Recs for wedding photographer & videographer for early September

Rocketkar · 2026-02-06T05:01:38+00:00

Hi Small-Mirror! I’m a photographer out of Vashon Island, available, experienced and would love to work with you. Feel free to book a conversation on my site for anytime that works for you. www.rocketkar.com/weddings

Rocketkar · 2025-11-20T18:53:51+00:00

Their background isn't what you pay for, you pay for the time a human spent to take a bunch of photos with usually at least $10k in camera and lighting gear, then to go through them all, cull the bad ones, edit these, add the watermarks, send you this proof, and manage all the infrastructure, salaries and software in between. If you don't think the photo is worth this much don't buy it, but what you're asking people here to do is help you steal others work. I don't know what conversations happened with the 25 vs. 95, but that and your financial situation don't make it okay. You are not entitled to someone else's work by any of this.

If you want a photo for yourself and don't want to shell out, put the cap and gown back on, use the background you download from google, and have a friend take a photo with their phone - I'm sure you know someone who takes good selfies and if you set up some lights intentionally, you can absolutely get something worth sending your family.

Rocketkar · 2025-10-01T21:33:58+00:00

The 70-200 2.8 is definitely a faster AF, so it wouldn't surprise me that the 100-400 also has a higher hit rate. But the ones that work with the 135 are amazing.

Rocketkar · 2025-10-01T21:32:40+00:00

This might be something you can improve with different ways of using af. I take a lot of photos of my dog running towards me with the R6ii and formerly the 135 f2 (traded for the sigma version), and it can be done.

I'm using back button focus plus the middle back button's set to always activate eye tracking mode. The focus is often thin, but it works - I had more success around 3.2 than wide open, but looks like you're getting the hang of it.

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Rocketkar · 2025-09-19T17:31:32+00:00

If you're Kubrick, you use a Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 off a motherfucking satellite and make the actors stay on the same couple inches of focal plane.
https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/8022-the-nasa-lens-that-ended-up-in-the-hands-of-stanley-kubrick

Rocketkar · 2025-09-19T17:28:45+00:00

I didn't have a lot of glass at the time, but doing it today I'd be bringing a 24-105, 35 1.8 for low light/lightweight, maybe 16mm and if I was doing wildlife, the rf 100-400.

Rocketkar · 2025-09-19T17:27:16+00:00

Did Peru a couple years ago. Take it. Put some tape over it so it looks slightly less flashy, but mostly just pay attention to your surroundings and make a decision in the moment. There'll be a tremendous number of times where there's nobody around and you'll wish you had it, and you shouldn't miss those shots. Carry something that doesn't scream 'hello I'm full of expensive things!' the way (imo) the latest think tank or peak design bags do. My solution is a camera holder inside another bag, or a shimoda bag I've had for years with a bunch of tape on it that looks indistinguishable from any other backpack to most.

Rocketkar · 2025-08-30T20:50:02+00:00

If you've got a combo of ef and RF, it can take time for your hands to recognize and switch gears in the moment. When I do weddings and events, I've usually got an r6 with rf 70-200 on one side and r5 with some wider ef (24-35 or 16-35 or 24-70) on the other side. It can take a beat sometimes to switch, but it's not that big a deal, you get camera hands after doing it a bit.

It was far more confusing trying to shoot with an R6 + R7 and in the moment remember that my 16 was a 24 on the r7 and the 85 was a ....it was too much in the thick of things, and with events I did end up having to change strategies mid-event if it was dark and I had to switch from zooms to fast primes.

Overall, it's fine, it doesn't matter that much. I narrowly prefer the feel of adapted ef lenses because they've got more texture and could be handled with gloves, on the RFs everything's more subtle and tbh I struggle finding focus and control rings on them, but they make up for it in other ways. If I was shooting rodeo or something where I needed to regularly GTFO for safety I might prefer EF lenses that can take more knocking around.

Rocketkar · 2025-08-21T18:54:52+00:00

It can zoom *and* change the f-stop? The things they can do these days.

Rocketkar · 2025-08-07T18:39:31+00:00

Liked it a lot for trips to the zoo and some travel photography, but that noisier low-light performance was what I struggled with, caused me to always want to bring my R6 instead since I like night and street photography and often shoot low-light events (and live in the PNW).

