Street Photography and Prime Lenses

Over the past weekend, I decided to backpack around the town of Bethlehem, PA during the final weekend of their annual Musikfest celebration.  The outdoor festival provided me with a great opportunity to experiment with street photography.  I usually only carry my 2 zoom kit when traveling.  However, this weekend, I decided to challenge myself (and lighten my load) by only taking two prime lenses for the entire weekend - Vivitar 24mm f/2.8 and  Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4.

What I learned:
- Drunk people don't care if you take their picture.
- "Zooming with you feet" at an outdoor festival = lots of spilled beer.
- Prime lenses are fast, but extremely difficult to compose with in crowded spaces.
- Although difficult to compose with, a fast prime will outshine any zoom, esp. after the sun disappears.

As with most things in life that are worth doing, using a fixed focal length lens requires a lot a practice to master.  After this weekend, I think I'm going to force myself to use my primes, especially the 50mm, more often.  Check out some shots from Musikfest below.
Enjoy,
    30 West