What is wrong with me? Or, a journey through focal lengths

ViMa wrote:

I guess this 'fear' may be because I started with street photography? It felt like people suggested that going tele with street photography is the lazy, easy option, and that stuck in my head for photography in general.

Different styles require different visions which are better realized by different focal lengths. With street it is as much a function of operation room as anything. In the French Quarter of NOLA for example you don't have much room so if you have a longer lens - even a 50 (FF) can be too long people will keep walking between your shot and you! So a Fuji 50 - forget it. For street if will use the lens defined by the space I have.

Here is one with my 35 f1.4 on the Pro2. I was in a small boat - so if I used anything longer well I would have gotten wet :-(.

Pro2 X35 f1.4

However, at the track I have a lot more room so I often use my 56 f1.2

Pro2 56 f1.2

So a lot of which focal length works best has as much to do with working room as anything. Gary Winogrand normally used a 28 mm (FF) on his Leica but he roamed the streets of NYC - not much room to work.

I had no idea that Ansel Adams shot those focal lengths. I guess I always defaulted to expecting a wider FOV.

Mmmmm, so my next lens might be either the Mitakon 35mm f0.95 or the XF 90mm f2. Very different lesnes, both with their difficulties, but both appear to be excellent.

The 56mm is possibly the only lens in the Prime Fujifilm lineup that I am not that interested in. It is far too close to the XF 60mm and the XF 50mm and I prefer both of those for different reasons. I wouldn't give up size, weight and macro of the XF 60mm for the extra stops of the 56mm. At least not as I am now.

With landscape it really depends on your vision. Adams vision and style was to let the subject speak for itself which was realized by focusing on a subject symbolic of the larger landscape while cutting out any distractions from the larger landscape. That determined his choice of lens. Adams, Weston, Archer, White and others develop a group called F64 which redefined landscape style from the wide area pictorial style that dominated landscape the 1920's and 1930's. Adams image "Half Dome" was his first departure from the pictorial style where use a central isolated subject - the face of Half Dome - realize his vision of the Yosemite valley.

http://anseladams.com/new-modern-replica-monolith-face-half-dome/

This was the beginning of the style of Group F64 - and the concept of "visualization" of the image prior to snapping the shutter.  That is all the work is up front and little is left to chance.

Develop your own style.  Don't listen to anyone - including me - but keep exploring and keep asking questions.  As my mentor, Richard Kirstel offend said, understand the science, craft and art so you can devise your own methods to realize your own methods.