Ace and fast lens

There was a discussion provoking post on DigitalProTalk last week on fast lenses. I added the comment there, but I though writing a post on my thoughts and recent experience is a good idea.
Basically, I think fast lenses are not a best idea for beginners not only because of cost of the lens, but also technical difficulty of shooting at f/1.4. Yes, the results are stunning. And yes, of course you can buy decently priced fast prime lens, like I bought mine 30 mm f/1.4 (for cropped sensor Nikon D300). It allows me to shoot without flash in low light situation with a reasonable shutter speed to get acceptable sharp images. But, at least at first, only in theory. I took me almost half of a year and several completely ruined photo shoots to be able to go that low with aperture. And the problem is incredibly shallow depth of field. Working with it requires some experience and paying attention to what is in focus and already out of focus in the frame. It is like with Lensbaby, takes time and practice, so it is not for beginners by definition :).
And, since I already practice and practice some more with my fast lens, I could get this nice portrait of my cat Ace, sitting on my recliner. Without making him run away from the flash. With shallow depth of field, at f/1.4. And the eyes are sharp. And that’s about it :).