Wedding photography is something unique, encompassing other photography genres like architectural, portrait, macro, fashion and even travel photography. It is indeed a genre of photography that demands more from the photographers and their gear.
A great camera body can help capture any wedding day’s most beautiful moments. However, the best type of lens will help you capture each of these moments with creativity and artistry.
Wedding photography lenses come in all sizes and shapes, however, the best and most common types of lenses wedding photographer use includes:
- 70-200mm
It is big, it is bulky. However, shooting a wedding without this lens is like going to battle without a weapon. The 70-200mm lens is the workhorse when it comes to weddings. Versatile, this lens provides you amazing sharpness in every focal length. At 200mm, the bokeh is particularly beautiful even with a stopped down aperture because of the compression of the focal length.
It also makes you invisible. You do not need to be so close to people and you can capture beautiful moments and candid expressions from afar. Thus, it is especially useful during the ceremony when you want to take your distance and even capture the exchange of rings and kiss discretely.
- 4-70mm
Another workhorse of any wedding photographers, the 4-70 is a wide telephoto lens covering a good range of focal lengths, while still offering a bright aperture for the dimly lit wedding ceremonies.
It is also wide enough to capture the whole ceremony in just a single shot. Plus, you can adjust telephoto end for portraits and closer shots. It sees a whole lot of action and can be used to capture candid photos of people, wider location scenes, some details and decorations, and even the first dance.
- 50mm
Another favorite lens for wedding photographers, the 50mm focal length captures great portraits. This is because of the low aperture creating a shallow depth of field which softens the subjects’ skin and making them pop.
Not only that, but it also saves the day when the light begins to drop with the wider aperture allowing you to depend less on the flash and create a more natural and softer look for your subjects.
- Macro Lens
Those detail photos and ring shots may only make up a small part of the wedding album, however, they are still important. And macro lenses have the unmatched abilities to capture such details— from the couple’s rings, tiny details on the bride’s dress, to architecture and flowers.
Plus, you can even it for portraits such as a shot of the bride’s makeup and eyelashes. Macro lenses come in all sorts of apertures and focal lengths. However, the 100mm focal length is the most popular among wedding photographers.
