Ideal Kit for Weddings?

I like the idea of a dedicated wedding section, it would be great if we could have a sticky where the pro's could occasionally offer the opportunity for a second tog to help with a wedding. There seem to be a load of us that would would jump at the chance but very few opportunities, which makes the advice given sometimes even more frustrating...
 
psenior1 said:
So how do you 'Shoot in the dark outside at night with nothing to bounce off of without using on camera direct flash' ??? :thinking:
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You get the flash off the camera using triggers .... gives very acceptable lighting if used properly
 
Has anybody here considered that sometimes people start a tread with a question that they actually know the answer to, but are just trying to start a tread because they are trying to get involved? A little bit like sitting round the dinner table and saying something a little bit stupid to end an uncomfortable silence.

My daughter (who is a reasonably competent music and gig photographer) joined this forum because I said it was all very interesting. She asked a stupid question and was shot down in flames within a few minutes. She now thinks we're all a bunch of self important wa**kers with an illness for buying expensive gear. I think that she's half right.

It is a fact that you can take a photograph with an empty beans can with a piece of film sellotaped to the inside, and although the equipment you have will obviously limit the type of work you can do, it doesn't stop you taking photographs.

I can put up with the rubbish people spout and just get involved with the things I'm interested in, but as someone else on this thread has said the old wedding togs do seem to be more full of ******e than pretty much all other togs put together.

So, as has been said, may be it is time to give the wedding togs their own section so the rest of us can be free from their self important wingeing about how great they are and how difficult it is for them and how much money they have to spend on their equipment and how important it is that they are good with people and how they just have to charge £2 million per hour to break even and ..... I could go on forever.

Marcel. Please, please, please fix it for me...... For god's sake, give the wedding togs a place for them all to go where they can stroke there egos and talk about how hard their lives are having to carry £100,000 worth of kit around with them as they go and talk to their clients for hours on end.
 
Nah I dont think it will.... Either people are fed up of these and will just avoid it at the moment or the mods will get even more fed up and lock it if it gets any worse.

Either way these threads are starting to spoil things and going someway to ruin it for a lot of people, both old and new so something needs to happen to sort it as they are becoming more and more frequent
 
badger, you just made me spit out my tea! Fair play to you night wandering dude!
 
feeb said:
badger, you just made me spit out my tea! Fair play to you night wandering dude!
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Hell's Bells. That's the best compliment I've ever had; the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I think I love you Feeb! Hahahahaha :-)
 
ok, ill bite. all the people sayingit is a valid question. would you hire a builder who hasnt ever laid a brick in his life and doesnt know whether he needs a mixer or not? or whether he has to go down .2m or 2m?? i know i wouldnt, so why should we not expect a wedding tog, no matter how cheap to know what kit they need or how to do it??

i have no objection to a "i need a new lens, something in the xx-xx range. which one do you recommend?". learning a focal length range for your type of shooting doesnt take long to figure out. you take what you got and think where it lets you down. so finding the focal range isnt difficult. im sure a budget is very possible to figure out as well. this sort of questioning shows you know a little bout what you are doing and aware of what you need.
The pros can be taken two ways, one is stuck up and trying to keep people out of there industry or professionals offering honest advice based on experience, trying to avoid costly mistakes to the tog when things go wrong(i prefer to think it is the latter). i dont think the pros with all the kit are feeling very threatened by a 40d with a kit lens myself.
 
Paulmack said:
I think its about time there was a wedding only section so all the bitching, fighting and general madness can be contained. That way you enter at your own peril.

Maybe a nicely worded sticky pointing out some of the basics might prevent those less experienced from asking the same questions over and over again only to be shot down in flames.

Utopia here, but maybe it will help those who ask the question "what kit do I need for my first wedding" or "what are the basics for wedding photography" to actually think about what it is they are going to do and what the pitfalls are for both themselves and the happy (or not so happy depending on outcome) couple before they commit.

To the seasoned members of TP their questions may be ridiculous but to them they think they are asking a valid question and they want help, maybe they need more help than they think, but the common thing here is the majority of those who ask these questions are relatively new to the forum and are genuinely unaware of how naive, daft or outrageous their questions really are. I have looked back at some of the original posts I made and when I read them now I am sometimes embarrassed by what I wrote but at the time I was none the wiser so to me they were valid questions. Being self taught made you learn a lot and quickly on here.

