Photography Q&A -Ask Me Anything About Photography

LIGHTS. Is upgrading to Profoto, Broncolor or Elinchrom from a P.C.B. Einstein E640 worth it (as a student)? I have been working in and out as a photographer in my hometown for 2 or so years now with the E640 and I love it. It has its limitations in power and is not weather resistant at all (i'm always extra careful withit). I'm moving two NY in two weeks after 3 years of savings and a lot of thinking and I felt the need to Upgrade to something more "professional". Thought's?

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:36:45 -0400

OMG! Do not upgrade if you are just about to move to NYC. You need every penny in your pocket. Moving to bigger lights is not what you need. You need food and metro cards and good shoes more than anything. :)

You upgrade when you absolutely need to. When you are constantly running out of power. When you absolutely need more robust lights. For now… keep rocking the PCB’s. Do not get caught up in “well, I have to look like I’m a pro with my pro gear stuff.” You can always rent if you have to and those will be on jobs that you actually have the budget to do so.

REMEMBER THIS!!! I’M GRABBING YOU BY THE SHOULDERS AND SHAKING YOU!!!! REMEMBER THIS….

You do not walk into a meeting with a potential client with your bag of gear. You walk in with your portfolio. Your portfolio and who you are gets you work. NOT your gear. No one knows what you are shooting with. You are not going to have a client walk off set once you’ve been booked just because you pull an Einstein out of your bag. REMEMBER THAT!!!

Save your money. Buy nothing else. Pour all your time and energy into shooting a new book. Your student book is going to scream “student book” so you need to shoot an entire new book as soon as you graduate. Save every damn dime you can for living and going to meetings.

DO NOT BUY THOSE EFFING LIGHTS!!!!!!!!

Good luck in New York. It’s my favorite city in the world. It will eat you alive but it’s worth it. Go for it.

Cheers,
Zack

sometimes i think this whole rejection of DSLR thing you are on right now is more about you trying to be 'different rather than better' being different for the sake of GETTING better is one thing. being different for the sake of being stubborn teeters on annoying. If you "love Canon full frame sensors" than who cares how much it weighs? You are now carrying one giant ass camera and 2 tiny cameras across 4 large bags, when you used to only carry 2 DSLR's. your hate for dslrs seems unreasonable.

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:40:45 -0400

First… I don’t hate DSLRs. There’s no reason to hate them. They are good tools. They are great tools. 95% of this industry is held on the shoulders of DSLRs.

When I got my first x100 I wasn’t searching for a DSLR replacement. When I got the X-Pro1 I was thinking it might be the DSLR killer and that wasn’t the case. As time went by though I found myself reaching for a small fuji more than the DSLR. I *enjoy* using the Fujis. DSLRs are appliances to me. Like a stove or a washer or a fridge. They’re just “things”. The Fujis though feel like they have soul. They excite me.

Once I started to see my Fuji stuff getting printed and really saw, in print, that the DSLRs I’ve been using don’t give me a substantial jump in image quality I began to realize that the DSLR is dead. For me at least. A lot of other people are finding the same thing for them.

They are lighter. They are more compact. They are easier to carry all day and easier to travel with. They are less obtrusive. They are more interesting looking than a DSLR. They have sparked more conversations from strangers on the streets to clients in my studio. And who has a DSLR? Everyone.

That brings us to your question of whether or not I’m just doing it to be different. That is part of the equation. Not the main part. Not even half of the equation. But it does factor in. Everyone has a DSLR. From moms to grandpas to commercial clients to teenagers to pro’s, etc. Nikon. Canon. Nikon. Canon. Sony. Canon. Nikon. Pentax. Canon. This thing. That thing. On and on and on.

I’m out in the world doing my thing but I’m firmly planted in the photography industry as well. I’m the type of person who wants to go find his own way of doing things. I want to find my own little path in this world. When everyone zigs I’m going to zag. Etc.

