carry around lens" is even suitable for very low light shooting, as shown in this shot, which is one of a series I took tonight while I was still in the city centre.

There's always a lot of activity there on Thursdays because it's late night shopping till 9pm. This is in Pitt St Mall, (which is closed off to traffic), and I've seen this guy around a few times before, but have no idea what's behind all of this. I did see one girl go up and get a quick hug. I, myself, kept my distance and started shooting. The guy on the right (the actual "hugger") became aware of my presence, and obviously didn't mind at all, so I guess you could call this a semi candid.

Taken Thursday 25 October 2007, 7:56pm

Please rate this photograph on VFXY Photos (below), and consider joining, yourself, if you're not already a member. You can expose your photoblog to the wider world and it's also a great way to keep track of your favourite photos by others.

JOIN THE (unofficial) AMINUS3 FORUM
HERE.

Thanks for visiting my pages. I really do appreciate every comment made, and always return the favour.

VFXY Photos | Cool Photoblogs | Listed on Photoblogs.org