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Old Hume Highway (Alias Main Street), Mittagong, Southern Highlands, NSW
Late 2006: "I should probably get myself a prime lens. They're supposed to be sharper and clearer, and good for portraiture work even though the only subject I have to work with is me. But yeah, let's do that."
And so at 15:44 on the afternoon of Thursday 02 November 2006 I walked in to Foto Riesel, claimed my corporate discount (discussed in image 060408_111616_0676), plonked down $AUD550 and picked up a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 prime.
(That's $AUD887.65 in 2024 dollars, though street replacement cost in 2025 is around $AUD700.)
Which, I presume, sat in its box for the better part of a month for the first time I got it out (well, used it anyway) was on a trip to Canberra exactly 1 calendar month later.
Why there, and why then? I'm writing this in 2025. I can't remember why I decided to do something last week, much less 18 years ago and change. At the time I liked Mittagong; I thought it was a quaint country town which I almost always stopped at on my way down to Canberra. For a time, a couple of years later, I avoided the place because of someone who lived there. Now, after many more years, I couldn't care less (and wouldn't recognise her if I saw her; the reverse is probably also true) so I'm pleased to visit there again. Perhaps not quite as much as the early days when Canberra trips were still relatively new to me, but pleased anyway.
Remembering the debacle of my first shot with the 300D I probably decided to save the first shot with the 50mm for something a bit more memorable than my balcony. Mittagong seemed a good choice for that... although in retrospect this lion fountain was a tad pedestrian as a choice.
I probably wanted to see what kind of sharpness I could get with a prime compared to my 24-105, as well as what sort of bokeh I'd get with the previously unexperienced f/1.4 opening. Less than I expected on both fronts, as I recall, but it would be a stretch to say that I was disappointed with the lens. (Pre-publication edit: I wrote that when I was still looking at this in Bridge. Looking at it in Photoshop... that central lion, which was of course the focal point is indeed rather sharp.)
In October 2010 I would undertake a challenge that I had heard about; shooting only with a prime lens and having to move in and out to "zoom". It was at the Sculpture By The Sea exhibit for 2010. I get the theory behind it; zoom lenses can make you lazy, you just zoom in on the subject that you want to grab, and therefore don't take into account what you could also include in the shot. So I did the challenge. I don't ever plan to do it again. Was it worthwhile as a one off? Eeeeh, maybe. Did I get better shots as a result? Questionable. Did I miss out on shots that I could have done had I had a zoom lens? Pretty certainly. Do I regret doing it? On balance, no... but for me it was a "one and done".
The 50mm didn't have a stellar career with me, but it did its job well when I called on it.
The fountain is located in the main drag of Mittagong. Highland Models in the background on the right would be gone by 2007 (as have many hobby stores in the last couple of decades) and I can't even find any online references to it now. Flowers by Van Til described itself on its Faceplant page as "A local icon in the floral industry", if it does say so itself. Except that entries on that page ceased in 2020. Mmm, I wonder what happened then?
At one point the florist occupied both of these stores, but later moved over to the former Highland Hobbies one on the right.
Google Street View does show it still open until October 2022 at least. By April 2023 it was Mittagong Flower Merchant, and the web page link on the Flowers By Van Til Faceplant page redirected there. Change of name? Unlikely given the former name's longevity. Change of owner? Quite possibly.
After all, 2006 was a long time ago now, sigh.
At the intersection of the Old Hume Highway there is a gate.
Mittagong, New South Wales, Australia.
Sydney to Yass run 2015
Sydney to Yass run 2015