My hotshoe fell off of my X-Pro1 last year and I let it sit like that for a few months. I finally got around to sending it in to get fixed and when it came back… that’s when the last nail in the DSLR coffin was hammered down. I liked the X-Pro1 but I didn’t love it like I did the x100. When I picked it up out of the box when it returned from service… I missed it. I couldn’t believe how much I missed it. I love that camera. And that was it. DSLR is dead. Boom. Done.

Phase? I’ve written about that thing in length. IN LENGTH. I’m not going to go into those details again. I just used it on a job last week. I transferred a few photos to my iPhone and texted a few back to Meg to show her what I was working on while out of town. Meg is around a lot of photography and a lot of photographers but she doesn’t eat and breathe and sleep the stuff. She knew immediately they were from the Phase. She can see it.

It’s big. It’s expensive. It’s heavy. It’s not the most comfortable camera in the hands. It’s slow. It sucks at ISO’s above 200. But…. O. M. G. When you nail the shot… it’s unbelievable. I say that to say again… Quality between my Fuji’s and Canon’s? Not a big difference. Between those and the Phase? Massive difference. Massive.

So I’m Fuji and Phase right now. Completely different working cameras than I’ve used for years. Completely different from many working photographers. Completely different feel and experience when using each system.

Being a pro is about many things. There are many many many things that go into the life of being a photographer. The tools you choose is one of those things. I’m changing tools lately. I’m refining what it is I want to do with my photography for the next ten years and I’m changing the tools in my bags that will get me there.

And being different? It makes a difference. It does. In a number of ways. From the subjects in front of your camera to the client’s hiring you to the way you think as a photographer. It’s not always a HUGE difference or a defining difference… but a difference all the same and one that is well worth it to me to keep going down this path. And as folks bicker and complain about DSLR this and DSLR that… I’ve snuck out the back door and I’m off to do my own thing.

Cheers,
Zack

Zack, my website content/portfolio, which is my most public facing image, is years old and not an accurate representation of my current work, but I have no time to update it because I have a bunch of kids, a wife, I'm busy, I stubbed my toe, and Game of Thrones is on. I could wake up an hour earlier a few days a week to find some time or or spend less time goofing off online, or I could spend that hour thinking about why I can't wake up an hour early. In short: should I buy a x100s? Fuji.

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:42:49 -0400

Meg. Is that you?

Cheers,
Zack

Hello Zack, Have you abandon your website as far as photographic content? Seems you occasionally update your blog but apart from that it seems pretty outdated... Just curious! I'm sure it has a lot to do with the other million things on your plate!

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:55:53 -0400

It’s totally because of a million other things on my plate right now plus having four kids from 4 to 14 and an awesome wife and running a business and, and, and…

Like…

I just shot a job this past weekend in Arizona. I really want to blog that job but I can’t until the client releases the first part of it on their schedule. So that job gets delivered and then put on the back burner until I have the go ahead to blog it.

What happens from now until then is four more jobs will be shot that I’ll want to blog. Each of those will have a different timeline of when I can show them. Case in point. I start a three day campaign tomorrow. That won’t get released until next month some time so I have to sit on those. I shot an editorial job three weeks ago that I’m still waiting for the magazine to print before it can go on my site. I’m still 60 days from that hitting the streets.

I have stuff from a year ago that I can now blog but I’m busy on the here and now stuff that I just don’t have the time to sit and get them ready for the web. I know it seems simple. The thing is I don’t like to just blog a photo or two. I like to blog with meaning and purpose and talk about this that or the other about the job. To a fault. Maybe a BTS sort of blog post or something like that. That takes me a day to sit, edit the photos, write it up, have Meg edit it, etc. That and four kids? And manage the studio? And do emails?

The good news is I don’t blog because I’m busy. The bad news is I really need to update my entire site. All the galleries. Etc. I tend to be an all or nothing sort of person so when it’s time to update something as simple as a gallery then I want to spend a day or two going through my new work, find the pacing of it, resizing them for the web, arranging them, so on and so forth.

