On Sunday, I attended my first Flickr group meet-up in Liverpool city centre with some fellow Merseyside photographers.  It was even more of an event because I finally got to meet a couple who I’ve chatted online with for quite a while now. [Hi Sarah & Dave!]

A small number of us met for a tapas lunch which was very tasty and then went onto the German Christmas market that was being held in the city centre for a quick photo session.

I’m not used to taking candid shots or street photography so it made a change for me.  As did shooting with my 50mm lens which I’m only really starting to appreciate.  Not only does the fixed focal length mean I have to put my feet to work instead of the zoom ring, but it also forces me to think differently about the shots I might want to take.  I say ‘might’ because sometimes I’ll change my mind about a shot once I’ve seen it through the viewfinder.

One of the main things I like about the 50mm is the very shallow depth of field at f/1.4 and even at f/1.8.  The difference in bokeh compared to f/2.8 at 50mm is seemingly huge.

I’d like to see what the 50mm f/1.4 can do on a full frame camera which would allow me to get much closer to a subject for the same field of view and this is one of the reasons why I want to go full frame.

Anyway, some shots in my Liverpool set on Flickr.