Last summer I was a volunteer photographer at Scotiabank’s Wheelchair Challenge. There were a few other photographers there and for the most of the day, we each busied ourselves trying to capture interesting things that happened during the event. We did talk to each other before the event got started, something photographers do to gauge the other guys’ equipment/experience/skill. One guy called himself a wedding photographer and had just finished a wedding the day before.
We both had Nikon D50 cameras and so we briefly discussed how great they are (making ourselves feel good in the process). He talked about how he did a wedding session for X. Then he complained about his lens not being sharp – that it was “soft”. I mentioned that he should always shoot at least a third of a stop (f6.3 for my 55-200mm f4-5.6 lens) than the lens’ fastest aperture . He agreed he always tried to keep it at f6.3. But his lens was slower than mine. It was a Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 and he was shooting wide-open at 200mm. A guarantee for soft, subpar photos.
First – the lens isn’t a sharp lens – it’s a do-all lens that you sacrifice everything to have a lens that can vary between landscape, everyday shooting and medium telephoto photographs. Second – it’s Sigma – a third party lens that is okay but not awesome. Like buying no-name ice-cream. The quality just isn’t there. And last – he didn’t know his equipment or what its limits were. He didn’t know that he ought to have better equipment for what he was doing or how to make it work to its optimal level.
Weddings happen once (for the lucky people). The best way to remember them positively is to have beautiful photos of the happy bride and groom and anyone else who made the day more pleasant. Videos in my opinion, are too real and cause the actual memories to come flooding back. But I digress…
Even if he was volunteering to be the wedding photographer, everything about him reeked of an incompetent amateur. I don’t do weddings because I’m not awesome yet. I think I’d like to – and be paid – but until I can guarantee someone that I’ll nail enough digital moments to last their lifetime, they should hire someone better.
Only call me if the only person willing to do it is that guy. Then maybe.
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