Right now it’s 4:50pm. I have about an hour to finish packing for the job that starts tomorrow. I have my assistant out running last minute errands and getting rental gear and supplies for the job. I have to pick my oldest son up from his friend’s house. Make it to dinner. Help Meg get kids to bed. Come back to the studio for last minute things. Do the job tomorrow through Thursday. Then Friday is post production ALL day on last week’s job and this week’s job. Saturday is a bit of down time. Sunday is prep for a week long gig with Kelby training that is being shot here in ATL and in NYC. I have three days off after that.

And to blog? Update my galleries? Ummmm… I need like two weeks off to get all that done. I don’t have two weeks off. If I do then it’s family time.

I still have to do the Fuji update blog post. And I want to blog about a few trips I’ve done recently that don’t have any sort of embargo on them. And I have a new teaching site to launch this year. And… and…. and……..

Lastly… right now in my life, I want to be a photographer more than a blogger. Nothing wrong with being a blogger. I’m just not the most efficient at it. This Tumblr? This is easy. Zero photos to edit and upload. No sitting around wondering what I’m going to talk about. You all bring the content. I just bang out some thoughts on your questions while I’m waiting for a lightroom export to finish and hit “publish”. I don’t even wait for Meg to edit it… which she hates because my posts are filled with all sorts of errors. :)

Lightroom is done. Adios!

Cheers,
Zack

I am shooting an event this weekend, around 30 guests, for 4 hours. Nevermind that they said they wanted me to put my 5d mark ii in "Point and Shoot" mode, want the pictures before I leave,not to use my flash since it will be indoors, and worse of all, they want me to just keep taking pictures non-stop..SPRAY AND PRAY!! :( ..What I really was wondering was how to get pics without having the same pic over and over again, have you ever been in this type of situation?

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:37:37 -0400

That’s not photography. Know what I’m saying? That’s just taking pictures. Anyone can do that. Maybe it’s you doing that. Maybe it’s getting a check and living another day. Maybe it’s stuff you never ever ever put your name on and show to the world. It sure isn’t photography though.

Maybe you say, “No. I’m not doing that.” And you walk away. Or maybe you ditch their ideas and do your very best to bring photography to this event no matter what. You use flash. You don’t spray and pray. You give them something they don’t know is possible.

Cheers,
Zack

God, can you imagine an Avedon button, I bet that'll be the next progressive of these filters within camera. Bresson button, Avedon Button, Arias button?

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:26:00 -0400

Arias button? You push it and the camera sits down and says, “Ummmm. No clue what to do here. Where’s the coffee shop?”

Cheers,
Zack

Quick one Zack. I have a 5Dmk2 and a 50d. Want to have two full frames bodies. Can't afford 5Dmk3. New 6d or secondhand 5Dmk2 in your opinion?

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:24:38 -0400

I’d vote a 2nd 5d2. It’s good to have matching bodies so your brain isn’t constantly trying to decipher where buttons are and all that.

Cheers,
Zack

Do you think you'll ever move out of ATL? Where to and why? (Pssst you should move to LA)

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:40:31 -0400

It’d be cold day in hell before I moved to LA. :)

Meg and I dream of moving to NYC once the kids are out of the house. We also love Seattle. We dream too of being 50 something’s living the expat life in Europe. UK, Amsterdam, or Italy. Who knows. ATL is an amazing hub that allows us to go anywhere. It’s a great home base.

Cheers,
Zack

Canon 70-200 f2.8 Or 135 f2 Over all?

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:10:46 -0400

That 135 f2 is an amazing effing lens. I loved that lens. Holy crap.

Best overall? Prolly not.

The 70-200 is more practical but the 135 is more magical. :)

Cheers,
Zack

I noticed that a couple of times now you've mentioned that you have a Canon 6D that you use on occasion. Why the 6D and not the 5D Mk III?