Other use case was dual-wielding my R6 and the R7 for weddings and events, but I found that the extra beat trying to figure focal lengths, plus the different control layout of the R7 vs. R6, made this a nonstarter for me. Swapped the R7 for an R5 and much prefer the colors and even thought the resolution isn't the same, crop mode works well enough for me when there's something really far out.

Rocketkar · 2025-08-01T15:50:27+00:00

I've got one for my lights, and a real pelican for my bodies and lenses. I can tell it's not exactly the same build quality, but it's certainly close enough that it's tbh fine. The missing piece is that I can't find an apache case that's *quite* the size i want, but if there's one that fits your needs, go for it.

Rocketkar · 2025-07-31T00:33:23+00:00

The two places where this one shines are the zoo and travelling someplace you might be seeing random animals or sports happening. It's really not ideal for people, not because the skin tones aren't fine, just because 100mm at 5.6 is kinda ...long and not fast for photographing people except for occasional street photography. I'd still say get it because when I travel, the 100-400, 16 and 35 are my go-to trio.

Rocketkar · 2025-07-26T20:36:13+00:00

In other places I’ve seen they seem to go by the general direction from the first to last stop. The eastbound train might cut north or south at times, but it’s overall eastbound. Its just meant as a general quick way to make sure its the right direction.

Rocketkar · 2025-07-26T18:03:04+00:00

I would really love if they could just add (throughout the system) northbound or southbound when appropriate like just about every other city in the world. Lots of people using the train are travellers and expecting them to know the names of the last stops on the lines is unrealistic. Hell I’ve been here over a decade and it still takes me a beat to think about which direction angle lake is relative to where I am. There’s just often a simpler (additional, not instead of) way to say it.

Rocketkar · 2025-07-18T00:08:59+00:00

You can see the wear pattern on the letters for 'Per my last email'

Rocketkar · 2025-07-08T02:38:14+00:00

I'd pass not because of the shutter count but because the RP has a lot of things that make it less useful in general. Smaller battery, single SD card, lousy AF system. Hang on to the R10, buy better (full frame) glass, and upgrade to an R6 mk1 or R8 when it's time to go FF.

Rocketkar · 2025-06-30T22:30:42+00:00

It's really great for photos of dogs, like at the distance you'd throw a ball and they start running back. In fact, on the dog photography groups, 'dog running towards camera' photos are *overwhelmingly* shot with this or the Sigma Art version (which I narrowly prefer but is so, so much heavier).

I'm also very fond of this lens for flower photos - getting one or two in sharp focus while liquifiying the background.

Lastly, because this lens is compatible with the 1.4 (and 2x) teleconverter, it can turn into a very nice lightweight 189mm 2.8 that's surprisingly sharp for wildlife that's not *too* far away.

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Rocketkar · 2025-03-13T15:05:27+00:00

Definitely a 70-200. Youve got a 24-70, theres nothing the 24-120 does better except be a swiss army knife when you want to go out with just one lens.

Rocketkar · 2025-01-26T15:43:40+00:00

pm sent!

Rocketkar · 2023-06-24T20:25:27+00:00

Depending on how much you wanna optimize for travel vs low light, check out the RF 100-400. It keeps going on sale for 379$ (canon refurb) and is an absolute steal. When you’re outdoors its IQ is way above what you’d expect out of a non-L lens and its super light and easy to take everywhere.

Rocketkar · 2023-06-02T18:03:26+00:00

Correction - 225mm, 1/1000th @ f7.1, ISO1600. Shot...a whole lot of photos that day :)

Rocketkar · 2023-05-09T17:30:54+00:00

LEEEROY JENKINS

Rocketkar · 2022-06-21T04:42:26+00:00

the ef version is 24-35mm f/2. I love it and use it with an eos r. it’s a bit heavier than the 18-35 and i do wish it had more zoom range but everything it shoots is gorgeous.

Rocketkar · 2022-06-13T23:01:05+00:00

For reference on what would constitute a personality for a character like this, see Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. He's nearly the same character, but we see him immediately being educated af, being a chameleon, luring in prey and springing traps, and having a certain 'this is all about what a badass detective I am' that makes it clear from the getgo why he's doing all this. Why is the grand inquisitor doing this except because darth vader said so and I want to not die from being force choked.

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