The Phoblographer

wedding couple

Let me first admit that I’m not a wedding photographer. I’ve photographed a grand total of four weddings. However I have learned a few things in the ones I’ve done. If you’re a full time wedding photographer perhaps this tip sounds obvious, but if you’re not and find yourself shooting one, this might be something you wouldn’t think about.

Remember your telephoto lens – If there’s one thing that’s true for practically any wedding, it’s that the bride and groom don’t really get any time just for them. The whole day is packed with things to do, people to talk to, food to eat, dancing to do. Many couples will later admit they barely remember the day and that kind of sucks. What I do is ask them for a bit of time, often between the ceremony and the reception. After warding off the hordes of other people with their cameras trying to get the same shots as me, I put the longest lens I own on my camera and  find somewhere where they can be alone for a while. Then get out of the way and wait till they forget there’s a camera 50-100 feet away from them. They’ll appreciate and remember those moments forever while you make sure they do with the intimate, personal and unposed shots you’ll be able to capture.

Wedding couple 2

If like me you don’t use a telephoto lens in your normal photography often enough to invest in one, this is a good time to pull out the Tamron 18-270mm (available for Canon and Nikon). Read our full review here. Lastly, also take a look at our Ultimate Wedding Photography Checklist.

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When Tamron announced that they had won the EISA award for European Zoom Lens of the Year 2011 – 2012 for their 18-270mm superzoom (Nikon Mount, Canon Mount), I figured it was time to give this superzoom a review and see what all the excitement was about. My first question was what does 18-270mm even look like?

Editor’s Note: This lens was tested on a Nikon D300

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Telephoto lenses are those considered to be around 70mm and greater. They come in both zooms, primes, variable apertures and fixed apertures. Inspired by an email from a reader letter, we’ve decided to come up with a bunch of tips for non-professional photographers who want to become better.

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I found an old posting at Velodramatic via some internet forums that didn’t seem to get any buzz. Granted, it is an old posting, but it still brings up a very big point. The 85mm F/1.2 L isn’t terribly old, but there are some issues with it: like slow USM. Now, I have the 85mm F/1.8 (one of my highly recommended lenses) and haven’t found that I needed to have Image Stabilization built in. However, the L version is quite a bit heavier and I could easily understand why someone would perhaps want it. It is used by wedding, portrait and other photographers.

Though I have my doubts about this concept being real, I consider this image rendering to be a huge fake because I highly doubt it would focus out to 70 feet. However, this would be a very interesting move for Canon because of the fact that the 85mm F/1.2 L is used often in cinematography in addition to some of the current favorites. Adding IS to it would make a bit more sense. If it has the other focusing modes that their new zooms and primes, then they would be trying to prep it for other uses. It would be a viable option against the Zeiss cinema prime that we had hands on with before, though it would also be very different.

Do you think this could really happen? Let us know in the comments below.

Clarification: the writer says the lens is a fake. But consider the trends that Canon’s technology is following and the way they are moving forward with their lenses. Features from the higher end lenses often trickle down to other ones.

Canon showed off at its expo two new zoom lenses that are as different as night and day. On one side, the 70-300mm F4-5.6 L IS zoom lens offers a range of high-powered telephoto reach with a seemingly excellent image stabilization system. On the other side, the 8-15mm F4 L fisheye zoom lens offers a wide to really-super-ultra-wide angle, accomplishing some impressive optical gymnastics in the process. I spent some time with both lenses, and I was impressed (and at one point, amazed) by what I saw.

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Today, Pentax announced their new compacts including that gorgeous sexiness of a camera up above: the I-10. Others include the E90 and H90 which still have pretty nice specs as well. Target audiences, major specs and press releases after the jump.

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