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:09:08 -0400

I recently split part of my business off into a new business with two of my colleagues. I sold all of my Canon bodies to that business. I felt, at the time, I needed to keep one DSLR body around for something. I was faced with getting a 5d2 on clearance, the 6d, or the 5d3. I knew for a fact that Canon gear is just not that important to me so there was no way I was going to drop the change on the new 5d3. AS GREAT as that camera is… it’s not worth the money. Debated on getting another 5d2. The wifi in the 6d is what sort of drew me in. I just needed a full frame Canon. I even though about getting a 7d but I do love the Canon full frame sensors.

So, I got the 6d. It’s ok. It’s a camera. Nothing massively special about it. It’s just an appliance. If I was a full time wedding photographer I’d have moved to the 5d3. Well, if I was a full time wedding shooter I would have stuck with Nikon for their AF. But that’s just me. :)

All I have left right now for Canon gear is the 6d and my non IS 70-200 2.8, an 85 1.8, and a 35 f2. I have a Canon 580exII that will be going up for sale soon.

I’ll hold on to this kit for some videos and stuff I’m going to be doing. All of my L glass has been sold. Putting that money into the Phase kit to get a 120mm or 150mm lens for that one.

Cheers,
Zack

After typing up a handful of overly specific questions, I decided it'd be best to get your general thoughts and/or concerns on this topic. Adobe Creative Cloud. Good/bad/why? Cheers.

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:00:06 -0400

Check the search box above. Not trying to be a prick but I have at least 20 questions about Creative Cloud in my inbox at the moment.

My thoughts on that.

Cheers,
Zack

Zack - your lowlight post was awesome, and I found it to be a great help, thank you. But there are still people who only ever use "crappy light" like Jeff Ascough. And thats why it still makes a lot of sense for wedding photographers to have 5d mk3 and the 1.2 lenses! Its one of the few forms of photography, other than sports and nature, which requrie expensive gear!

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:58:23 -0400

Agreed. There will always be photographers who get in situations that suck for photography and yet they pull something awesome out of it. Jeff is a good example of that.

Remember that the original question was asking about sharpness. As you can see in Jeff’s work, it isn’t always about absolute tack sharp images for him. He lets life blur in front of his lens and he’s a master at that. He has years of experience and while he may be shooting in crappy light at times, he’s great at composition, moment, and other aspects of photography. You could hand him a 1.8 lens and he could still do his job. Know what I’m saying?

Here’s a good interview with Jeff.

I’m NOT going to tell new photographers that they have to have the latest and greatest bodies and lenses in order to shoot great work. I’m going to say shoot great work with whatever gear you have and let your gear build up with your experience. The focus, in the beginning, CAN NOT be placed on the shoulders of your gear.

I chased the gear for years and went into thousands upon thousands of dollars of debt doing so. I’ve met countless other photographers dying under the weight of credit card debt as they chase the gear. At some point that chase needs to end. You wake up one day and realize that 1.2 is an aperture, not a style. You’ll see a 16 year old shooting amazing work with a point and shoot. You’ll realize that you’ve been buying what people told you to buy. One day you wake up and realize… “Dang. It isn’t about the camera or the lens or the softbox.”

So many people think cameras and lenses are getting better. They are. But cameras are stupid no matter how “great” they are. They know nothing. They see nothing. They don’t come with vision. There isn’t a DMI light in the viewfinder.* There’s no Avedon button on the back. The most important piece of gear for a photographer is their brain.

Sports - Yes. You need long ass lenses for a lot of sports. You aren’t going to shoot the World Series with a 50mm 1.8. That’s a given. Many sports photographers rent those lenses or use pool/company gear if they are shooting for a wire service or large publication. Nature? You don’t necessarily need 300 2.8 lenses and up. Wildlife? Yeah, maybe. Probably. Note that 95% of the folks who read this blog aren’t trying to shoot a pride of lions in the heart of Africa. :)

Most people reading this blog are jumping into weddings, portraits, editorial, and commercial jobs. They are either experienced in one genre and are thinking of transitioning into another genre or they are emerging photographers still trying to find their feet in this hobby / craft / industry / career.

