WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS IN LOVE

GREENVILLE, SC & BEYOND

Lens Series Part 2: Going Long

When we got started in photography, we read a lot of information from a lot of different people about what equipment to buy and when. We did some things right and we did some things wrong. And we want YOU to be able to learn from what we did so that you can do it better! Hopefully this will help you if you are just getting started or need a little bit of help wherever you are in your journey! We want to help! You can catch up on our lens series here:

Part 1: Getting Started
Part 2: Going Long
Part 3: Creamy Dreamy
Part 4: Little Details
Part 5: The Whole Picture
Bonus: Secret Weapon

Today we want to tell you about the amazing Canon 70-200mm 2.8 and why we never go anywhere without it.

When we bought our 24-70mm that we talked about last week, it opened up a new world of possibilities for us. We were able to go wider and tighter than the 50mm would allow us to go. That was invaluable! But we quickly realized that we were going to need something longer than 70mm. So our next investment was in the 70-200mm 2.8. This lens picks up where the 24-70mm leaves off.

We have added other lenses to our bag since this one, as you will see in the coming weeks, but the 70-200 remains one of the most-used lenses in our bag. In fact, this lens rarely leaves Ryan’s camera body. Maybe never. Ok so maybe not NEVER, but he uses this one all the time! It’s his baby! And it does a few things that no other lens in our bag can do.

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We are going to get a little bit technical first and then explain why we would never shoot a wedding (or even engagement session) without it. So, one of the reasons this lens is so fantastic is because it creates a soft, creamy background in your images. The technical term for this is lens compression. The easiest way to explain lens compression is by example. Let’s say we are shooting wedding day portraits. We place the subject away from the background and then we get far away from the subject (because we are zoomed in at 200mm). Because we are so far away from the subject the lens sees the background as much closer to the subject than it actually is (compression). But because the background is actually quite far away, it is out of focus. That’s why we get the creamy soft backgrounds with this lens. That’s a very simple explanation of it, but we don’t want to get too technical!

With all of that in mind, how do we use this lens on an everyday basis? Let us count the ways. Like we said Ryan rarely uses any other lens! This is the only lens he uses on engagement sessions. In fact, many times when couples choose favorites from their session, a lot of those favorites are taken with the 70-200. This is because of the soft, creamy backgrounds it creates. Our couples love that look! He also uses it for bride and groom portraits on the wedding day for the very same reasons. This lens is also great when you are trying to capture moments without being intrusive. For example during a first look between the bride and groom. We can get so many closeup emotional shots without getting in their way! Another BIG one is the ceremony.We found that, while we were able to get some closeups with the 24-70mm, we could get SO much more with the 70-200mm. Ryan usually stands in the back during ceremonies and is still able to get pretty close shots of the emotions of the ceremony. And those are such important moments to capture!

So let’s recap. This lens is great at several things. First, creating soft, creamy backgrounds in our images. Next, it’s great at capturing those intimate moments without getting in the way. And finally, it is a must-have during the ceremony. Here are some examples of Ryan’s baby in use:

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So even though this was only our 3rd lens purchase, this is STILL one of our favorite lenses in our bag! In fact, it may get more use than any other lens we own! The closest contender would be our next lens we will talk about.

In the next installment we will be discussing Alyssa’s most-used lens and one that we could not live without! Come back and check it out!

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