50mm and a long overdo blog

Got my new lens, just in time for my 2 week vacation after a very challenging semester!



First, the life updates:
So I finished Intermediate level 1. It was a WORLD of difference with beginner level; I actually had to study to pass! I also turned in my college apps, in the end not needing any portfolio. Went pretty well, didn't get sent home for lack of documents or anything, though it did cost me some money to run across Seoul to get things turned in at last minute. We were told that applications were delayed until the next week, but that ended up being a miss-communication between our TA and the lady at NIIED, so she had to call us all up on the due date saying it was, in fact, still due that same day. Fortunately I had everything complete, just had to get it turned in. Ended up running around in circles in the first university because it was so huge and confusing that I had to take a cab to the next university to make up for lost time. Though in the end all was well, thus rewarding myself with my new lens!

I haven't taken THAT many photos yet so I just have a few here that will show you it's powers. First, watch it blur!

For most of you this will be jargon, but the aperture of F1.4 allows for a tremendously short depth of field.
For all of you non-camera-nerds (meaning probably everyone except my dad) it simply means I can blur the living $h!t out of backgrounds when my subject is close or relatively close the the camera.

However blogger does show an obvious quality drop with these pictures, especially where backgrounds blur and you get an infinity of color tones...
anyway on to pro number 2:

Take this rather unflattering photo of my face:

Didn't really take the time to photoshop it. Anyway, let's now zoom at 50%

Not impressed? Ok, lets make it 100.

OH DEAR JESUS THE SKIN FLAWS!
Look how sharp that is! I could print this thing the size of my wall!

Beyond that I can take pictures with half the light as I would with my other lenses and still achieve the same quality the other two would yield me. Am I happy? I am happy.

However this lens does pose a few challenges:
First is the lack of zoom; a sacrifice for the larger aperture and sharper pictures. Framing now has to be done by moving back and forth which isn't always that easy (or possible.) I did, however, know about this beforehand.
Second, when you blur out your photos as much as that one of my hand, there is a bit of a quality drop, and it is also A B!TC# to focus properly. 90% of the time portraits should be focused on the EYES, but sometimes you can get away with focusing on cheeks or something else in close distance. With this lens, however, you need to get the focus spot-on or your picture is just no good. Let me demonstrate:

Take here another unflattering photo of my unedited face:

You might find your attention unavoidably diverted toward my nose. That would be because it's what's in focus (or the blackheads, could be that too). My eyes, however close to my nose, are enough of a distance farther from the camera that they end up blurred and looking like background elements.
Am I being too picky? Perhaps for a blog it doesn't make that much difference, but for a large print, believe me, having that precise focus makes ALL the difference.

And that's what I have to say about my new lens! (so far)
Sorry mom, but any pictures of Yvonne must be pre-processed and screened by her before they can be uploaded to this blog, and you know how girls are about pictures... so for now you have to be happy with the blurred out picture of her holding the coffee cup.

On other news, this is how Woori enjoys a fine cup-o-coffee.

Uhuh, analyzing aromas like a pro. I hope he doesn't beat me up for this....
Woori has been going to the gym a lot since he came to Korea, and has gotten damn buff. He often likes to demonstrate what he last learned at the murder house where he doesn't simply work-out: he now trains in the art of self-defense, and the art of let-me-show-you-how-I-can-severely-hurt-bambi-with-a-simple-twist-of-my(or his)-arm. I swear, he's always trying to show us some of his moves, which at first we were naive enough to agree to. After a few nasty pains caused by turning joints in directions they have not yet evolved to be able to turn toward, we usually just cower away in fear whenever he says "Let me show you something". Woori has now earned himself a reputation as the easy-going, nice guy you absolutely don't mess with. Who would've thought the fine figure above was capable of such things?

Oh, and also, I am a lazy bastard, and have not taken proper photos of the stuff I made for the vain portfolio I was no longer even allowed to turn in as a supplement, so I have a preview of one I took a picture of after finishing it.

Ok, if you don't look at the original it looks much better.... Anyway that one above was my first ever portrait drawing, my first drawing that size, and the first drawing I ever spent 12 hours on. I think I'll stick to pictures!

And lastly just a pic with some of my classmates at a dinner we had for the end of the semester. Only a few showed up...

I'd say, my class this semester wasn't really bonding. Especially the 2 Chinese guys in my class.. they didn't hang around much. Thus this was our happy group, but we had a good time!

And that's that! I promise another blog soon since I'm on vacation and I went MIA for a long time.
Anyway I also want to know how many people are actually reading these things on a regular basis, so if you read this, please drop a comment below. Also, if you haven't, please follow my blog (there should be an option below, where it says "followers") just helps me feel like I'm not talking to my dad only! (Or an empty void!)
Bye!