I sold my zoom lens in February. Not the cheap kit one, the good one. A 24-70 f/2.8 that I carried everywhere for three years. I replaced it with a 35mm f/1.4 and a 50mm f/1.8 and told myself I would learn to frame with my feet.

Here is what actually happened.

Camera with prime lens
The 35mm. Heavy, loud, and I would not trade it back.

The First Month Was Bad

I missed shots. A lot of them. Dogs running, kids at the rambla, a heron at Parque Rodó that took off before I could zoom with my legs. I kept reaching for a zoom ring that was not there.

My hit rate dropped maybe 40%. I am not exaggerating, I counted. I went from keeping about 8 out of 10 frames to maybe 5. That is a real number from my Lightroom catalog, not a feeling.

The thing nobody tells you about primes is that the constraint does not make you creative. It makes you angry first. Then, slowly, it makes you move.

Prime lens on camera body
f/1.4 at sunset. You get this for free with a prime.

What I Gained

After about six weeks something shifted. I stopped trying to frame everything from where I was standing and started walking. Not zooming, walking. Into the scene, around it, sometimes away from it.

Here is what I noticed: