Why professional photographers only choose best equipment

Today, you can get great pictures using the camera phone. These photos can later be sent to the mobile photography contest and get a prize. Then why do most professional photographers use the most progressive equipment, when they can achieve the same goals with cheaper alternatives?

In this article, I will bust several myths about digital photography and explain how the choice of equipment affects the final result.

Why hi-end equipment is critical in the work of a professional photographer

A photographer can have a great sense of timing, a talent for telling a story, and an incredible natural eye for composition, but it is the equipment and the techniques he uses that give his images their unique look and feel, expressing his style and personality.

Commercial photography is especially demanding for the quality of the final image and most importantly for capturing the moment. A snapshot for a family album either exists, or the photographer misses it, and there is no second chance.

Digital cameras with auto-exposure, autofocus, and high burst rates do an incredible job at freezing fast action, e.g., kids running in the backyard, or a bride throwing flower petals in the air at a wedding ceremony. Professional cameras enable shooting a large number of pictures in rapid succession thus increasing the odds of catching the decisive moment.

There are many other critical features of professional equipment: faster and more accurate automation, more control elements, more memory storage, more capacious battery, better protection from adverse weather conditions.

If you give a professional camera to an amateur, then he will not fully use its capabilities, and vice versa, an amateur camera in the hands of an expert is unlikely to limit his creativity, it will only be less convenient to work with.

Why do we use only professional equipment in Candy Fox?

An amateur camera is a wonderful tool with ample opportunities for daily use, but for professional photography, you need a little more.

If you work under challenging conditions - in bad weather, or when the time is limited - you become demanding on specific parameters. That’s why we invested in advanced equipment.

To realize a creative idea, any artist will choose only the best instruments (paints, clay, fabric, wood). In the work of a modern photographer, these are a camera, lens, lighting equipment, software, computer or laptop.

Camera

Now I shoot on Canon 5D Mark IV. It allows me to work comfortably and reliably. With it, I achieve the goal, posed by a client or art director.

The clarity of the image and the amount of noise depend on the size of the matrix or sensor. The smaller it is, the less natural the colors will be. That’s why photos taken on an amateur or cell phone camera rarely look good in print. My current camera has a large matrix and produces sharp images with the accurate and real colors. Its high resolution allows me to create big prints of my favorite works.

A smaller sensor usually produces noisier images. However, this becomes a concern only when you shoot in low light situations. If you ever photographed in the dark using your cell phone, most likely you noticed color noise in the images. It appears as halos, random points and lines or spots. Professional cameras are equipped with large and low-noise sensors, which guarantee a clear picture.

Lens

The distance from front to back that will be in a sharp focus is called depth of field and depends on the lens’ characteristics. Control over this creative tool allows creating beautiful and dramatic photos with blurred background with the subject in perfect focus. So when I want to change the mood of the photograph I switch the lens.

A zoom lens that I use makes it possible to shoot both wide-angle shots and close-ups. It’s very convenient for family photography.

Lighting

Equipment at Candy Fox Studio

The most important thing in the studio is the strobes that create artificial lighting. Why are they crucial for a professional photographer?

With the help of correct lighting, you can make accents on the photos, outline the face, make the shadows softer or vice versa deep and dramatic. I use light to tell the story of a person, to convey his character, to emphasize his good qualities.

But it has even more advantages! It makes it possible to create any mood and feel. Correctly placed lighting helps make wrinkles and other skin irregularities stand out less thus reducing the time necessary for retouching.

In Candy Fox, we use the most advanced and reliable lighting equipment, which gives a soft even light, allowing us to work in different genres: newborn, family, and portrait photography.

Conclusion

I already mentioned that the final quality of the image is affected by the size of the matrix, but most of all - the ability to correctly set up the lights, prepare photos for printing and carefully process them.

After all, any image can be enhanced in post-processing, but it will require buying Photoshop and learning how to use it. Professional equipment gives you exceptional results straight out of the camera.

To achieve a perfect result, you need not only the most high-tech tools. It is critical to have a technique worked out over the years to avoid mistakes and to execute the project exactly as planned. By this principle, great pieces of art were created. In the same way, a designer creates a logo that millions will love, an author creates a captivating story.