A Day in Central Park with the Sigma 56mm F 1.4

A Day in Central Park with the Sigma 56mm F/1.4

Tuesday April 13th—a beautiful spring day in the heart of sakura season. Since I had already gone to Central Park the weekend prior, I decided to go again, but with a challenge. Take the best pictures I can get with my Sigma 56mm lens paired with my Lumix DC-G9 (micro 4/3rds).

A short telephoto prime lens for street photography like this presents a few challenges, but also ample opportunities for capturing fascinating and unexpected pictures. The small field of view presented by a telephoto lens means large objects (skyscrapers especially) are a no go in a single shot, and often a lot of added walking (foot zoom as I call it) to get what you want in the frame. On the other hand, the longer focal length dramatically effects perspective. Where a wide angle lens will get everything in view and can make for an expansive, open, breathy photograph, a long lens will bring the background closer to the foreground and create a more intimate scene.

Below left is a 12mm shot taken from the north end of the Lake in March. It’s not my best work, but illustrates the difference in perspective well when compared to the photo to the right. This photo is a composite of five images from the Sigma stitched as a panorama. Notice the size of the buildings compared to the tree, the size of the people in the boats compared to the people on the shore in the wide angle image. While both angles have their usage, I find the longer I play around with the Sigma, the more I enjoy this focal length for everyday photography.

The other shots below highlight one of my favorite ways to use the Sigma, taking a much more limited field of view, but using the changed perspective to bring together objects fore and rear. Middle left, Karl Bitter’s ‘Pomona or Abundance’, framed with cherry trees and 58th street buildings behind. Middle right, a group of twenty-somethings sits in front of a blooming Eastern Redbud (Cercis candensis). Far right, looking north from Belvedere Castle, highlights a scene that probably would’ve been improved with a wider angle, allowing the breadth of the view to take center stage.

A favorite thing to do with this field of view, for me, is stitching panoramas. It presents an option that combines the intimacy of the perspective of this focal length with a wider field of view. Besides the top image, I also took the portrait of a girl under a Magnolia (below left) which was two horizontal shots stitched together, and then a shot of the trees in the mall with violets in the field (center left), three horizontal photos stitched.

Another great advantage of this particular lens is the low aperture value, allowing for a wide range in depth of field. In the center photo, I try to pick out this leafy shrub in a field of Virginia Bluebells (Martensia virginica) at F/2.8. This is especially useful in portraits of course, which I’ve added a couple taken previously. Center right is Eang at the Grant Memorial in Manhattan, F/1.4, amd far right is Bee and Mo at the Great Falls of Paterson, NJ, F/9 (notice how good the waterfall looks, really stretching the depth of field).

As a photographer who switches from distant views to portraits to street photography to wildlife shots, there are certainly drawbacks to sticking with a single lens. The Sigma has a relatively high minimal focus length, meaning I cannot get nearly as close to a small flower or bug as I’d like. This problem is highlighted by the yellow Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) below. That was about as close as I could get to the flower.

A second problem in the wildlife realm is completely obvious if you’ve ever wanted to take photos of birds or other larger fauna. It is very difficult to get close before your quarry takes off, as seen in this photo of a Great Egret (Ardea alba) flying away. The lens does do an admirable job of capturing detail if you do get close enough though, as this second shot from March of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias). You need more reach most of the time though. A lot more.

So why did I go out this day using only one lens when I had all three in the bag? Practice. A 56mm lens on the micro 4/3rds system is equivalent to a 112mm lens on a full frame camera. As far as normal eyesight is concerned, I’ve often seen 50mm (25mm on micro 4/3rds) bandied about as a ‘normal’ field of view, or most like what we actually see. Therefore, I find it really helpful to practice ‘seeing’ in longer focal lengths. As I said at the top, I’m finding that I enjoy this Sigma more the more I use it, and am even starting to prefer it as my street photography lens. It captures a great amount of detail, brings a landscape with many levels of depth together, and does a wonderful job in close-up portraiture.

A Day in Central Park

Behind the Poem - … or Abundance

Lucky Cat’s Day at Apshawa