Why I hate shooting with this lens.

[@seandalt]

It's stache season baby

[@Jamesmatthews]

That stache got me on hard mode bro

[@seandalt]

Mr. Gortex 2.0 is ready to go baby 🔥

[@seandalt]

Get your ass back to Bali man! We’re overdue for a hang

[@kuroexmachina]

if you image are boring, you are not close enough. very true for a 24mm

[@seandalt]

Love that quote 🙏🏼

[@proksalevente]

I've recently purchased the Sony 20mm and I love that it's pushing my boundaries.

[@seandalt]

Hell yeah man, we gotta push our boundaries to get better

[@saulekaravirs6585]

The way you were describing 35mm at the beginning was kinda how I felt with my 300mm reflex prime lens for a few months earlier this year. 300mm (and I'm shooting on APS-C, so a 35mm equivalence of 450) is way more versatile than you would think. I got it for birds and airplanes, but I found that I never took the lens off my camera. It was so much fun looking at things and either getting a decent size frame on something far away, or focusing in really close on something near by. I even took it with me doing street photography a couple times, not really thinking about it until I was on location. Then I was like, oh crap, I still have the 300 on here not my 50mm. But it worked great. Even for street photography, a little 300mm reflex can get you some quite unique compositions that most people would not use around town. Things like a water tower over a roofline, or the reflection of a jar in a shop window can be a lot of fun. You can also shoot through tight gaps between people to see something.

[@christopherward5065]

Wideangles are a difficult proposition The 35mm is quite naturalistic and great for maintaining context. The relative lack of distortion means it can be a good wide Standard lens that keeps you in the game in a variety of use cases. 28mm is the easy wide. It stretches perspective and enhances depth. It adds a bit of pixie dust by introducing moderate wideangle distortion. You can work close to your subject and create a world around them that seems spacious. 24mm has more distortion and is more of a scenic lens as it wears its wideangle distortions on its sleeve. It requires you to be deliberate because it can overwhelm a shot with exuberant perspective distortion. Its use cases are somehow fewer because it has deep focus and dilutes the scene if you’re not being deliberate. The deep focus means you have to be deliberate in order to get strong compositions. You have to move a lot and pay attention to the intention in your image making. 20mm and less and you are in specialist mode and the use cases are less universal. Things rapidly become too small in the frame so that you have to work close or shoot scenes with simple compositions. 28, 35, 50, 85, might be among the most useful combo shooting at f5.6 to f11 giving a good balance to the subject vs surroundings. Your images looked good in general and maybe you could have done with more context and more depth of focus. Your post production treatment was really sympathetic. Interesting observations!

[@lorenlehner]

I've been shooting with a 35mm for street and really like how the 24mm adds to the sense of depth. Makes my head hurt though thinking about how to pull that off well; I already end up cropping in post sometimes, so getting that close to the subject(s) seems like a real challenge. The people there in Bali are amazing - I love their attitude towards being photographed. The shots of the three men and the boy in the market were my favorites. Thanks for sharing!

[@seandalt]

Haha definitely makes my head hurt too, but it’s beauty when you can get it right. I respect the hell out of 24mm now. And yes, the Balinese are amazing! Kindest people I’ve ever met

[@el0blaino]

This was so wild. The 24mm is perhaps my favorite focal length, so here's "one reporter's opinion"! To me, based on the pictures you liked the most, it seems like you tried to use a 24mm lens like a 35mm lens and felt the best about compositions that had those elements you mentioned - "pretty pictures," "clean compositions," "negative space," "clear subjects," "eliminated distractions." So the pictures you liked the best - the boy in the market, the car with the rear view mirror, the tarp wall blocking half the scene, the man in the baseball hat between two blurry blobs in the foreground - I personally thought were less enjoyable. Not talking technique! The exposure of the boy pulling the tarp wall back, or that little boy - they are fantastic. And such cuties! But to me you were throwing away so much of your picture just for the sake of getting a single individual centered with arrows pointing at him saying, he is the subject! The car one is different, but also that seemed squarish to me, like you cut away a lot on either side - again, to give yourself the cleaner subject. The pictures that I loved from this selection were the ones at the bathroom - they were truly excellent to my eyes, perhaps with one exception where the hanging coat on the left and the blurred man on the right were too much on the same plane. That first bathroom one in particular, you didn't mention that the gentlemen formed a neat triangle, while the diagonal slanted away and into the image: a wonderful image. These could be lead images in a photo essay. Many of these you had the room walls at an angle, so you had depth and your eyes could travel through and into the image and enjoy what they found. Others I really liked were the produce store with the baskets of limes and the clock and, a bit less, the guy in the V-symbol t-shirt on the balcony/veranda, holding up elongated produce in each hand. The colors in that lime shop are so good! The chopped bread and mounded citrus struck me as very functional - you might want them as support if you were presenting a National Geographic style essay, but they'd never be a leading photo. It'd be more about the information, rather than information + art, even though in each you can see some care went into selecting the composition. I agree it's a tricky lens to use well. I don't think I myself get it right, and what I take to be your winners here are probably better than 99% of my winners! But it was so interesting to me that the pictures that felt right to you were the ones that looked like your 35mm pictures! I wonder if you used the 24mm for a year -- not every day, but steadily -- would you find yourself consistently taking and liking different images?

