Wide Angle to Telephoto: Why I shoot with so many lenses

A professional is always prepared.

In my last post I talked about how I have a lot of gear. One of the reasons I do this is to be prepared for any situation. This short sequence of shots is a great example of the variety I capture because I have so many lenses with me at all times. For this series I was shooting from the window of one building across a courtyard to where the couple was posing on the Juliet Balcony. I couldn’t move or change my position, and neither could they. The only thing that could change was my composition and my focal length. These five shots were taken with a 24-70mm zoom on the wide end, and a 70-200mm zoom on the telephoto end. I know a lot of people who don’t own a telephoto lens such as a 70-200 as it is simply too heavy, and too expensive. I can’t live without mine.

I started out with a wide shot knowing I wanted to capture the entire tower. This was taken at 24mm.

lenses-5155Another wide angle shot, this time portrait orientation and zoom in a bit to 35mm.lenses-5142Next I switched over to my Telephoto lens to get some tighter shots. First a horizontal image. I knew I wanted to include the whole brick arch above the couple. This was at 85mm. I know a lot of photographers who don’t own a lens more telephoto than this. lenses-5206Lets remember that I am shooting out of a window here, and can’t move. The only thing changing is lens selection and zoom level. This is a new pose. Again I wanted the whole arch. This is zoomed in again to 112mm. lenses-5119Lastly I wanted a nice tight shot. This image is zoomed in all the way to 200mm. lenses-5216

In Summary having a lot of gear helps me to improvise and be more creative on your wedding day. There are times when we can’t get close to the action and need a longer zoom lens like the one I own.