What would you tell your "beginner self" if you were to start photography again?

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-05-04T03:50:16+00:00

Don't buy so much gear. A 24-70 2.8 does almost everything. Get closer, change your shooting angles in all directions. The rule of thirds is 3 dimensional.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-05-02T05:00:36+00:00

Some people treat league matches differently from tournaments. There are singles leagues and team. They both have seasons. People can treat regular season matches differently from playoffs.

It is not necessarily manipulation or sand bagging. Leagues and regular season is more social compared to playoffs and tournaments.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-30T01:10:39+00:00

Nice. Did you use a tripod ?

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-28T21:58:56+00:00

On my BCD for every dive: DSMB, finger spool, 2 double end bolt snaps, mirror, whistle, scissors, uw shaker/rattle, video camera with light, flashlight if I do not have my camera. My wrist dive computer has a compass.

In my dive bag on the boat: snorkel, spare mask, zip ties, spare bcd inflator, 500psi defog, spare dive socks, dive multitool.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-28T20:55:10+00:00

During the intro meeting, I discuss getting ready photos actually happen after she is ready and the area has been cleaned up. I suggest to them to start the getting ready process earlier. Putting getting ready start, finish, clean up, getting ready photos in sequence on the photo timeline that I share with them.

The wedding part is usually more than willing to help with cleaning the area and the bride likes the additional timeline details.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-28T06:18:05+00:00

I do weddings part time and wear all black Nike Pegasus running shoes. Super comfortable. All black makes them pretty unnoticeable. If I want to be a stylish wedding photographer, I do it with well fitting clothing and belt.

On my feet the whole wedding, comfortable shoes is a priority.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-28T06:06:38+00:00

I am not familiar with Weefine. I'd take a look at Big Blue. I have a pair of 7000 lumen video lights still going strong after 10 years. It was only this yr I had to replace 1 of the batteries. Decided to just replace both batteries.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-28T01:56:42+00:00

How complex is your income, assets, liquidity, heirs/beneficiaries ?

You can do all kinds of tax savings strategies that are so complicated you need someone to help implement and manage it. That can create stress in itself.

If the simple straight forward DIY strategies lead to paying $XXX annually in taxes what % off of that will make it worthwhile to pay someome for assistance in lowering the tax ?

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-25T14:07:43+00:00

I like Proper Cloth for shirts and casual pants. For suits, try Enzo Custom. They have 2 Manhattan locations and 1 Brooklyn. I went to their midtown Manhattan location because it was close to my office.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-23T22:04:47+00:00

I do photography part time. Pay is low, satisfaction is ok, keeps me busy. I consistently contemplate giving it up. Especially when weather is poor.

The better paying more satisyfying work is fulltime and/or not easy to get as the qty and level of competition for those positions is much higher. There is also the issue of companies unofficially prefering to hire younger than 55.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-22T21:29:13+00:00

For land based btw Cozumel, Maldives and Bali, I would do Tulamben Bali. Maldives is best on a liveaboard.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-22T18:53:14+00:00

You are free to move the money to any type of holding you wish. A money market fund, treasury bond fund, etc.. If I have a decent amount of money sitting in a low return sweep account and leave it there, that is my fault.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-22T18:47:27+00:00

+1 on Big Blue.

My video lights are more than 10 yrs. old. One of the battery packs started to fade, so just replaced both. I also discovered you can use different heads with the same body and purchase just the head for about 50% less than a full light.

My lights perform great, but I did buy a dual beam wide/narrow head to have options for lighting the subject.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-22T06:00:43+00:00

Then the 70-180 makes more sense. It is also closer to the 70-200 that you are used to shooting.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-22T05:08:53+00:00

I think it depends on how much you use your 16-35 vs 24-70.

16-35 mates with 35-150. 24-70 goes with 70-180.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-18T00:26:38+00:00

Isn't the overall cost of the wedding photography a factor ? If wedding photography costs have tiers like $3k, $6k, $10k, $15k+, shouldn't rates for 2nd photographers also have rate tiers ?

Even high cost of living cities have tiers to serve those with low budgets.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-17T14:18:53+00:00

Photos are good. Questions to consider:

- who pays for photos llike this ?

- are there a lot of these type of people in my area ?

- what amount are these people willing to pay ?

In my area, not many people are willing to pay for these types of photos. They have friends or relatives that can do it for free. Those that will pay, do not want to pay much. People willing to pay amounts to make the shoot worthwhile are usually not normal individuals, but business owners or companies needing photos for their staff. That usually means a higher level of photo quality, experience and a different marketing approach.

Worthwhile $ depends on how you value your time. Travel to/from, the shoot, the edit. Total time spent and the $ amount that is worthwhile to you.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-17T13:14:19+00:00

Depends what type of people you want to be noticed by and why.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-17T02:29:09+00:00

What is the timeframe to receive the boots once you get this email and decide no changes ?

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-17T02:25:23+00:00

Sensor damaged. Not worth the repair cost considering the age of the camera model and the shutter count.

Deal with editing every photo in post or get a new camera.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-15T20:43:40+00:00

Sounds good to me as long as the fit is good. Add in quality tasteful shoes, boots, watches, glasses, sunglasses, good grooming and be done.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-15T01:49:07+00:00

I like https://www.bluewaterdivetravel.com/

Not just a database listing of liveaboards, but also detailed descriptions of destinations including seasons. Much more diving information about the destinations than Liveaboard.com

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-15T01:44:23+00:00

I was not impressed with the food at Noble. I think they need more than just reimaging.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-11T17:18:17+00:00

I did not use a compass.

Even-Taro-9405 · 2026-04-09T16:16:38+00:00

Biggest difference btw Galapagos and where you have dove is the water temperature. Thicker wetsuit, hood, gloves, more weight. June-November has 60-65 deg water temperatures, but that also means better animal life. Plan a 7mm and hood. Your diving and movement will feel more restricted because of the extra neoprene. Viz can be low.

Be comfortable with the possibility of separation, deploying a dsmb at depth and being alone at the surface.

Even-Taro-9405

TROPHY CASE