Well. It’s time to post my first assignment. I’ve been getting too comfortable when it comes to my street photography. Getting farther and farther from my subject and straying away from my 28mm and shooting more with the 50mm. I felt lazy. So I decided to push myself to the opposite spectrum. Ultra-wide.

So here’s the assignment I gave myself:

• Shoot a Roll of film (24 / 36), or shoot 24 / 36 digital images in one day.
• Use only an ultra-wide lens. 12mm to 21mm lens.
• Get as close to your subject. Pre-focus between 0.7 -> 2m.
• Play with the perspective and converging lines of the environment if shooting farther from your subject.

I opted to use an 18mm combined with my M7 and Ilford XP2 400. This was a challenge for me, having to get as close as I could to make a decent shot and not feel like I was miles away from my subject. Definitely not all the shots were successful on the roll, but these peaked my interest. Since this I’ve shot another two rolls so let’s see what I get.

Even when I thought I was damn close to the subject, some of the images ended up looking like I was far away. Using this lens has re-inspired and enticed me to shoot more with it. Would love to use it in a protest, rally or political event.

-Dominic