Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Lens Sample Pictures

When shooting portraits, don't be afraid to mix up your shooting position. For this downward-angled shot, I was standing on a step ladder.
 
Ashley's head is positioned with only green grass framing it. There are no distracting lines behind her head, shoulders and hair. Most of the balance of her body is framed by the rock she is sitting on.
 
Yellow daisies and taller green grass provide color and balance to the image.
 
Lighting for this picture is 100% natural. A patio roof subtracts some light from her right side, allowing the light from the sky to create soft light with a touch of dimensionality.

A shallow depth of field picture of a piano keyboard. Lighting is from a simple overhead music light.

A colorful sky at sunrise creates a beautiful background for these winter grass plumes.

A little girl lights a candle (with some help). Only a candle is needed to provide easily-handholdable light for this fast aperture lens.

A little girl stirs the Belgian waffle batter. Preparing breakfast is lots of fun - for kids at least.

A glulam beam supports heavy floor joists in this new barn construction picture.

A little girl shows off her fancy black dress while playing dress-up. Lighting is from available indoor lights at night.

A flag is illuminated by spot lights at this event.

These Maiden Grass plumes have been wind-whipped into puffy curls. The shallow f/1.2 aperture creates an attractive background blur.

Rocket trails lead to the burst of red, white and blue colors. Using a 2-stop neutral density filter allowed me to use an f/8 aperture, which resulted in much sharper images than if I had used an f/16 aperture without the filter.

A little girl appears pleased with her Christmas doll. A wide aperture lens allows the background to go blurry - reducing distractions. Flash was used for fill in this picture.

A hickory tree is silhouetted against a brilliant sunrise in this picture.

The attractive, wooden, arched Somesville foot bridge is a very popular photo subject for those visiting Acadia National Park and Mt Dessert Island, Maine, USA. Lighting at this location is challenging. A light rain was my friend this day.
 
I would like to have framed this shot slightly lower, but a large area of pond scum in the foreground made this framing far more attractive.

A picture of a pretty girl playing piano. Lighting is from a music light with a bounced flash for subtle fill.

A roof truss picture at f/1.2 shows the shallow depth of field capability of this lens.

Champlain Mountain provides a solid base for this Acadia National Park sunrise photo. With lots of interest in the sky (clouds), I chose to level the horizon (important if the ocean is the horizon) about 1/3 of the way into the frame. I also positioned the sun about 1/3 of the way into the frame from both sides.

Worn smooth from years of waves crashing it into the neighboring rocks, this pink granite rock takes on an very round shape. A cloudy sky provides fill light for the shadows in this picture.

Getting the focal length right for your fireworks pictures is not easy. I generally want the entire rocket blast contained within the frame. What makes focal length selection difficult is that these blast range dramatically in size.
 
I usually select a focal length that will contain about 80-90% of the blasts. I crop the smaller explosions and determine if the ones that exceed the frame result in an interesting picture or not (the "nots" are deleted of course).
 
This firework blast fit perfectly in the frame. With the high resolution Canon EOS 5D II behind the capture, I have lots of freedom to crop into the picture. I can of course use the picture as-is, or, with completely black borders, I can extend any edge of the frame by adding more black.

A room light combined with some fill flash illuminate a pretty lady at a family gathering. An f/1.2 allows the background to go blurred.

Notice the small patch of smoke in the sky? At least some wind is helpful in clearing out the smoke that fireworks generate. In some cases, so much smoke can become present that getting a good image is challenging.

A young lady poses with her also-young Quarter Horse Filly.

My daughter thought that this fireworks blast looked like a dandelion. I think she's right. Determining the favorite shots from a fireworks shoot (when the right technique is used) is very difficult as each is different and most are beautiful.