“I am new to following your site…via your guest blog entry on Steve Hufff’s site and I wanted to say I enjoy your work very much.  The tones, the processing when in color and your subject matter are a joy.  I look forward to seeing more of your posts in the future.

A quick question for you though.  I noticed many of your portraits are shot with a 35mm lens.  I am wondering if you are cropping your resulting image?  I ask because your portraits are closer than what I am achieving with a 50mm without being in the face of my own children.  Not that I am a purist and don’t crop images but I try not too.  Appreciate your comments on this as you are able.

I should also add that I enjoy how you capture your children in the midst of their activities…not an easy thing to do I am sure but what a great result.

Thanks and I look forward to more of your work.  

Best regards — Bishop”

Hi Bishop,

Thank you so much for writing, and for the kind words!

In answer to your question, I don’t often crop when using a 35mm lens*, because if I did, I would lose the more interesting perspective I get with this FOV, vs. the 50mm. It’s true that one needs to be more careful with distortion when photographing people with a 35mm lens (and to some extent distortion is always there), but with practice you learn to minimize it and/or take advantage of it.

It took me some time to learn how to do this, because I was always a “50mm photographer”, but the rewards have been worth it.  Of course, I still shoot with a 50mm lens!

I hope I’ve been able to help, and thanks again for writing,

—Peter.

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*In those of my 35mm images where people appear “closer” than what you’re able to achieve with your 50mm lens, Bishop, I have obviously cropped the image.  Having said that, I’m normally photographing people as close as possible.