This is one of the first photos I took last night when I got hold of my new (actually quite old) Zeiss 50 mm lens. I am proud of having traded a new-ish Sigma portrait lens for it, it ended up costing me $34 plus shipping.

I am somewhat embarrassed to say this new way of buying a lens – bartering and haggling and waiting – is exciting for me, I never thought to do it before. Now, it’s the only way I do it. And I’m pretty good at it.

Taking responsibility for one’s life is satisfying. It took me a long time to figure that out.

This old Zeiss lens is like new,  even though it’s probably eight to ten years old. It was obviously not used much.

There is nothing like Zeiss glass.

it’ s a manual focus lens and challenges me to consider the light carefully before I pull the trigger. When the lens came, it was too dark to go outside, and so I looked around inside.

I wanted to capture the warm feeling of our farmhouse living room, the one Maria and I worked so hard on for so long when we moved into the  house.

I like the clarity of this lens, especially in low light. We love old lamps, they don’t throw as much light as new ones, but they are warm and give a cozy and comfortable feeling, especially in the dark days of November. I took the lens out this morning to capture the snow. I’ll put those photos up.