I have a number of questions asking me that if it isn’t about the gear then why do I have a Phase One camera? Some think it is hypocritical of me to say stuff like this. I answered that here.

5d3 and 1.2 lenses? Gorgeous gear. It sure is. I’m not saying it’s crap gear and you shouldn’t buy it. I’m just reminding you that the gear isn’t the goal. The gear doesn’t make you who you are as a photographer. As duChemin says… “Gear is great. Vision is better.”

Cheers,
Zack

* Decisive Moment Indicator - Stole that one from Greg Heisler. :-)

I have been working on my carrer as a editorial/commercial Portraiture photographer for the last 6 years. I have hit the street and have had a couple of portfolio viewings but no hits on jobs. Well I now have a deadline on staying in LA or moving to Charlotte in 6 months. I have decide to contact "i heart creative" to use there service as a consultant. What i am looking to get is - figure out where I am on the map to my career as a photographer and direction to where to go. Good Idea?

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:52:42 -0400

We heart creative?

Can’t vouch for them personally or not.

What I can speak to…

Some shoe leather. Some meetings. That’s just planting the seeds. They are fresh in the dirt. You can not expect to harvest any time soon. Unfortunately this stuff takes T. I. M. E.

If… IF you are moving to Charlotte in six months then you need to be planting seeds there NOW! You need meetings when you show up. Maybe you get a job or two. Junior jobs that is.

There are folks who just sort of fall into work like I fall off a horse… easily. Then there’s the 99% of the rest of us who have to toil at this.

Hiring a consultant is a good thing but you have to really trust them. You have to love them. It’s like picking a spouse. Talk to them. Get to know them. Follow their social media feeds. Follow those they have worked with. It’s going to cost you but that cost may be WELL worth it.

IF you trust them then trust what they say. They may tell you that you aren’t ready for prime time. Or they may tell you that you are. Or that you need to do x, y, and z to get there. If they are worth their salt and have the experience to back it up then trust what they say and do as they say. I’m sure there isn’t a guarantee but it’s better than just whacking through the wilderness on your own with zero compass points.

Cheers,

Zack

When for weeks I compulsively check your blog several times a day to learn how the story of Pentax ends and every time I'm confronted with the March 22nd picture of Esin Görür laughing, is she laughing at me?

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:53:13 -0400

She’s laughing at all of us. I’m just not a professional blogger.

Today… today I was going to sit down and write that post…

But then I had a meeting. And it was my 7 year old’s field day at school. Then I had some errands to run. Then, I’m going out of town this week so I picked the younger ones up from school and took them to the park. Then we met friends for dinner. Now I have emails to do, some laundry, kids are in the bath, and I have time to squeak out a few Q&A’s. Then I’ll be done. I will have had three beers by the time the kids go to bed. That means I’m pretty much NOT writing a blog post tonight.

So tomorrow I’ll write it. But I have a lunch meeting. Then that meeting will end up at my studio. Then I have a meeting with my new assistant going with me on this trip this week. We have to go over gear, how I pack, how I work, etc. Then it will be dinner time. Then I’ll have to pack my clothes. Then I have to be to bed early because I have to get up at 5am to get to the airport.

Then I’ll be on a job for four days. Then I’ll get home for one day. Then I’ll be on a job for three days. Then I’ll have two days off. Then I’ll be on a job for a week.

AFTER that I’ll blog about Pentax. And Cuba. And the CNN anchor I photographed a year or more ago. And the Haverty’s exec I photographed. And the Kung Pao 560 II review. And the job I’m about to shoot. And then the one after that. And get ready for the Q&A book to hit the shelves. Then the kids are out of school. THEN I’ll blog. But I have a new web site to launch. THEN I’ll blog.

Shit.

I will. I will blog. I have to tell you where Pentax was. She was helping a friend in dire need. Oh. Pentax has a heart of gold she does. I promise.

Cheers,
Zack

What are "Must Have" elements to a photographers website? Also are there any photographers you feel who have totally nailed the website thing?

