Event shooters that use primes: Q on technique

Hogloff wrote in post #16781803
Can you tell me how having two cameras leads to spray and pray? You've experienced this or just making it up?

It's simple: since you have two cameras and lenses that can cover everything (like a 24-70 + 70-200 combination on two bodies), you just shoot everything without really thinking about what you're shooting. That's what I meant by spray and pray - it's not something to be taken literally all the time. There's always this "fear" of missing out, and it seems that having all the gear you can have is the way to deal with this fear.

An event photographer needs to be ready - and being ready is not all about having tools, but also about being in the right state of mind for anything that comes. Having two bodies and covering all the ranges will not guarantee that you'll do well. Before worrying about gear, it's best to worry about yourself.

deanedward wrote in post #16782191
It's simple: since you have two cameras and lenses that can cover everything (like a 24-70 + 70-200 combination on two bodies), you just shoot everything without really thinking about what you're shooting. That's what I meant by spray and pray - it's not something to be taken literally all the time. There's always this "fear" of missing out, and it seems that having all the gear you can have is the way to deal with this fear.

An event photographer needs to be ready - and being ready is not all about having tools, but also about being in the right state of mind for anything that comes. Having two bodies and covering all the ranges will not guarantee that you'll do well. Before worrying about gear, it's best to worry about yourself.

Really, by having two cameras you will revert to just shooting without thinking. Is that how you would do it? Maybe give the photographer some credit that he knows how to use two cameras efficiently and the 2 cameras gives him more flexibility allowing to be more creative and reactive on the spot.

So using your philosophy, maybe people should be shooting events with 4x5 cameras loading sheet film between shots. That will force the photographer to really take care with each and every shot.

the only difference is that you are forced to think about your positioning more carefully and anticipate moments before they happen so that you are in the right place at the right time to get the shot.
We should be neither accusing, nor flaming over this "spray and pray" nonsense

The Dark Knight wrote in post #16777857
I've been shooting some random events here and there, next big one I got coming up is our annual work lunch. These are good opportunities for me to practice my photography, since these pictures are just going on Facebook and nobody really expects anything beyond snapshots anyways.

When I've shot events I've always used at least 1 zoom lens, but this time I'm going to go with two primes - 50mm 1.8 and an 85mm 1.8 I'll probably pick up down the line.

I only have one body that I'm going to use, so generally what's a good technique for using multiple primes? Do you like to constantly change lenses back and forth through the event, or primarily use just 1 prime for most of the time, and then switch in the other prime for more specific shots?

When I shot professionally with primes, before there were creditable zoom lenses for still cameras, I always shot with a pair of bodies.

However, with the advent of top quality zoom lenses (such as the 24-70mm f/2.8L for full frame cameras and the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS for crop cameras, I have used zooms for 90-95% of my work and 100% of my event photography...

"Actually wet plates would really slow you down and ensure that you think about your image..."

I was at a wedding reception on the weekend and the photographer had a two camera set up - 5DIII with 50L (no flash) and a 5DIII with 24-70L (with flash). Seemed to work well for her, although I think she struggled with a crowd photo - she was backing up but didn't have the room to get us all in. Don't know what she used for her location shots earlier in the day.