Waking up and getting some sun on a sunny day in London on your roof is really quite a 'lovely' day in itself. Having no internet for the past few days and no reading material up there, I opened my phone and went to a site I check up on a few times a week, Steve Huff Photo.com. His site is one of the largest in the world for real life photography reviews, inspirations, guest articles and more. See why I like it? Anyhow, I always like to add to things I enjoy. With Vimeo and my over 1000 likes of some of the greatest short films you'd ever imagine, I always want to make one myself that someone else can learn from, or inspire- or at best take them deep in their subconscious while viewing. With the photography site- I had a published article a while back on a project I've still yet to complete entirely on my grandmother and Alzheimers disease. To my excitement, I saw my name, did a double take and realized an article I wrote had been published.
This time, as talking to a lot of my photography friends about how I go about shooting, and my love of having a small kit- I figured I would write up an article on a few large events I shot last year for some big clients of mine! Im always an advocate on enjoying every shoot- but mostly to get lost in it- its such an incredible feeling having a small camera, and manual lenses! This of course many enjoy, but for events are afraid. Is that setup going to look 'unprofessional' even though some of the smallest lenses (Leica) are the best there are and most expensive. I go against that grain, I think the candid and more moment based photographs along with BEING a host in yourself, or having the ability to almost blend in as a bystander is very important if you can. With recent technology, some of these high end Leica lenses can be fitted onto Sony mirrorless full frame cameras and even retro fit auto focus! Its incredible, and solves a dilemma with most small cameras. The camera features a full frame sensor you would see in a massive DSLR, the lenses can be used beautifully for travel, and now even faster paced events! Besides this, my current camera, the Sony A7S can be rigged out with weights, rig, cage, microphones, monitors, follow focus, cine lenses and become a full fledged cinema camera capable of outstanding results in the right hands and careful editing and color correction. I also managed to find a way to even shoot with it in clubs with a small but fully professional and powerful flash system! Essentially, whenever I was shooting video at events and seeing photographers stick out with huge lenses, clunking sounds from their huge cameras weighing them down and just inability to blend in- I needed to share some ideas for those looking at a different angle. Less is more. Its invigorating to get in there, work for your shots and be able to engage with people more, some of whom with a quick throw back of my camera in my small bag don't even know Im there photographing. Ive found in many cases then going back to those people (after having after some conversation letting them know I am the photographer of an event etc) I can gain more of their trust and get much better candid or group shots that look REAL.
This is just my take, to each their own! Although it was very heartwarming seeing my post for nearly 1 million viewers a month to see, and all of the comments about the system and usage I will be replying to very soon. :)
Below is the post link, enjoy, find a system that works for you and get lost in the art of creating and passion to keep pushing yourself in new directions. We live in an exciting time for artists.
-William Yianni Binks
To view some of event photography click HERE
