Know Your Camera

YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE EVERY LENS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR CAMERA. GET THE JOB DONE WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT POSSIBLE.

Contax 645, Kodak Portra 400, 210mm lens, f/4. Kauai, HI.

I constantly camp out at f/2 on my Contax with my 80mm lens. That doesn’t mean you’ll get the same look from your Nikon F100 and 50mm f/1.4 lens shot at f/2! Different camera, different lens, different look.

Same goes for family formals. I typically shoot ‘em at f/8 with my Contax and 80mm lens, but they would look completely different if captured with a different lens and camera combo. Get to know your lenses and their depth of field. Know what f-stops you need to use for every situation. There are markings on all lenses that will tell you what will be in focus when shot at each f-stop.