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:14:54 -0400

• Name.
• Location. (Tons of people don’t do this. I don’t get it.)
• Phone number! (Again, lots of people leave this off their site.)
• email (Not just an email form. A real email address.)
• Easy to navigate galleries. (Click to progress or arrow key to go back & forth)
• Thumbnails. My site is lacking this. Working on that.
• Blog.
• Bio
• Links to your social media accounts.
• Links to your off shore bank accounts.
• Sausage links.
• iOs compatible!!! No flash or html mirror site or something.
• NO F*CKING MUSIC!!!!! OMG!!!!! NO MUSIC!!!! AAAAAA!!!!!!
• No self playing slide shows.
• No papyrus, copperplate gothic, or comic sans fonts.

Photographers who have totally nailed it? That’s a moving target. I like this person’s gallery. I like that person’s bio. I like that person’s color palette. That other person has cool blog integration. Etc. I can’t say that I’ve seen the most perfect site in the world.

Cheers,
Zack

Which card do you use with your new fuji x100s?

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:05:59 -0400

Whichever class 10 SD cards that are on sale when I need to buy one. I have a mixed case of cards. I’ve had name brand cards fail and generic cards fail. I have zero brand loyalty these days. I don’t think I can actually care less about a brand of memory cards. I was once into Lexar UDMA CF cards because they supposedly were made to be used with their UDMA card readers but then I found any card in the same speed class worked just as quickly as a Lexar card. I still like my daisy chainable Lexar CF card readers though.

Cheers,
Zack

Zack, as a well known and respected photographer I wonder if you still get the occasional client that may balk at your rates and even go as far as to ask why it should cost so much? I've grown comfortable with my pricing and quality of work but I still struggle with explaining why my rates are what they are to the average client to be. Any advice on how to better explain why a good pro charges what he does?

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:53:48 -0400

As a well known (amongst photographers) photographer and respected (that’s highly debatable) photographer do I get clients that balk at my rates?

Yes. Quite often. From bands to commercial clients.

No matter where you are in your career you are going to be explaining and educating clients about your rates and services. From $50 jobs to $5,000 jobs to $50,000 jobs.

Don’t get offended. It happens to all of us. Take your car in for regular maintenance and the mechanic says some thing needs to be replaced on your car and it’s going to cost $1,700. How many of you casually reply, “Oh sure. That’s fine.” ?

You want to know why it costs that much, is there a less expensive option, how long can you put it off before you’re on the side of the road, etc, etc. Your mechanic then has to tell you how four major parts of the car need to be disassembled to just get to the part they need to fix. Then the part is X amount of dollars. Then all that labor to go back and put it all together again. Etc. How many of you start thinking about getting a second opinion from another shop? Huh? Yeah! All of you.

We all look for deals. We all want a rebate. We all want to find a good bargain. When faced with the face value of a service or product we’re quick to start finding a cheaper alternative. Some things just don’t make sense why they cost so much until someone breaks it all down for you. Once you understand everything that has to go into the thing you want then you start to understand you’re actually going to have to pay that amount of money.

Then there are times that everyone in town says it’s going to cost $1,500 to $1,800 to fix your car. Then one shop says, “Oh, I’ll do it for $300.” You know what happens a lot of times? You don’t trust that person. If ten shops quote somewhere between $1,500 and $1,800 for this job why is that person going to do it for $300?

And THAT is how a lot of photographers actually lose work. They’re too cheap! I once bid $4,500 on a job. Didn’t get it. I emailed the client a few weeks later to ask why I didn’t get the job. She replied I was too cheap. She liked my work but my bid showed that I wasn’t experienced enough for the job. If I knew what I was doing that bid should have been in the $25,000 neighborhood for a number of reasons. She was absolutely right.

They were wanting steak house. I showed up with McDonalds.

“Damn.”

Yep! Guess who got a tad bit more “experience” from that phone call?

Cheers,
Zack

Hey Zack! Lens hood or NO lens hood? Do you think they really have effect on the images? Can't really find on the net a good lens hood vs no lens hood comparison. Thanks!

