The Neil Armstrong Statue on the Campus of Purdue University

In the short time that it has been on campus I bet the Neil Armstrong statue is one of the most photographed items on campus. I know that I have a hard time walking by it without photographing it. A couple of years ago I led a photowalk on the campus of the university as part of the larger Google+ worldwide photowalk. I went to campus a few days early just to see if I could map out a good route that would see the most as quickly as possible. We would want to spend some time at each location so it would work best to have a smooth route planned. It was during that prep that I made this photo. It is not the best photo that I have made of the statue, but it has stuck with me for some reason.

A Wide Angle Lens Will Change Your Outlook

I had a fairly new lens at the time that I made this photo. I used my new Tamron 10-24mm lens everywhere that I could. It really was a game changer for me. They say that you don’t know what you are missing until you put a wide angle lens on your camera for the first time. In 2012 I was doing far more landscape work than I do today so a wide angle was a welcome addition to my camera bag. It was a lens that has served me well over the years. I have had a couple of pieces published that were made with that lens. Now I use it very sparingly. It is more of a remote lens for me now. In fact tonight I will be placing it in harms way to capture the hammer throw at the Dave Rankin track meet on campus. The fact that it has become a bit expendable is kind of sad, but it shows that I have come a long way in the last three years. The lens that would not come off of my camera is now barely ever on it.