My Favorite Lenses Part 2: Canon 135mm f/2 L

Today I will continue my lens series with an important..but not as versatile lens, the Canon 135mm L f/2.I will be completely honest, I don’t use this lens anywhere near the amount that I use the 50. BUT when it is needed, there is NO other lens that does the same and the photos it takes are absolutely beautiful! It’s a prime, fixed lens which means that it doesn’t zoom. It’s light, sturdy, and focuses EXTREMELY fast! Taking action photos with lenses as they get longer definitely gets more difficult which is why I only use this during certain times of the day. So, how did I stumble upon this lens you might ask? Not on purpose, that’s for sure! Before I owned the canon 70-200 2.8 II L , I wanted to rent it  for a dark church ceremony.  Unfortunately, the man who I was renting from said that the lens was already rented out..  but he did have another lens that would work well in a low-lit church. I fell so in love with it that I bought it the next day! I almost ALWAYS shoot this lens all the way down at 2. Always. So here are a few examples of what this lens is good for…

It’s a perfect lens to capture moments from afar..like fun times while the girls get ready.

as well as moments when some people don’t want you to be “all up in their face”..

 THIS. This is why I bought this lens. There is a church in town, St. Francis, that is SO beautiful, but SO dark. They are also very strict as to where we can and cannot take photos..making the intimate shots that couples want me to capture during the ceremony super difficult to get. It’s so dark that f/2.8 just doesn’t cut it and the 50mm 1.2 just doesn’t get me close enough. So out comes the 135mm, which enables me to get decently close in a super dimly lit church without making the photo overly grainy.

It works especially well with kids…here is a photo taken in the same dimly lit church.  This little girl was frightened to death of that bouquet and the fact she had to walk it down the aisle. The 135 helped me capture that without distracting her with a camera in her face.

 It works beautifully for couples portraits as well.  At times, it can have a very dreamy look. Some couples just feel more comfortable when the camera is a little farther away. I feel like it enables the more camera-shy people to flourish.





THIS is what I LOVE about this lens. When I don’t want to break out the flash quite yet, but it is just a tad dim..I always use this lens for the first dance or reception. It allows me to capture emotional, intimate moments in a decently low-light atmosphere, without literally being the third wheel during their first dance..(haha)



 For the same reasons, I use this lens during the speeches. Love that I’m able to capture the emotion in such clarity!

So is this lens an absolute necessity? No. Would it be one of the first lenses that I would advise you to get? No. But, if you have the extra cash and shoot a lot of weddings in dark churches, I’d definitely say it’s a good investment!

-Katie