Hey it’s LENSEL,
Just like that moment the wedding planner says we are skipping the group shot of everyone, only BETTER. Here’s whats on today:

• Tips and tricks to make dance floor photos easier/better/dancier

• A Happy Birthday

• News and Inspo to keep things fresh

Let’s go 👇

NEWS

Happening this Week

• Back from the dead! Kodak has finally released their new, yes NEW, super 8 camera. An LCD screen on a super 8 camera?

• Video screen grabs replacing a photographer?? This videographer announced this week that they are offering free “photography” as a part of their video service. And will deliver selected screen grabs from their video… uhhhh what?

• WEDDING winner of a lens from Canon. This week Canon released their new 28-70 f2.8. A much smaller, lighter, and cheaper alternative to the very popular, but heavy 28-70 f2. Find pricing info here and YouTube review here with all the good info you need to know.

• Sneak Peek Reality. Wonder if you give too many, or too few photos in your sneak peeks? Jump into this reddit discussion here to see what many others are up to.

• Mystery film slides. Incredible results from this photographer who buys old batches of film slides on eBay and scans them for us all to see.

• Where most photos really live. iOS 18 is now available to download on your iPhone and a big change, among many, is the design of the new Photos app. Get familiar with it here in this article.

• Just don’t do this. This photographer agreed to be a ‘guest with a camera’… And turned out not to even be a guest. DJs, florists, photographers. Never fall for this trap.

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY. ‘Photography’ turns 200 years old today. Marking the day when Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce wrote to his brother to let him know he had captured a scene of houses and trees. Jump in here to see the images.

SHOOTING

🪩 Your Dance Floor Moves

Do you remember…
If the DJ’s first song after the first dance is September… Then it’s time to run for the hills and just get out of there.

JUST KIDDING.

You’ve got one last job to do and that’s to capture the party vibes. Yes, get on the dance floor.

Now, there are plenty of ways to do this and techniques you can employ. But what’s good? Are we freezing motion with flash and streaking those lights everywhere? Or are we going low light, high ISO? Whatever your vibe here, here are some tips to make it, maybe a little better/easier/dancier.

⬆️ An EASY lens choice
Yes, most of us are going with a wide lens for dance floor photos. Whether we have a prime or zoom, most of our super high quality lenses are HEAVY. We recommend grabbing a lighter, cheaper lens and wacking that on for the dance floor photos. Keeps you nimble. Saves your wrists. Especially if you go one handed… Even cheap lenses are super sharp at higher apertures (which you are likely using with flash.) Canon users can look into the 28mm f/2.8 RF pancake lens. SO tiny, but the focus is not amazing if you want to use autofocus. (pro tip - use the constant light on your flash to help with the focus).
Nikon have the Z 28mm f/2.8 or even the Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3 would work great.
Sony have the FE 24mm f/2.8 G or the Sony FE 28mm f/2

Point is, make it easy for yourself, and don’t be scared of a ‘cheap’ lens here.

⬆️ Use manual focus
If you are flashing up a storm on the dance floor, and getting it done with a high aperture (7.1 plus..) then you could consider clicking your lens into manual focus. Set your focus distance to 1m and fire away. If you subject is in that range, then they will ALWAYS be in focus. Saves waiting for the autofocus in dark situations.

⬆️ Ditch the flash and get weird
Lastly, yes, we LOVE the flash on the dance floor but don’t forget to change it up. Shooting a scene is all about variety. Turn that flash off and use the available light to see what you can do. Silhouette with the light show from the DJ or slow that shutter down and let the crowd move. Use a filter over your lens for some interesting light movement?

It’s all about showing that movement, chaos and atmosphere… aka make it dancier 🪩🪩🪩

INSPO THIS WEEK

⬇️ Breaking the rules - this wedding is not from this week, but rather the start of the summer. TOO GOOD NOT TO SHARE.

⬇️ Bottega 53 always pushing the game…

⬇️ Next level frames from Daniel during this bridal campaign shoot. MUST SEE. And this little BTS vid here too.

⬇️ A wild ride from image to image. Surprising on each scroll. Love this wedding, the shot ideas and the way it was put together. 💯/💯

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