Downtown Pittsburgh taken with my Iphone.

We hit the bike trail yesterday morning before it got too hot. It’s been great to get out and do some riding again and after this past week, a nice break to clear our heads a little.

The light just after dawn was beautiful, which got me thinking a bit about questions I receive at almost every wedding, which usually begins with “what lens do you suggest for my digital SLR? I’m not happy with my photographs – they all look like snapshots”.

My answer usually starts with “it’s not really about the lens, it’s the light that makes a great picture.”

On the other hand, the zoom lens that comes with most digital SLR’s is a poor compromise and I always suggest that the next purchase should be, first, a removable flash and secondly, a 50mm 1.8 lens that can be had for around $100. It’s one of the best investments you can make to improve your photographs.

A fast lens lets in up to 8 times as much light as most consumer zoom lens at it’s widest aperture, allowing you opportunities to photograph in natural light without flash – try increasing your ISO to 800 and set your aperture to 1.8. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Using on camera flash, especially the little pop-up flashes on digital SLR’s is a sure fire way to make your subjects look flat – the deer in the headlights look. A removable flash allows you to move your flash head to bounce your flash off a wall, ceiling or reflector and will dramatically improve your photographs, giving them more of a 3 dimensional look.

If you can, photograph during the “sweet light”,  just after sunrise or just before sunset.

It doesn’t take a sophisticated camera to make a great photograph during these times – like my little 2 megapixel Iphone camera.