Santa, Santa and Santa

Baby's first Christmas (see caption above below on front page of paper)

1/80 sec;   f/2.5;   ISO 800,  external flash was fired with a small softbox over it.
 Nikon D90 and 50mm 1.8 lens

Jordan Rolland 11, warms up before she marches with the fourth and fifth grade band  at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014 ~ Shawna Whelan

L-R Kaiden Lauzon, 1 and Izzabella Louzon age 2 wear Christmas hats while watching the parade

 at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown 

Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan

Jacque Hamilton sings while Michael Pratt plays the guitar in front of a large crowd after the parade

 at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown 

Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan (I caught the blue light here)

Santas arrival sparks excitement among the children at the Belfair Christmas parade sponsored by the
the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan

It seems that I have become a Santa photographer this week, not an official one with strobes and umbrellas,  but one who stands to the side and tries to get candid shots.  Every week I get to do something different and I get to face new challenges, that's what I really like about photojournalism.

I shoot with my 50mm 1.8 prime as much as I can so I can get a shallow depth of field and speed.  But it's tricky to use a 50mm lens on a DX camera.  I miss shots due to cropping and I am always at the risk of stepping on people's toes as I back up to try not to cut off the top of someone's head. Also such a narrow angle is not good at all when working in crowded situations.  

I'm still using two camera bodies, but now I have equipped one with an 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens and the other with a 50mm 1.8 lens.  It's redundant as far as focal length goes but the redundancy is worth it due to the speed and clarity of my 50mm lens.  I need the wide angle of the 18mm -55mm lens for overview shots.

 As a photojournalist I need to be able to tell the story with pictures and I can't tell the entire story with a 50mm portrait lens, I've got to be able to zoom out and get the wide shots too.  I'm pretty sure that other photojournalist would laugh at my lens combo, but for now it's working for me.  I don't miss shots due to changing lenses this way, but I still sometimes miss shots due to changing cameras.

At this point my dream lens is the 17-55mm f/2.8 DX.  If I had that lens it might be all I would use since I'm not shooting sports, but I think I would still bring along a second camera body with my 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 VR lens just in case.  The only time I'm using the bigger zoom for photojournalism is when I photograph the police arresting someone from a block away.  Usually the movement is not too fast for that big slow lens, but shooting sports with that lens can be a real challenge.

The Christmas parades require lots of shooting in the dark where again a fast lens is preferred, but the narrow angle of a 50mm lens on a DX body is not at all ideal.  I'll upgrade my lenses and not even think about getting an FX camera.