[@seandalt]

That is super interesting, and great point. I probably do use the 24 like I use a 35. I guess it all comes down to stylistic choice. I agree on the shots are the market, the compositions are much more complex and interesting. I suspect my obsession with clean compositions and center weighted subjects comes from Instagram, which was a big part of my creative process when I really got into photography about 10 years ago. To answer your last question, I do think if I used the 24 for a long period of time I would become much more comfortable with it. I do think it’s a great lens and I know I could put it to good use. I didn’t feel all that comfortable with a 35 when I first started, but through trial and error I really grew to love it. Thanks for the insightful comments!

[@Jtib-l6c]

FANTASTIC work!

[@seandalt]

Thank you!

[@jerfareza]

OMG I'm going to visit Bali soon and I'm stoked to take pictures there after seeing this video. I'm Indonesian myself but have never done street photography in Bali. Thanks for sharing the adventure. I agree that a wider angle like 24mm is so hard to use when you're out in the busy streets. I'm a 50mm guy myself. Still a good challenge though!

[@seandalt]

Hope you enjoy your trip here man! Plenty of amazing photo opportunities here in Bali. Get out into the villages if you can, the people are lovely

[@Teslien]

The sky car reflection is shown in the car mirror photo. If possible, I'd try to edit so the top to get the sky exposed. But great photo of the limes portrait. That's def a frame worthy photo to give that dude. 20-24mm is the most fun since you have a wide fov to capture more

[@Sqeezy3]

My top 2 photos from this video are the old man in the toilet area and the driver in the rear view mirror. I love my 35 GM, it's the best purchase ive ever done. I love it with a 70-200 GM II combo, if i need isolate something even more. I use the 35 most of the time, but I carry a Sigma 24mm f/3.5, because sometimes the 35 isn't wide enough and it's small so it's not a big deal to throw it in the bag. I'm eyeing the Sony 20 G to have a bit more exaggeration of the wideness, but it's pricey and bigger, happy with the Sigma's half macro.

[@stijnvanderbrug]

Die snor is fantastisch!🤙🏻

[@seandalt]

Haha much love thank you!🥸

[@polskat6226]

So many amazing photos 👏👏

[@seandalt]

Thank you!

[@nickroush]

I've been doing the same lately too. Forcing myself to shoot wider than I'm comfortable with, it's been a challenge. I just got too comfortable with a 50mm. Trying to make a trip to Bali happen early next year. Would love to shoot portraits there. Awesome work man!

[@ProYamYamPC]

I also find it incredibly hard to use 24mm. I tend to stick to 50mm+ for most of my photo/video work. But I might give 24mm a try

[@seandalt]

It's a tough lens to shoot with but it's always worth a shot. Can get some really beautiful and unique compositions with it

[@ProYamYamPC]

@@seandalt Luckily, I have a 24-70, so it's pretty easy for me to give it ago. I tried over the weekend, and man it wasn't easy🤣 I've essentially concluded 24mm isn't my style as I like to focus on the details and not the larger picture in my photography.

[@classic.cameras]

I recently bought the Sony FE 28mm f2. Used they are like half price and I have to say its that sweet spot between 24mm and 35mm. Like its wide but not so wide like a 24 or 20mm lens and its got some zoom to it but not like a 35 or 50mm. And the 28mm f2 is pretty sharp and has a decent look.

[@seandalt]

Nice lens! However I believe the 28mm FE is an APSC lens which is more like 43mm full frame, so smack dab in the middle between a 35 and a 50. I should have mentioned that in the video. I actually really want to try out a 40mm lens, looks like a really nice focal length

[@classic.cameras]

@@seandalt No its full frame. I use it on my A7IV

[@arize84]

If you don't mind the size, the Sigma 28mm 1.4 is the best 28mm available. It's every bit as good as my 35mm GM. A combo of fast 28mm and 85mm in my bag is also I need for a trip.

