Why hire a professional wedding photographer? – “My uncle has a camera”
THIS FICTIONAL STORY BASED ON REAL EVENTS
While the names and locations in this story are fictional, it is based on real and unfortunate wedding photography horror stories that I have heard first hand from friends, contacts, wedding guests, clients, etc.
At The Zoo – Who’s watching who?
This weekend I gave myself a few days off but as ever the camera wasn’t far away. It was decided we would make the most of the bank holiday and go to Chester Zoo for the day and this created an idea. What if I was to go back to basics, set my self a challenge and simplify the way I shoot for the day?
When I’m on a shoot and especially a wedding I go packed with a car full of gear – two main camera bodies and a spare in the bag, zoom lenses covering all focal lengths, prime lenses, flash guns, tripods, light stands, reflectors, batteries… the list goes on. For the zoo day I would go with only my Nikon D3 camera and a 50mm prime lens. I would be fine in low light without a flash with this combination but would need to pick my shots carefully. And because I wouldn’t be able to zoom with the 50mm lens as it has a fixed focal length I would have to move around high and low to get a decent shot.
It would be a challenge but if nothing else it would prove that a good shot is not just about the camera equipment but a lot about the photographer. After an hour or so at the zoo (in the pouring rain!) it became clear what my topic would be. It seemed the more I watched the people and the animals and the people watching the animal I noticed something. The animals were watching the people! In fact they seemed just as interested in us as we were of them! So the question was clear – who’s watching who?
Hopefully this post shows what I can achieve with just a simple setup. Its not that all the other equipment is pointless in fact the other gear makes my job faster, quicker and gives me more options. But what is important to note the it’s the photographer that makes the shot, not the equipment.