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:34:00 -0400

I am a big believer in lens hoods. Being that I don’t care for UV filters and I always lose my lens caps, I do like lens hoods for protecting the front of my lenses. They also help provide protection from unwanted flare across the front of the lens that can kill ~~sharpness~~ contrast. (Sorry. I meant contrast. Edited this to fix that line!)

Some of my lenses actually have the hood gaff taped on the front at all times. Every lens I own has a hood for it.

Cheers,
Zack

Hi Zack, I have been photographing weddings with 550D & a 50mm f1.8, 35 mm f2. I had some focusing problems at 1.8 with the 50mm. Many shots go out of focus and they are not sharp even at 1.8. Could you help me with. What is the best way to get sharp focus shots in a wedding specially a Indian wedding. Another thing I wanted to ask is Back button focusing. Do you use it, does it really help. (this is my fifth question here, please answer this one :)

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:19:34 -0400

Oh. Too bad you are shooting Indian weddings. Indian people tend to be out of focus. Did you know…. “Bokeh” is actually the Japanese word for “Indian”. True story! Now Asian people, they apply sharpening very early in life and tend to be very in focus. Maybe you could switch to shooting Asian weddings?

I’m just joking. Just bustin’ chops!

Take a look at this previous Q&A. It addresses a number of focusing issues. It starts as a “focusing in low light” question but there are a number of things in there that you may want to check out with the issues you are having. I specifically cover shooting at 1.8 in that answer.

Here is an answer that goes into back button focusing and other focusing issues.

Focusing is a learned skill. You can have the best AF system in the world (which is probably a Nikon) and you can still blow focus.

In all honesty, be glad you are shooting Indian weddings! Of all the kinds of weddings I have shot in the past, Indian weddings are by far my favorite. The colors. The traditions. The people. The food. Mmmmmm. The food. :)

Cheers,
Zack

Most often I feel that taking good photos is all about being a good retoucher - creating dramatic skies when none exist, popping that extra colour in the eye (adding a tinge of coloured hue) et al. Unfortunately, from what I see - photography is nothing but creative canvas. Has the concept of photography shifted from freezing a moment to creating a fantasy story?

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:45:56 -0400

There are people who “see” in Photoshop. There are people who “see” in flashes and softboxes. There are people who “see” in window light.

By “see” I mean they pre-visualize in their mind’s eye. As they raise the camera to their eye they already see layers, adjustment palettes, masks, and toning techniques. They already know what is going to happen in post production before they even click the shutter.

Some walk into a room and know they are going to put a 50” strip box on the left, a 20º grid on the background, and fly a 7’ octa from behind them. They “see” it before the gear is taken out of the bag.

Some see that Friday is going to be mostly cloudy. They know what that means for their shoot. They “see” it.

You can’t say one is better than the other. You can have a preference. You can be drawn to one kind of thing or the other. This is called “style.”

I disagree with you that taking good photos is all about being a good retoucher. Retouching is not what makes great photography great. Sure there are photographers who do a lot of retouching who make great photos. There are also photographers who can shoot a great image straight out of their camera. It’s easy, and common practice, to flame and troll the other kind of a photographer than what you are. We all tend to do that from time to time but we can’t make it a hard and fast rule that the “other” kind of photographer sucks.

The one common thread though is content and moment and light and composition. Jeremy Cowart does a good bit of work to his final images at times. If you strip that all away though you go back to a very good photo to start with. It can stand on it’s own without the retouching. Then there are photos that are great but retouching takes them to a new level. John Keatley’s work is like that.

Garbage in… garbage out as the old saying goes. Work on nailing the content and then retouch as needed. The problem though lies when the retouching goes to far. When the “technique” overpowers the “content” then the image is lost. I’ve seen many a good photo absolutely ruined in Photoshop. Destroyed. I’ve seen many a good photo that could be made better with some Photoshop.

You see how you can’t set a fast and steady rule to all of this?

Cheers,
Zack