My beautiful sister asked for me to shoot her engagement photos back in January. It was one of the greatest lessons I’ve ever gone through as an amateur photographer.

One of the takeaways that day was the importance of the everyday zoom lens. There are some amazing prime lenses in the Micro 4/3 world, but I would have killed for a zoom lens that day.

So I went and bought one. And I reviewed it for Tools & Toys.

I would argue it’s the best zoom in this focal range for the Micro 4/3 system. It’s fast. It’s incredibly sharp. It’s built like a rock. It autofocuses insanely quick. And it has a pile of doodads and knick-knacks that only make the whole package that much more awesome.

I’m not saying I’m not going to buy any prime lenses in the future.¹ But this zoom, along with the larger 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro, make a daunting duo in my kit.

On a side note, I had my pal Josiah come out to shoot some of the photos for this review. His photos are stellar, as expected. Here’s a sneak peak:

But most of all, Josiah opened my eyes to the world of full-frame photography. I knew that world existed, but perhaps I closed my mind to it. Josiah’s images remind me to never entirely close any doors in this photography hobby. After seeing full-frame benefits come to full fruition during that low light evening, I’ll probably have to venture down the full-frame path in the future.

Check out the review on Tools & Toys. And, while you’re at it, check out some of Josiah’s other images on his personal blog.

Quite the opposite actually — I feel my everyday needs are now taken care of, so buying specialty primes looks to be a great route to travel. Ideally, the 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro sits on my camera for 90% of the day while high end primes like the famous Voigtlander primes or the Panasonic Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 will sit in my bag, begging to be used. ↩

Bono, in an interview with Jon Pareles of The New York Times:

After all the scale and sculpture of ‘360,’ to begin the next tour with only a single light bulb.

Although I won’t be in Rogers Arena in Vancouver for the opening night of the Songs of Innocence tour, I will be in the crowd on the second night.

I can not wait.

If you read the news, Songs of Innocence didn’t have the greatest debut. It probably holds a record for the album with the most downloads ever (or something like that), but it’ll be with an asterisk next to it.

Despite the asterisk, I love the album. It’s no Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby, but man it’s good. I’ve listened to the songs on repeat ever since the album debuted, and I’m chomping at the bit for the first half of Friday’s show to end with Raised by Wolves.

U2 is my first foray into geekdom. I was a U2 fan before I could talk. My dad played the punk band’s music in the vehicle on our trips from province to province, and it has stuck with me ever since.

This New York Times peek into U2’s pre-tour practicing plants just the right amount of shivers down my spine to make the next four days a terribly long time to wait.