My twopence worth anyway as I am getting a little fed up of these threads and the downright nastiness of some of them at times. I come on here to relax, learn and sometimes pass on what I know to help others....not to see what can be deemed to be bullying!
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if there were a wedding only section ... everyone here would still have posted .. and we would still be at this point in another section :thinking:
 
Thought I'd include an original post from Edinburgh Gary, very similar topic to the original post in this thread - I've highlighted the interesting bits

Hi Guys,

Shooting a wedding on Saturday with another forum member, we have never done one before but are both confident that we will pull it off. Just hoping to pick your collective brains and get any last minute hints, tips and advice!!!

We are shooting the wedding free of charge, and providing only digital images for the couple to print themselves. When we advertised our service, we indicated our lack of experience, and ensure the couple were aware of the risks associated with us being sole shooters. This was to ensure only those who could not afford a pro, would come forward.

We are doing an all day shoot, starting at the hairdressers in the morning,moving onto the Brides house, then the ceremony in the Kirk, followed by a reception with late night disco at a nearby hotel. We may spend some time in lovely gardens if the weather allows.

We are not allowed to shoot flash in the Kirk, and are very restricted to where we can be. They seem extremely anti photography!!!

The kit
I will be shooting Nikon D3, Fuji S5 Pro and will take 4 lenses, 24 to 70 2.8, 85 1.4, 50 1.4 and 70 to 200 2.8 VR. SB900, SB600 on hand for Flash.

Darren will be shooting 5D MKII and 24 to 105 F4, and 50mm F1.8, and has a second body for backup. He also 480 EXII flashgun.


Now, the important part! Help us

1: ISO
We both have good cameras, the D3 and 5D MKII are known for excellent ISO capability. Should we be scared of 6400 ISO?

2: POSES
We are shooting 95 reportage / candid / off the cuff so to speak. Even though this is freeflow, are there any hard and fast rules with regards to people placement? Especially important with regards to the Bride and Groom.

3: DIFFICULT LIGHTING
Thinking about the disco mainly, first dance etc - any advice on nailing the settings for such a scene? What about if its EXTREMELY bright in the garden for example? If we wan't nice shallow DOF (1.4 for example), but its hellish bright, how do we solve it?

4: FLASH
When and when not to use it? Any tips on correct usage? Should we take our deflector & warming disc?

5: APERTURE
Is f1.4 a safe aperture? It will blur like hell I know, the background will absolutely melt away. Is it TOO SHALLOW? What about f2.8. F4, F8, F11? What advice do you have?

6: CROWD CONTROL
Any advice on getting people to follow simple instructions? Or for reportage - how do we blend in, how to avoid making people uneasy? How do we control our own nerves and not blow it?

Have asked a lot, I appreciate that, however I think this could prove to be a very useful thread for others if the answers come in.

Let's not have a "wedding fight", there are plenty other threads for that

Thanks in advance for ANY help you can offer, however small.

Gary.

The general consensus of the thread above was really helpful, great advice given, so much so that I book marked the thread as I myself have my first wedding coming up later in the year. Then there were the "give me a call Gary" "You'll be Great" "Can't wait for you to post the results" comments and yet not 1 comment that he didn't have enough kit (I mean only 1 Nikon D3 how was he going to manage???) or any other comments that he should not be doing it because the bride will committ suicide when he cocs it up!!!!!

Now a month or so later I read this thread very similar subject - but by a newish forum member, with no one knowing anything about the person but hey, they are not one of the "In crowd" and just look at the responses!!! A handful of the pro's who could provide some really useful tips spout off about the original poster needing 3x £2000.00 camera bodies, with 3 flashes, with 3 stands with 3 sets of triggers, with 3 pro lenses because this is of course what every photographer always has when they first start out!!!!! They are then reminded that a wedding day is one of the most important days of a persons life, (which of course anyone with common sense or who is maybe married would never know) and if you are inexperienced you shouldn't be ruining a brides day (which of corse you are guaranteed to do) cause you haven't blown thousands more on photography courses run by the people who are giving this unhelpful advice in the first place!!!!!

