Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-10-05)

26 5 October 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

‘MYCAMERASofchoicearetwo

NikonD5bodiesanda D850,and

I havea vastnumberoflensesfrom

14mmto500mmandeverything

inbetween.I’vetrieda fewdifferent

mirrorlessbrands,butnoneof

themhaveworkedforme,fora few

reasons.OneofthecamerasI tried

wascapableof20fps,butI think

photographylosessomethingwhen

youshootatthatspeed.WhenI’m

working,a lotofthingshappen

quickly– forinstance,thePrime

MinisterleavingNumber 10 and

gettingintoa car.Thismightonly

takeseconds,butif I gunnedit at

‘WHENI startedatIPC,I was

givena Canonsystem,andI’ve

stuckwithit eversince.Whenthe

firstEOS5Dcameout,I bought

it andit wasamazing,aswasthe

MarkII.ButwhentheMarkIV

waslaunched,it wasrevolutionary.

It wassomuchbetteratlowlight

thantheMarkIIIandatsome

pointateveryweddingyou’re

goingtobeshootinginlowlight.

I workwithtwobodiesand

threemainlenses,soif onecamera

goeswrong(andit has),it doesn’t

matter.Ona weddingday,I need

tonotbethinkingaboutmykit

andhowit works– it hastobean

extensionofmyeye,andI can’t

beaskingwhyit’snotdoingwhat

I needit todo.

Mymainreasonforstickingwith

DSLRsis becauseeverymodelin

the5Drangehasworkedthesame,

despitethesmallchanges,and

I don’thavetimetolearnhowto

usea newpieceofkit.If you’re

someonewhocantakethetime

anddoesn’tworkina fast-paced

field,it wouldbepleasurableto

learnallabouta newsystem.But

I’vegotenoughtodo– amI inthe

rightplace,what’shappeningnext,

is myflashgunintherightplace?

• sopleasedon’tmakemethink
  aboutsomethingelse!
  Depthoffieldis thesinglemost
  importantcreativetoolinwedding
  photography,andI considerit in
  everyshotI take.It’sabsolutely
  vitaltomyjob,andthedepth
  offieldisn’tshallowenoughwith
  mirrorless.I dohavea Fujifilm
  X-T2,whichI oncetriedoutat
  a drinksreceptionwhenI knewI
  alreadyhadeverythingI needed.I
  endedupbinningeveryshotI took
  withit.Theimagesjustdidn’tlook
  rightbecausethedepthoffield
  wasn’tshallowenough.Andthen
  there’sthebatterylife.Withmy
  Canons,althoughI docarryspare
  batteries,I onlyhavetorecharge
  themeverythreeweddingsorso.
  Forme,mycamerais a bitlike
  mycar.I havea carthat’srelatively
  new,I don’thavetothinkaboutit,
  andit getsmefromA toB.It’sthe
  samewithmycamera.I havehigh
  expectationsofit,it’sgottodowhat
  I needit to,anddoit reallywell.’

DanniBeach

Dannispent 12 yearsasaneditorialphotographerwith

IPCMedia(nowTI Media)workingonmagazinessuch

asRugbyWorld,LoadedandTheField. Afterhaving

herseconddaughter 13 yearsago,sherealisedshe

neededa changeof direction,solaunchedasa wedding

photographer.Shenowshootsaround 60 weddingsa year.

Visitwww.dannibeachphotography.com

Leon Neal

When Leon was in his 20s, he won The Times/Tabasco

Young Photographer of the Year, which included a

six-month placement on the newspaper. From there,

he joined Agence France-Presse and then, three years

ago, moved to Getty Images’ news team, where he can

be found photographing everything from G20 summits

to Crufts. Visit http://www.leonneal.com

Danniconsidersdepthoffieldtobethesinglemostimportantcreativetool

Capturingaction,andnotthinkingaboutgear,is theweddingphotographer’spriority

Above: A Chinook

helicopter gets

ready to drop

sandbags on the

Whaley Bridge

dam, which was

at risk of bursting.

Leon relies on the

long battery life of

his cameras when

shooting all day

© DANNI BEACH

© DANNI BEACH

© LEON NEAL /GETT Y IMAGES