All the pictures for this week were taken during a few hours on Saturday afternoon. I went to Amsterdam to meet an online friend from New York. He was nice enough to bring a lens from B&H Photo for me, a 135mm that I had been craving, saving me significant money in the process. There was a time when I would test a newly acquired lens by mounting the camera on a tripod and photographing a newspaper or a brick wall. But these days, I do the much more sensible thing: just put the lens on the camera and shoot some pictures.
First, a window shopper:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
A common sight in Amsterdam–tourists looking a bit lost:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
A conversation:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
A Scotsman with two friends:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
Looking out:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
As we walked along the Prinsengracht, we saw this amazing sight:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 16-35mm L Canon, ISO 200)
It turned out that in the evening there was going to be a concert on the platform on the canal, with the queen attending. The canal was closed to allow spectators in boats to queue up to get the best spots (where they would be waiting several hours for the concert to start). It was quite chaotic, and some people looked a bit concerned:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
It was necessary to push the boats apart:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
In the meantime, the local bars were looking forward to the extra business:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)
I went home, happy with my new lens, and found an impromptu party going on at our house. So the final image is a portrait of our good friend Pam, taken at full aperture (f2):
(Canon 1D Mark II, 135mm L Canon, ISO 200)