Disclaimer

This post is in no way an attack on any one person or on Edinburgh Gary, the "have a go hero" wedding photographer
 
the bulb. although similar completely different. gary told you what kit he was using, and it was pro gear. there was 2 camera on site. so if one failed, they would still get shots. Gary was asking advice on how best to shoot and any advice while shwing he had done some research.
this thread the OP mentions he has been an assistant, but doesnt offer anymore info. im sure your aware what focal lengths you use and how you like to shoot. the OPs original question doesnt give me any impression that he is very experienced in his camera or usage.i apologise if i am wrong to the OP, but i think questioning if he has the ability is a fair question and more important than the kit.
 
fletch5 said:
the bulb. although similar completely different. gary told you what kit he was using, and it was pro gear. there was 2 camera on site. so if one failed, they would still get shots. Gary was asking advice on how best to shoot and any advice while shwing he had done some research.
this thread the OP mentions he has been an assistant, but doesnt offer anymore info. im sure your aware what focal lengths you use and how you like to shoot. the OPs original question doesnt give me any impression that he is very experienced in his camera or usage.
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First of all IMO Gary is a fine photographer, whose posts I look forward to reading and whilst I accept your point that his post was more detailed and he did demonstrate his knowledge of photography more than the person in the original post, he also asked some pretty newbie questions such as shooting in bright lights, is 1.4 a safe aperture to use, how to pose the bride and groom, setting for shooting discos and the first dance. Are you telling me that if the original post had expanded and asked these questions he wouldn't have got the same "stay away you'll ruin a bride and grooms day" responses??????

Surely if you think the above, then people should have asked the original poster to expand the information he was giving BEFORE telling him he is rubbish!!!!!

I messaged Duncan Kerridge (weddinghack) when I first saw him on this forum asking him about his experience as a wedding photographer and how he got into it and he told me that basically he left a job, picked up a wedding gig a week or so later and went for it - What a travesty that would have been to the photographic world if he'd of listened to the advice given on here and not followed his own belief in his ability - I wonder how many brides have jumped off a bridge because of his work!!!!
 
Badger UK said:
Hell's Bells. That's the best compliment I've ever had; the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I think I love you Feeb! Hahahahaha :-)
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Thank you for expressing your love, i have always been a fan of badgers :nuts::woot:

btw a badger just randomly jumped out of a hedgrow at me on my way home, if that was You Mr Uk badger could you please wait til i am riding a bit slower on me old motorbike! i'd love to say hi but 70 miles an hour on an unlit street might be a bit of a rubbish meeting for both of us!

peas and love - Feeb xx
 
i fully see your point and agree to a degree. but what if duncans first wedding, his camera died after the ceremony? he may never have become the exceptional wedding tog he is now.

you are right that perhaps the OP should have been asked to expand his information including what lenses he has. but my thouhts would be a experienced user would be aware of the answer to the question and would offer slightly more information in the first instance.

i am not that experienced and would rate myself at amateur at the best, but i am aware what range i would want for my kit bag.

to the OP, in a vague attempt to get this thread back on track and with what bulb pointed out, how experienced are you and what kit do you already have? what sort of focal length do you think is most useful?

and what budget do you have for filling in the gaps?
 
psenior1 said:
lol, great post.
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Had a tough day so thought I'd disturb the pigeons with a cat :nuts:

Just fed up with people dismissing other people out of hand because they've done a million weddings, forgetting or course that they too had wedding number 1.

He's a thought, can any of the pro weddings togs on here say hand on heart they have never reviewed their shots with the thought hmmmmm..... I could have done that shot better, or heavens forbid I dropped a testie on that shot. How many can say that the quality of their work for Bride number 1 is of equal quality to the work for Bride 101????

So many say they take 1500 photos and make a final cut of 400-500 so being pesimistic you could say you are working with the philosophy that if you chuck enough mud some will stick!!!!!

Agreeing with fletch5 give us some more info, although I don't think it will get any more thorough than the advice of SPXXXX - response copied and pasted thanks SPXXXX :thumbs:

To actually put something more positive back to the original post I to am in the same boat as you as in I am a newbie to wedding photography and I have listed below what I have done so far and the kit I have bought.

