| I'd only been sat outside the church at Althorp | | | | 35mm film frame. This means your expensive |
| House for about ten minutes when, out of | | | | lenses will be able to work as they were designed |
| nowhere, several big, serious men appeared, | | | | to. Wide-angle lenses will be wide-angle lenses. This |
| apparently talking to their lapels. | | | | is a very, very good thing and, if you can afford |
| One took-up station by the gate to the | | | | it you should do it. |
| churchyard peering intently into middle-distance, | | | | Other considerations are build quality, frame rate, |
| another hung-back looking towards where they | | | | processing speeds and the like, although, to be |
| had come from and the last, biggest and most | | | | honest, any higher-level, pro-sumer camera from |
| serious made a bee-line for me. What was going | | | | Canon or Nikon will be more than a match for |
| on? | | | | 95% of the situations you will encounter. |
| I got out of my car and started to walk towards | | | | You are going to need at least two bodies; most |
| the big one, then, behind him, I caught sight of | | | | work is done with a 28-70mm on one body and |
| three other people, two of whom were women. | | | | the 70-200mm on the other. |
| This church had suddenly become very busy I | | | | A quick word about face-recognition, anti-red eye, |
| thought. | | | | digital zoom, scene recognition and all the other |
| Then it dawned on me - the men were police on | | | | "functions" that are actually gimmicks. You don't |
| royal protection duties, the three others were Earl | | | | need them or want them; no competent |
| Charles Spencer, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and | | | | photographer would use them. |
| their sister, Princess Diana. They were walking up | | | | Lenses - These is going to be expensive! Without |
| the hill, Diana carrying her father's ashes to place | | | | question you need to be able to cover 28mm to |
| in the family vault at the church. | | | | 200mm with two fast zooms. By fast, I mean |
| This was inconvenient; my camera was in the | | | | large aperture, f/2.8 lenses. They are called fast |
| boot of my car without film or lens. I ran back to | | | | because they allow you to use a faster |
| the car, opened the boot and began to assemble | | | | shutter-speed. |
| my kit. | | | | A very fast prime-lens can be invaluable when the |
| The big, serious man was now moving more | | | | light goes or for portrait work, a macro lens is |
| quickly towards me. I don't know if these | | | | nice for close-up work or copying pictures and |
| particular guys carried guns, but they certainly | | | | documents and a 300mm lens and doubler are |
| wanted to give me that impression. Hands | | | | just what you need for "secret-squirrel" jobs, but |
| shaking, I got the film wound onto the spool, | | | | they can all wait as long as you have the 28mm |
| closed the back and stepped-out from behind the | | | | to 200mm covered. |
| car. | | | | Top-end lenses have very fast autofocus |
| As soon as the big men spotted my camera, I | | | | systems nowadays and are really indispensible. |
| saw them relax. This is obviously what they were | | | | Others have Vibration Reduction or Image |
| expecting, so much so that the gentleman who | | | | Stabilisation and it works. I have taken tack-sharp |
| was about to jump on me had stepped back and | | | | pictures at 15th second on a hand-held 300mm |
| cleared the way for me to take my pictures. | | | | lens. If you can afford VR or IS lenses, get them. |
| I got about five frames off on a cheap and nasty | | | | Third party lenses by manufacturers such as |
| Sigma lens on an ancient Canon A1 body. The | | | | Sigma and Tamron are worth considering if your |
| pictures were in every UK national newspaper the | | | | budget is tight. They are good, capable and usable |
| next day, published around the world and still sell | | | | lenses, but frankly nowhere near the quality of |
| now, on occasion. | | | | the pro lenses offered by the big two. It really is |
| For that one hours "work" I made £11000. I | | | | worth spending some money on your glass. |
| should have made more! | | | | You may want to put good quality, coated UV |
| Sounds like fun, and it is, but it's only a tiny part | | | | filters on your lenses to protect the front |
| of being a news or paparazzi photographer. | | | | element, but otherwise filters are not necessary |
| As for equipment, it's horses for courses and any | | | | for this kind of work. |
| professional photographer will have a number of | | | | You will need two, high-power flashguns, one for |
| cameras, lenses, flashguns and bits and bobs that | | | | each body. Most snappers will use the flash units |
| will allow you to fulfill any likely brief. | | | | produced by their camera manufacturer although |
| A good quality compact camera is always useful | | | | there are a few good, third-party manufacturers |
| as a "walking-around" camera and to use on those | | | | of flashguns. Nikon and Canon both make capable, |
