London Event Photographer : Photography and Toys
It’s a fact that men like to buy toys …
It’s also a fact that women like to buy shoes ..
Men would rather the women were buying lingerie, and often do that for them with mixed results, I’ve often thought if computers and TVs were sold next to silk and lace there may well be a winning formula, but I digress …
Men like to buy toys, bigger better faster more … if you are a photographer you have a great excuse to buy toys …
All of which brings me round to letting you in on the amount of equipment I bring to a typical event shoot.
To start there are two cameras, not only for back up purposes but also for a selection of options through the night. One long shot one wide, one with a flash, one without, one with a long exposure one with a short exposure. You get the drift …
A selection of lenses. I have my standard work horse lenses that will be with me most of the night, as a Canon user I use the excellent 17-40 f4 L and the 24-105 f4 L throughout the night. The 17-40 suits my in the thick of it and be part of the party style. It’s more of a landscape lens but the way I use it right in the thick of things it’s great. I use the 24-105 for longer shots speeches etc. I’m not a fan of being on the edge of the room and trying to shoot the whole night from a distance, sure there is a place for that, and I’ll do some of it but it’s not my style ..
I also have at my disposal a 70-200 f2.8 lens great for being a sniper and getting candid shots of people when they don’t know it. A 35mm f2 and 50mm f1.4, great for ambient light shots and new to the toolkit a 8mm Fisheye which gives me a full 180 degree field of view, from low down to high up my fave way to use this is with the camera screwed onto a painter’s roller pole it’s a great way to get something different.
It doesn’t stop there next there are flashes, 3 of them, remote releases ( for when that fisheye is on the over head pole ), flash benders and modifiers.
Add to that the stands and umbrellas I bring along for formal portraits that happen before the party gets underway
Lets not forget the software and computer needed to process all of these pictures or the portable studio I can bring to your house to provide studio quality photos.
Now that some investment, not only in cash to buy it, but time in learning how to use it.
Why am I telling you all of this, it’s because I want you to understand the difference between the photographer that invests in getting the best picture possible and a variety of shot so there is something different to look at. Sure any one can turn up with a half decent camera, and you can get a fairly good picture through a point and click or in daylight an iPhone but is that the way you want ever lasting memories to be.
I haven’t stopped investing yet, though the purchases will slow down now, I have all the variety I need I still spend every moment I can in learning and practicing. Photography is a bit like music, you can learn a tune and you can learn it by heart but until you learn the whole range of the instrument, you are no musician.
Hopefully I’m getting to the point now where I can consider myself a photographer.
