On a recent morning in Copenhagen, I went out with just the prime lens, and came home with some great shots!

One morning on my recent trip to Copenhagen, I thought it would be great to head towards the Royal Library, which is known locally at the "Black Diamond". In various cab rides, I had passed the place so many times that I lost count. But I never lost track of the idea that I needed to shoot there. It's a beautiful structure.

I also wanted this to be a "forced exercise" sort of thing, meaning that I would use the prime lens, and the prime lens only. No lens changes, and no tripod. Viewing things through a prime lens is great because the fixed focal length forces you to move back and forth, up and down, etc until you land upon the composition that you like. When I have my zoom lens on the camera, it's easy to fall into the trap of just zooming in and out and firing away. I like that the prime lens makes me think more. That's a good thing.

So I got up and headed out, and of course I stopped at Nyhavn first, since it was just a short walk from the hotel. Man, I love that place! Nyhavn is Copenhagen's historic harbor and is just beautiful - but today's post isn't about that. Sorry, I get sidetracked easily! More on Nyhavn in a future post. LOTS of pics to share from that spot!

Anyways, so I cut through some unknown-to-me streets, just to mix things up and get a little different view of the city. That's something I like to do and I think it's important. It's easy to fall into the habit of trodding along the same streets each time, especially if they are a major thoroughfare for pedestrians (and especially when you are in a foreign city). That makes it easy to get places, and keeps you from getting lost. And admittedly, we all fall into the habit of going along known routes. It's predictable and it's safe.

But actually diverging from that habit on purpose is a good thing (of course, your safety is most important so always be diligent). When you step out of your comfort zone, you have the opportunity to see things that you would otherwise never get to see. You may find some surprises (good and bad), but either way, you will certainly add to your familiarity and experience with a place, and that is always good.

Plus, you may pick up some photos that you love.

All this rambling reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, which you can find on my Inspirational Quotes page here on the blog:

find life experiences and swallow them whole. travel. meet many people. go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. try everything. exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life. - lawrence k. fish

So I wandered through some streets and eventually landed next to the main canal sort of thing that runs alongside the city. I knew the Royal Library was on it, and that I was heading the right direction, so it was just a matter of continuing to walk. See? Photography is also great exercise! Haha

I also made a point of trying to shoot different things than I often shoot, as I mentioned here in a previous post. In addition to it being a great creative exercise, it's just good to get a little variety. I am constantly trying to think of new ways of looking at something, or ways that I can change my accumulated habits, so that I can create a compelling image. It's all about the image, and the experience of capturing it.

Today's post is a somewhat random assortment of images taken on that walk. They don't really correlate together, except for having the common threads of all being taken on a single morning and all being taken with the prime lens.

And if you haven't heard me sing the praises of the Panasonic/Leica Summilux 15mm f1.7 prime lens yet, then let me just tell you that it is an amazing little piece of glass! It's tiny on the camera, but big and powerful in terms of its capabilities. I am super thankful that I have it, and in some ways it's now my favorite lens.

You can read more about it here, in the review that I published of it. When it's attached to my Olympus OMD EM-1 mirrorless camera, I feel like I can shoot comfortably at anything. It's fast, light, and highly capable - a great combo for travel!