The Perfect Tool For A Destination Wedding Photographer
I’ve been a Canon user my whole professional life. I’m on my fifth set of digital cameras and each model has always had its limitations. But you learn how to work around those, and use the best tool for the job at hand. For the last three years I have been using EOS 5d MkII cameras which were great for a lot of the type of work I was doing – features and portraits, but severely lacked when it came to focusing speed. So the updated version of this camera, the Mark III with its amazing autofocus, has been recognised as pretty much the perfect camera for unobtrusive wedding photojournalism, an ideal test in my work as a destination wedding photographer.
This was my first wedding using these cameras, and it didn’t disappoint. It was a huge three day affair, centred on the famous wine making village of Sauternes in the Bordeaux region of France. Starting with a Church of England reverend giving the wedding ceremony in the Catholic village church, and then moving on to a magnificent Château.
Using the silent mode does mean you loose some speed with the number of frames per second you can shoot, but that’s really not important at a wedding when you’re picking your moments and shooting one or two frames at a time.
The camera hasn’t gained at all really in mega pixels, but the quality of the RAW files is still outstanding. I shot the picture below quite loosely, not knowing which way the bride would turn when trying on her veil. This is a crop of about half the frame, and the quality is still easily good enough for a large wall sized print.
This is where the 5d MkII might have let me down in the past. The groom and his Mother enter the church. It’s really bright outside, and maybe six or seven stops darker inside, and from this position I am shooting into the light from the doorway. On a 135mm lens at f/2.0 the shallow depth of field means it’s essential to get the focusing spot on. That’s tricky with a heavily back lit moving subject, but the 5d MkIII got every frame right.
Again the focusing system doesn’t let me down. After shooting some portraits, a guest drove by and gave the couple a thumbs up. It was only for a second, and the speed of focusing meant I had a few different frames, all in focus, of this moment to choose from.
By the time of the dinner at 9pm, the light is of a beautiful quality but low level. And this is another area where this camera excels for a documentary wedding photographer. By being able to shoot at 6400 ISO, and even higher, I can confidently carry on working with available light. There’s no issue with finding focus, and on processing later, the level of noise is not noticeable. It’s not quite as good as I thought it might be, but it’s really only when you’re looking at the pixel level that the noise is apparent.
Book Me As Your Destination Wedding Photographer
If you enjoy this kind of natural photography at a wedding, get in touch with me now to check my availability for your wedding. I could be your destination wedding photographer.
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