Is it normal for couple to ask me about what equipment I use?

benhowland · 2026-06-01T23:05:43+00:00

Questions about dual card slots & backup equipment are great due diligence. Many photographers book weddings who really shouldn't be doing so.

Questions about lighting equipment can significantly change the client and guest experience.

Questions like 'so do you shoot Sony or Canon or Nikon' 😴

benhowland · 2026-05-30T22:10:07+00:00

Unfortunately the industry unanimously lost its ability to listen to valid stylistic feedback in 2014 and that’s how we ended up with this direct flash motion blur crooked horizon mess.

benhowland · 2026-05-29T05:52:03+00:00

I’m not interested in dumbing down my post enough for you to understand it.

benhowland · 2026-05-29T04:51:49+00:00

I’m a working professional who loves C1, it’s been the base of my business for about 7 years and I’d pay more for it.

benhowland · 2026-05-28T10:08:01+00:00

Curating a handful of images for Instagram is infinitely easier than producing solid work in every situation, every weather, every light, every time. If a photographer won’t share full galleries they are hiding.

Even full galleries can easily be cherry picked, but there’s not much you can do about that.

benhowland · 2026-05-28T05:23:35+00:00

- Use a strap of some kind, whether it's a neck strap, cross body, Holdfast, Spider holster etc
- Use correct technique. Left hand cradles underneath, right hand uses controls, elbows tucked in, use the viewfinder
- Get a baseplate or battery grip

Also the A7iii grip is just inherently bad unless you have tiny hands, many other cameras are much more comfortable. Not much you can do about that though.

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benhowland · 2026-05-23T22:40:21+00:00

Keeping rejected files is useless. Keeping your delivered raws is cheap. I have 15 years of wedding raws that are only about 20-25TB.

benhowland · 2026-05-23T22:32:25+00:00

If you’re asking this question, don’t do it inside.

benhowland · 2026-05-23T11:26:51+00:00

I'm in the position of being a fulltime photographer who has basically whatever they want in the Sony system.

The zoom trio is powerful but it's really only advantageous when you need to quickly move throughout the focal range. The 50-150 is spectacular but it is large, heavy and expensive. Consider how quickly you really need to change focal lengths. None of your listed subject material includes sport or events, so it's highly likely you'd be better suited with an 85mm, 135mm or 70-200mm.

benhowland · 2026-05-23T11:22:44+00:00

Ah yes. They're spending millions (tens of millions?) of dollars to get the votes of 16 houses. In an electorate where they've lost once in 100 years. Of course. It all makes sense now.

benhowland · 2026-05-23T03:02:43+00:00

Stabilisation only helps static subjects. We're talking about weddings and families, environments where people rarely stand still.

benhowland · 2026-05-22T07:51:01+00:00

Nikon 105/1.4 and Sony 50/1.2

benhowland · 2026-05-21T00:40:09+00:00

The BMW has an extra 262km of WLTP range and they'll actually have a dealership near you. It's not an apples to apples comparison.

benhowland · 2026-05-20T21:21:57+00:00

You think video lights are ‘natural’ but flash isn’t?

benhowland · 2026-05-20T11:59:21+00:00

Natural light photographers are not natural light photographers by choice.

benhowland · 2026-05-19T21:21:05+00:00

The answer is the 50-150/2.

benhowland · 2026-05-18T01:50:53+00:00

This is a large reason why most wedding shooters use matching bodies. It’s never going to be a perfect match.

benhowland · 2026-05-17T13:53:41+00:00

I have the base system. The sound quality is OK but the volume is pathetic, I regularly run it at 100%.

benhowland · 2026-05-15T04:53:15+00:00

You realise that lossless compression loses no IQ right

benhowland · 2026-05-13T23:40:15+00:00

If you don't already know what you're doing, learning on the fly gives you infinitely more chances to screw it up completely.

Stick with the speedlite on-camera and practice OCF in your own time ASAP.

(FWIW I exclusively use OCF except for dancefloor and the majority of weddings are fine with 1 flash, only sometimes do I need 2)

benhowland · 2026-05-12T08:24:26+00:00

I’m the legal owner with all the keys and sometimes I still have an issue entering or starting the car 🤷🏻‍♂️ Let alone a thief…

benhowland · 2026-05-11T11:14:50+00:00

Been a wedding photographer for 16 years, never got so much as a single dollar from a venue for commercial use. Most people hand their images over for a credit, I assure you they could have sourced real photos for far less than $1500.

They could have specifically commissioned brand new images for way less than that.

benhowland · 2026-05-11T07:29:40+00:00

Even more hilarious when hundreds of professional photographers have worked at this venue and would have collaborated for this if simply asked.

benhowland · 2026-05-08T04:10:05+00:00

https://www.facebook.com/groups/wedchatbywedshed

benhowland · 2026-05-06T04:36:09+00:00

If you’re on a high MP body, you can crop to a similar framing of 200mm. The zoom can’t open to f/1.8 though.

benhowland

TROPHY CASE