Why this portrait and wedding photographer prefers a 24-70mm f/2.8 to a typical portrait prime

 

 

Photographers who often shoot the same kind of work will likely have a favorite lens, an optic which produces the right kind of images for their own workflow. Even if you aren't a genre photographer and instead shoot many different kinds of subjects, you may still find yourself with a go-to lens. For Patrick Hall, wedding/portrait photographer and co-founder of Fstoppers, his favorite lens is a 24-70mm f/2.8. A Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 VC G2 lens, to be specific.

He likes this lens because his favorite type of portraiture to shoot is environmental. He wants to capture people in their natural environment and a wider lens can often help deliver this vision. It avoids being too wide while also not being so long as to compress the environment around his subject. You can see numerous examples of the 24-70mm f/2.8 versus another one of his favorite lenses, a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom, by clicking here. Hall also made a video, which you can see below.

He hits on a few important points. Firstly, it's important to know what kind of work you want to do and how you can best portray your personal artistic vision. Secondly, it goes to show the value of a zoom lens. While some photographers may swear by prime lenses for their excellent optical performance and often relatively compact size, there is a lot of value in the versatility of a zoom lens.

What say you, readers, what's your favorite lens? Let us know your go-to optic and what you use it to shoot in the comments below.

(Via Fstoppers)