| occasions when a full-on, pro SLR would draw to | | | | powerful flash units that integrate easily with the |
| much attention or too many questions. | | | | camera system and offer many features you will |
| For the last few years I have been using an | | | | never use. Metz is also a very highly regarded |
| Olympus C7070 wide, although it's probably time | | | | flash manufacturer. These German units are well |
| to buy something a little more modern now. I | | | | made, high quality items that give Nikon and |
| chose the Olympus because it has an excellent, | | | | Canon a run for their money and are worth |
| fast lens, good low-light performance and a good | | | | considering. |
| imaging chip. It's a little slow to process the | | | | How often have you heard "hold-on, I'm just |
| images, the zoom range is minimal and the flash | | | | waiting for the flash to charge-up"? Of course, |
| isn't great, but it's done a good job over the | | | | Angelina and Brad aren't going to wait for your |
| years and it appears to be indestructible. | | | | flash, so what do you do? |
| One, crucial thing to look for is a good shutter | | | | You use an external power pack. These are |
| response. A camera that takes the picture | | | | packs containing some electronics and a sealed |
| half-a-second after you push the release is utterly | | | | battery. I use a Quantum Turbo because it will |
| useless. | | | | work with most flashguns, is very, very rugged |
| There is no compact with the capabilities of a | | | | and will keep my flash going for a whole, busy |
| good SLR so you will have to compromise. I was | | | | day. It will not keep up if you are shooting very |
| prepared to forego a little responsiveness to get | | | | fast, but for 99% of the time it will re-charge |
| the lens; you may feel differently so buy | | | | your flash virtually instantly. It will also pay for |
| accordingly. | | | | itself pretty quickly since you will have to buy far |
| As for SLR's, pro shooters will have several, again | | | | fewer expensive, alkaline batteries. |
| for different occasions and also, crucially, as | | | | The power pack supplies power to the flash |
| back-up cameras. Nikon and Canon undoubtedly | | | | through a cable and you should get a spare one |
| make the best pro, small format SLR cameras, | | | | of these because they do break. You will also |
| and no question. The top-end bodies from these | | | | need to buy an adapter which will allow you to |
| manufacturers are fantastic, the quality is | | | | power two flashes from one battery pack. |
| stunning, they are built like tanks and they are a | | | | You are going to need something to carry this lot |
| joy to use. They are also very, very expensive, | | | | around in, so a bag is essential. For news work, |
| weigh a ton and, in some situations, they can be a | | | | the most important aspect of a bag is how |
| liability. | | | | quickly you can get your gear in and out of it. |
| As for the pixel count, ask any photographer who | | | | Backpacks are a non-starter as are bags with |
| sells his pictures and he will tell you that the | | | | thick, modular padding. |
| megapixel count is not everything, indeed it's not | | | | I use Domke bags, others prefer Billingham or |
| even the most important consideration. | | | | Lowepro. A tripod and monopod are always |
| It was less than ten years ago, when digital first | | | | usefully kept in the boot of your car and some |
| became a serious proposition for news | | | | lens cleaning fluid and wipes should be in your bag |
| photographers, that Nikon introduced their | | | | along with spare batteries and memory cards, |
| all-singing Nikon D1 pro-digital camera. This camera | | | | notebook and pen. |
| is still used today by some pros, and it has a | | | | All this shiny, expensive kit is very nice, but you |
| measly 2 megapixel imaging chip, less than | | | | have to know how to use it and what its |
| virtually all compact cameras today. | | | | idiosyncrasies are. You need to take the time to |
| But this was good enough, as a paparazzo, your | | | | learn the equipment. A good way of doing this is |
| images are going to be used in newspapers and | | | | to use it at a wedding or school sports day, any |
| magazines and a pixel count somewhere around | | | | photography that requires you to think on your |
| the 12 million mark will be more than adequate.A | | | | feet and adapt quickly to changes in light and |
| higher pixel count will allow you to "pull" images | | | | composition will help you to understand your |
| further from within the frame, which can be | | | | cameras with respect to news and paparazzi |
| useful but the low-light performance degrades as | | | | photography. |
| the pixel count rises, causing more problems, | | | | So that covers the kit, next is the information, |
| more often. | | | | how do you find out where the news is |
| Full-frame cameras have an imaging sensor that | | | | happening? I'll cover that in my next article. |
| is, to all intents and purposes, the same size as a | | | | |