Thank you MODWEDDING for the feature and being included in your Best Wedding Photographers 2015 editorial series! It’s an honor to be included in your extremely talented list!
I can't believe Chloe is already 2 years old! We try to take as many pictures as we can during our daily lives but we tried to do something more special and got dressed up to take some "family" photos to celebrate her milestone. I use this term "family" loosely lol because it's really hard for me to be in the photos with the rest of the family and with the windy day it was just plain difficult to get one good group shot of us. We had an awesome time though and i'm glad we have these pictures to show our girls once they get older. - A.
I have always been hesitant on spending too much on a macro lens. It just didn’t make sense to invest a whole lot of money on a lens that I really only use for one shot and that’s a ring shot. Since the very first year of shooting weddings I have used Canon’s cheapest “macro” lens the EF 50mm f/2.5 macro. I put the quotes there since there are some out there that wouldn’t even consider this a true macro lens since it doesn’t even hit 1:1 without an adapter but for me it’s been a truly solid lens in my line up of lenses that I use at every wedding.
With all that said, in 2015 ring shots are going to the next level. I have been following the release of the Chinese made VENUS 60mm f/2.8 Ultra-Macro Lens and finally had to chance to test it today. Let me tell you, I have already fallen in love with this lens. From the really great build quality to the $370 dollar price tag this lens was made for me. The lens is super sharp and has full manual controls for both aperture and focus. This beast has a 2:1 macro ratio and I felt like I was looking through a microscope at 2:1. I’m likely to mostly use this lens between 1.5:1 and 1:1 ratios as I felt that 2:1 was just too much detail and just too close. I could see the small streaks of oil left behind by my finger prints when trying to capture a 2:1 macro image. See for yourself the comparison shot i have posted below of my wife’s David Yurman ring. This picture below was taken with the VENUS lens at 1.5:1 ratio.
For comparison the picture below is the largest ratio I could achieve with my old 50mm Canon lens. Can’t wait to shoot some rings in 2015!
