I was looking forward to Eeyore’s Birthday Party in 2023, not only because of the free spirit and colorful characters but also to test my new Sony A7C. Other than quick urban landscapes and casual usage, Eeyore’s was my first real test for the Sony A7C. I even used a new lens, the second for my Sony. For general-purpose photography, portraits, and low-light environments, I purchased the Sony 50mm f1.4 GM. A lens that Sony announced only a couple of months before I bought the Sony A7C.

Shooting at Eeyore’s, especially portraits can be challenging because it’s crowded. A quality image with a distraction-free background requires a shallow depth of field. I was hoping to achieve this via the 50mm f1.4. I shot with the widest possible aperture when I could, decreasing the aperture for group portraits to ensure all was in focus. For example, I shot this first pair at f1.8.

I focused on the woman on the right at f1.4, and her friend making the bubbles is out of focus. The background melted away, emphasizing the subject surrounded by bubbles.

I opted to shoot at f1.4 despite having more than one person as the subject. The couple was far enough away that they would both be in focus. I’m generally happy with the bokeh, the out-of-focus quality, of the Sony 50mm f1.4 GM. However, I find it distracting in this photo with the swirly background.

Eeyore’s started with its counter-culture roots and you can still see signs of that throughout the event. The gathering is in its 58th year (as of 2023), though I’ve only been going for a dozen years. My inclination is that the event is becoming more mainstream as time passes, but I don’t have a long enough track record to speak from personal experience.

Any full-frame camera with a large aperture lens can blur out the background. But how good is its people-tracking ability? It’s hard to tell from these static images, but the couple was dancing fast and swinging each other around. The Sony kept up well.

The solo woman also danced energetically, and Sony’s eye tracking seemed to work through sunglasses.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of separation the 50mm f1.4 created, even at this distance from the subject. The background is not blurred; however, it is softened enough to reduce some clutter.

I’m finishing up with group portraits of happy people. I decreased the aperture to f2.5, but that wasn’t enough. Notice how the guy at the back is a little soft. We have three rows of people effectively, so I should have used f3.5 or f4 to be safe. The second group at f2.2 looks great. I don’t mind if some limbs are soft as long as all the faces are sharp.

Since I shot this event at the end of April 2023, I have purchased several lenses for the Sony, some of which will blur the background even more. I may experiment with these new lenses for Eeyores 2024.

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