During wedding ceremonies or family vacation portrait photo shoots I am a part of, clients often comment on the two cameras dangling from my neck at the same time. They see me swap from one to another often, and I guess it may look rather strange to any bystander. Sometimes I may say one camera is for each eye but that is not exactly true. The dual cameras mean I do less lens swapping during the client session. Shooting primarily at the beach where even the gentlest gust can blow sand inside the camera and on the sensor can cause problems. See our 9/21/09 article Great Beach Photos Often Mean Dirty Sensors.
My two cameras are pre-set with different but complementary lenses. 
Most often I have been using a Nikon D-700 with 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens, swapping that with a 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens when necessary and a Nikon D-200 with a 18-200 f/3.5 lens (and other DX lenses or lenses for a smaller than the full size D-700 sensor). This holiday season I got a wonderful gift from my wife, a 2nd Nikon D700 body where I now keep my70-200 lens. (What a great woman!) Using the two D700’s with these pro lenses allows me the luxury of not doing lens changes on the beach and reduces the amount of time I spend cleaning sensors. Most importantly, that means more time focused on my client instead of my equipment.
Having and using two different lenses is important to me. It allows both capturing a scene with a broad landscape, for example people with the expanse of beach and islands in the background with the 24-70 mm lens. And at the same time, by a simple swap of cameras, to capture a portrait, close-up or zooming in on the wedding ring being slid on a finger with wonderful depth of field only possible by using the longer 70-200 mm lens or standing very close by. Of course, when shooting an intimate wedding it’s always a good idea to give the wedding couple their space and the longer lens allows this to happen and still capture those perfect intimate moments that matter.
I admit it, I am a double-shooter and proud of it.
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We are regularly asked by our Portrait and Wedding clients to address specific body issues they have which require some serious post-production work, no matter what tricks we use during the photo session itself.
It may be a simple very visible mole on a cheek that the client wants banished from every photo, a stray mosquito bite, or an expansive tattoo. We can work to eliminate that double chin or chubby arms throughout the photo shoot itself with our camera techniques. Some photos will likely need some touch-ups later – especially candids or action images. And, to remove a full set of braces from a toothy smile always requires post-production surgery!
At Tropical Focus, we believe every client deserves the images they want that reflects the body image that will make them feel good. Some purists disagree and feel that photos need to stand on their own. We can understand this for those shooting purely in a photojournalistic style, since factual recording is the goal for those photographers. When our clients want a journalistic style, our job gets a little easier.
For the rest of you, we have some advice, to get the results you want:
- Tell your photographer about any body issues before your shoot, so it can be addressed first through the camera lens. What is an issue to you may be beautiful to us!
- Consider keeping a few finished images natural. In years to come, you may learn to love your imperfections. And, your children will never believe you had braces too if they are gone from every photo.
- If you want a special style or look, tell your photographer about it. A picture ripped from a magazine can speak volumes to us in referencing a look you liked.
- If you are sure you take bad pictures, forget that and flaunt yourself at the camera instead and have fun. Every single person who has done just that has bee pleasantly surprised by the results.
And, finally – the one thing we have learned from taking zillions of photos of people of all ages, sizes, colors, and shapes – no one is perfect, yet ever single person is beautiful in their own way.
I got an e-mail the other day from a bride who was excited, hopeful and ready to book my services if I was still available for her day and time. We’d talked last spring but she had long-ago decided she had to trim her St. John wedding budget and we had parted our ways – or so I’d thought.
There are four family photographer friends in the upcoming wedding group – three amateur and one professional – and she and her groom had decided to let them handle the photos to save costs. After all, they’d all be taking photos anyway.
In today’s tough economy, it was an understandable, although potentially a regrettable decision:
- Amateurs can and do take spectacular photos, but relying on those alone to get those important photos can be risky. After all, lighting can be complex and even the finest digital cameras can’t handle these conditions without expert skills.
- Are you sure that your photographer friends know about proper exposure or finding the perfect spot.
- And, while taking wedding photographs for family and friends is an honor, even for a professional, it is hard work, and the shooter ends up on the outer edges of some of the fun instead of participating directly. Speaking for my peers, we do it anyway out of love.
It turns out that the best man in this case was also a smart man. He and the maid of honor pooled their resources and decided to gift the young couple with a St. John wedding photographer as an early wedding gift. They wanted to take the pressure off the guests travelling so far to attend the island wedding, and ensure quality images throughout the day for everyone. It was a great kindness and a thoughtful wedding present which will last a lifetime!
As the chosen photographer for their Virgin Islands destination wedding, I am honored. Yes, I am giving them a generous deal – as kindness deserves kindness. I’m looking forward to meeting the whole group, and even helping the amateurs take some great photos. (… but that’s fodder for another blog, so stay tuned).
