Self Portrait with a Thrift Store Lens.

It's mentally impossible for me to pay full price on anything. I grew up so poor that I have a mini panic when I see a full retail price tag. "90 dollars for a sweater? Come on. I could have knitted that in my sleep!" That said, naturally I adore thrift stores.  This frugal fashionista can spend hours looking for treasures.  How else could I have met my favorite red vintage purse with tassels?

But thrift stores are not just for clothes and used furniture. On a recent trip I scored a Nikon 28mm 2.8 E series lens for 20 bucks,  1/5 of the ebay price.  Oh, if only you could see the happy dance I did!

Here are some test self portrait shots with the lens in front of window light.  Post processed in Lightroom. It's a lot of work having to manually meter and focus, but I like the way these images came out.

So yeah, definitely scope out your local thrift shop for camera deals.  You never know what you'll find.  If no luck, at least you can pick yourself up an ugly Christmas sweater.

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