[@classic.cameras]

@@arize84 I actually own that one as well and its amazing but monstrous. Plus a few older vintage 28's like the Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AIS.

[@arize84]

@@classic.cameras Monstrous is a good description. On some days when feeling insane, I pack that lens along with my Sigma 105mm to give my shoulders a workout.

[@Jay_Ducker]

Great video bro and some absolutely stunning photos. Made me miss Bali - love the stache too

[@seandalt]

Much love my man great to hear from you Jay!

[@sfinnera1]

Beautiful shots

[@seandalt]

Much love brother thank you

[@konstantin_lv]

Wow, the 12:09 car mirror shot is so cool 😎 The backlit windshield adds to the awesomeness!

[@seandalt]

Did you catch the reflection of the woman in the bottom left corner as well? Was so stoked when I got that shot haha

[@konstantin_lv]

@@seandalt I did, now I can recognize a woman !

[@manuswarrier7447]

Damn Sean Fantasitic photos as usual! Inspiring work

[@seandalt]

Thank you Manu, appreciate all the support my man!

[@WhiskyLock]

Great video. Great use of that 24 👍

[@seandalt]

Thank you for the love!

[@fotografiauliczna]

you really inspired me to grab my 24mm and go to this market!

[@seandalt]

Get after it man! This market is actually epic, can’t believe I didn’t visit it sooner

[@cameraprepper7938]

To me the 24mm is almost as easy to use as the 35mm Lens ! I guess you just have to get to know that focal length more, even 21mm feels easy to use, but 14mm needs your attention all the time.

[@seandalt]

100%, I think it's all a matter of getting comfortable with it. Your style and compositional preferences also play a big role in that as well. Couldn't imagine shooting with a 14 haha

[@cameraprepper7938]

@@seandalt A 14mm are very special, I would not recommend for all kind of use, but for night sky and tight cityscapes it is great when you learn to handle it.

[@kodave1188]

welcome to Bali Island .. Im from Indonesia. peace

[@seandalt]

Thank you bro!

[@nicolasguillenc]

Nice stache bro!

[@seandalt]

Thank you brother! Worked hard for it haha

[@megamastah]

Very interesting video. As for 28 mm the new Sigma 28-40 f1.8 looks cool, but is a chunky boy for sure. Would make the direct comparison of 28 vs 35 a breeze.

[@seandalt]

Very interesting lens! I don’t think I’d end up picking it up as I have a 24-70 and several primes in that range, but think it’s an awesome option for a 1-2 lens setup. Sigma does make a nice 28mm, would love to get my hands on one! That and the Sony 40mm

[@megamastah]

@@seandalt Do you mean the DG HSM f1.4? It's an older generation as you surely know, but agree, very unique, like most Sigma stuff ;) People swear by that Sony 40 mm pancake and I can see why! There is also new compact 24-50 f2.8, but that's standard zoom territory. Thanks for the videos btw, always on the positive, cool and vibey side.

[@Tee.wrecks]

these photos are gorgeous! Which camera did you roll with for this shoot?

[@seandalt]

Thank you! Sony A7IV!

[@thatRyzzle]

The only real camera I own is the Fujifilm X100V, so I shoot basically 35mm (FF-equivalent). But I've noticed that I crop a lot in post, which results more in a 50mm picture. So, maybe that's my favorite focal length?

[@imanolcamblor]

Try 20mm f1.8 in crop mode (30mm)

[@seandalt]

I’ll have to check it out

[@mythicbone]

Hehe what about an 28mm lens for an next video ? 😉

[@seandalt]

Haha next one is 35 but I’d really love to do one on a 28 as well!

[@jacobdunn7634]

What happened to finding freedom? I was saving up :/

[@seandalt]

Good to hear from you Jacob! I am currently reworking it and hoping to have it up again for enrollment later this year or early next. Would love to hear from you on what you'd like to learn specifically. Would you be open to sending me an email? [e-mail]

[@plrrt]

why isn't the box of your talking head next to the picture not the same size as the photos aaaarghhhh this is driving me crazy!! amazing shots by the way 😅 i just went out with a 18mm lens and had the worst day shooting ever. also not much going on so that wasn't helping either. i guess if you keep at it you'll get used to it but i see the world in 50mm

[@mynameisnotcory]

Now try a 20mm

[@seandalt]

Sounds ruthless 😮‍💨

[@e5211]

I cheat. I just shoot large megapix and crop it out =D