It’s been such a long while since I pulled out the 35mm f/2.0. With the dependable 50mm f/1.8 and magical 85mm f/1.4 lens the 35mm has been a little neglected. Truth be told, I feel like I still need to improve my composition using the 35mm. Some of my favorite photos have come by way of the 50mm and 85mm but none yet from the 35mm. On a full-frame camera, the 35mm focal length is a tweener focal length; not quite “wide angle” but not quite portrait length too. Because of this, I am making an extra effort to go out and shoot more with the 35mm. What better way to conquer a weakness than to attack it head on right?

Our educational shooting ground? The Huntington Gardens near Pasadena, CA. Like most museums, any kind of “pro-looking” lighting gear is prohibited so we were left with just our cameras and natural light. Click through for more photos and tips on how to improve your natural light photography.

I’ve forgotten how beautiful the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens museum is. If you’ve never been there, it is a huge place which houses an art museum and A LOT of beautiful gardens (Chinese, Japanese, Australian, rose, jungle). Make sure you stop by if you’re ever in the Los Angeles area.

Anyways, after looking through the resulting photos, I remember now why I first bought the 35mm lens. It’s such a versatile focal length… you can step back to capture the whole environment (I need to do this more often), or you can step in for a snug portrait (habit of doing this too much). I have to admit, it felt strange again looking through the viewfinder with the 35mm on, and I still have to find “my style” on this lens… but it definitely was fun shooting with it again. I hope you enjoy the photos we took. Tips after the photos =).

The willow trees at the Japanese and Chinese gardens were pretty cool. There’s such a beautiful texture to them. You can use them like beaded-disco curtains (below) or follow them up the vines with your lens (first photo).

By far my favorite section was the Zen garden: bamboo forest. So beautiful, I couldn’t resist and pulled out the 85mm f/1.4 for some of these shots. Look at the difference in bokeh! Can you tell which photos were taken with the 85mm?

In hindsight, I wish I would’ve captured more of the environment with some of the portrait shots above. The 35mm is wide enough to allow you to do this. I guess I am my biggest critic =p. Here are more detail shots of the beautiful gardens… and as promised a few tips on how you can improve your natural light photography.

New to photography and having a tough time with natural light photos? Here are a few tips.

• Find a shady spot:The best lighting is the soft diffused lighting under a huge tree or the side of a building. This type of shading will create the most flattering light.
• Shoot during overcast cloudy days:Sunny days are the worst most challenging conditions to shoot under. The best? Cloudy days! The clouds work as a GIANT natural diffuser, softening up the harsh sunlight. Next time someone tells you it’s cloudy and it’s going to ruin their photos, you can politely correct them =p.
• Use Aperture priority mode:All DSLRs should allow you to use this mode, higher model point and shoots may allow this as well. Aperture mode lets you set your f-stop, the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed to create the proper exposure. In other words, the f-stop lets you control your creativity (depth of field, how blurry the background).. the camera will take care of the rest. With natural light, I shoot in Aperture mode 90% of the time.
• Use Spot meter: Under broad daylight, the sun will cast shadows over everything. This will confuse the heck out of your camera’s exposure meter. What usually results in this, is what I call “zebra” shots. Your subjects end up striped like a zebra. Shadowed areas stay dark, while sun-lit areas are properly exposed. Switch to spot metering mode to better expose your mixed sunlight/shadow shots. Aim the spot at the shadowed side of your subject’s face. This will properly expose your shadows at the expense of blowing our your background highlights. Better to have your subject properly exposed than the background right? All the photos above were taken using spot metering.
• Shoot into the sun: Experiment with different angles. Shoot into the sun for cool sunbursts… or include the sun in your frame for different lens flare effects.
• Turn on Auto-ISO: If your camera has this feature, turn it on. You set the base ISO to use, the camera will auto adjust to higher ISOs if needed. Much like shooting in Aperture mode, this lets you focus on your composition/creativity… the camera does all the heavy lifting, the math.

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