Canon 5d Mark ii + Grip
Canon 30d + Grip + Spare Batteries
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (my absolute favourite lens for portraits)
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L
Canon 35mm f1.4 L
Canon Speedlite 580EX ii
Gary Fong Lightspere
Wireless Triggers
Red Snapper Tripod
Samsonite secondary tripod with flash mount for off camera flash
3x 4Gb cards (30D)
1x 16Gb card (5D)
External hardrive
Laptop

Before my First wedding I am hoping to buy

Canon Speedlite 480
Probably hire and in time then buy a Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L II USM
2x 16GB cards
2x Batteries for my 5d
Canon off camera flash cable

I bought from ebay 3 DVD's which were 30d and 5d mark ii training videos from jonvideo where you are walked through the entire camera body's functions and another called Understanding the Canon Speedlite 580/480 and regularly review the bits I want to on each.

I bought lightroom and photoshop reference books by Martin Evening plus the Adobe Photoshop classroom in a book series and I subscribe the the lightroom and photoshop podcasts from www.thedigitalphotographyconnection.com

I then spent a weekend deciding upon my digital workflow, what work I would do to images in lightroom and then in photoshop. I learnt photoshop actions and how to create them and then integrated them into my digital worlkflow to allow batches to be run on groups of images.

I regularly visit the websites of photographers I respect, Duncan Kerridge, Jeff Ascough, Lawson Photography and a load of others for inspiration and ideas.

I wrote a wedding photography contract, designed a website and a blog and have worked to get my site ranking in google up so I am getting my name out there. I also offer all couples who are enquiring about me doing their wedding photography a free wedding engagement photoshoot. I sell this as an opportunity for them to meet me, judge the quality of my work and ensure they feel comfortable with me working with them. I also discuss with them their wedding, as I would normally do if I had gone to their house for a traditional first meeting. I then process the images and give them a CD with watermarked images on to help them make their decision. If they book, they get a CD with all non-watermarked images on for free and I then try and sell them a photographic mount with some of the images on for people to sign at their wedding - which covers some of the cost of my time processing the images. The other big benefit I get is building up my experience and portfolio doing the portrait session, shooting in different locations, different conditions and it gives me more images to use on my website!!!

I have also taken some time deciding which albums I want to offer to clients, their costs and my profit etc etc. plus other potential sales such as framed prints from the portrait session, personalised thank you cards etc etc.

What will I be doing next????? Completing my studio I've built in the garden with samples of frames, albums, mounts etc and learning as much as I can from places like this.

Hope the above helps
 
I don't think people are dismissed out of snobbery - which is what you are saying. People on here are for the most part encourageing.

I'll freely admit it I almost think it a wind up when (without wishing to cause offence) the OP in this thread http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=148042 has never used a flash gun and doesn't own one.

I think there is an amount of knowledge needed about your kit before you start accepting paid work- and for me that means understanding what everything does and how to use it properly. Asking about kit needed just before you shoot your first, or if you need a flash and how to work it indicates, to me some very worrying holes in that knowledge. I can't in all honesty say 'Yes thats fine'

Hugh
 
I'm sorry if the advice I gave was seen by some as not helpful and just another pro up their own arse.

I try to give out information based on experience and to perhaps stop newcomers making some of the mistakes that can be easily avoided.

Comments aimed at presumably me and others as Badger states

"their self important wingeing about how great they are and how difficult it is for them and how much money they have to spend on their equipment and how important it is that they are good with people and how they just have to charge £2 million per hour to break even and ..... "

This doesn't help the OP at all - and I don't think anyone whines about the cost of equipment and charging just has to be thought out to make a profit.

People skills are a given so why do we get so much sarcasm and negativity from some posters who would rather argue with no foundation than help ?
 
Seems to me this thread has reached pot kettle black status :clap:

edit: aimed at the general tone rather than an individual poster
 
One comment I will pick up on is that I DID have all the backups in place before I shot my first wedding. 1DSII and a 5D with 5 lenses and three flashguns.

I know that Duncan bought not just one but two cameras before he shot his first wedding.

I missed this thread yesterday because I was out shooting a wedding and we had 5 cameras between us. Really busy day, wonderful people 12 hours as usual, got to bed at 1am.

For the OP, I'm afraid that I fall into the stuck up, opinionated, self inflated, moaning whinging camp that says if you have not learned from your time assisting what is needed to complete the job then you should simply invest in more knowledge until you do.
 
AliB said:
One comment I will pick up on is that I DID have all the backups in place before I shot my first wedding. 1DSII and a 5D with 5 lenses and three flashguns.

I know that Duncan bought not just one but two cameras before he shot his first wedding.

I missed this thread yesterday because I was out shooting a wedding and we had 5 cameras between us. Really busy day, wonderful people 12 hours as usual, got to bed at 1am.

For the OP, I'm afraid that I fall into the stuck up, opinionated, self inflated, moaning whinging camp that says if you have not learned from your time assisting what is needed to complete the job then you should simply invest in more knowledge until you do.
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+1
 
AliB said:
For the OP, I'm afraid that I fall into the stuck up, opinionated, self inflated, moaning whinging camp that says if you have not learned from your time assisting what is needed to complete the job then you should simply invest in more knowledge until you do.
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And im for the "get stuck in and give it a go brigade" as long as you have back up, have thought about it long and hard and are confident enough to pull it off.

No matter how much kit you've invested in or how much you've spent on training courses a dreary website will not bring in the customers imo

Dave:thumbs:
 
being devils advocate for a minute i can see both sides of the coin.

the pros are cheesed off i guess because they see their profession being saturated by amateurs with ideas above their station. some of these amateurs clearly have not got a clue.

but on the other hand there are good enthusiastic amateurs out there who are willing to learn but just need some advice or help so they dont drop a nut on the big day. i have photographed a friends wedding because they could not afford to pay for a pro and i will be doing the sister in laws next year as she cant afford a pro either. my friend was happy with the results but i clearly have a lot to learn.

i think what i am trying to say is that everybody has to start somewhere and i thought the idea of this forum was to help each other and share ideas, but i dont think amateurs should go out and charge strangers for their services if they are not ready.

my two pennuth! :woot:
 
Studio16 said:
And im for the "get stuck in and give it a go brigade" as long as you have back up, have thought about it long and hard and are confident enough to pull it off.

No matter how much kit you've invested in or how much you've spent on training courses a dreary website will not bring in the customers imo

Dave:thumbs:
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in the get stuck in and give it ago bit, would you say it was needed to understand all your kit?

Hugh
 
I'm also in the 'give it a go' brigade BUT only after you have learnt as much as you can and feel confident enough that you can do the job. I also want to get into the commercial/wedding/portrait side of photography and have arranged with a local wedding photographer to assist him but I would never say yes to going it alone until I feel I had enough experience and knowledge to do the job to a high enough standard. At the end of the day a lot of wedding photography business comes from word of mouth....would you rather be labeled a good or poor wedding photographer ?

At some point you are gonna have to make the decision 'i'm ready to do weddings' and how you arrive at that decision is up to you :shrug:
 
boyfalldown said:
in the get stuck in and give it ago bit, wold you say it was needed to understand all your kit?

Hugh
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To a certain degree yes its vital that you need to know your way around your kit and the best way to use it at certain times. Its challenging wedding photography everything happens at a fast pace you need to know whats going to happen next and how best you and your kit can deal with it.

Look its fairly obvious that if your a complete amature then stay well away from the game its not as simple as picking up a camera and having a half decent lens attached to it with a flash gun on top and then getting stuck in:nono: You really need to look at the bigger picture theres a heck of a lot more to wedding photography than you first think.

organisation skills
good kit but more importantly knowledge of your kit
checking your location and planning your shots
what to do with all your shots once you get back

four of the very very basics im sure others can and will add more

Dave:thumbs:
 
Studio16 said:
To a certain degree yes its vital that you need to know your way around your kit and the best way to use it at certain times. Its challenging wedding photography everything happens at a fast pace you need to know whats going to happen next and how best you and your kit can deal with it.

Look its fairly obvious that if your a complete amature then stay well away from the game its not as simple as picking up a camera and having a half decent lens attached to it with a flash gun on top and then getting stuck in:nono: You really need to look at the bigger picture theres a heck of a lot more to wedding photography than you first think.

organisation skills
good kit but more importantly knowledge of your kit
checking your location and planning your shots
what to do with all your shots once you get back

four of the very very basics im sure others can and will add more

Dave:thumbs:
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I know this - I shot weddings as well, but no matter what I think of the 'Give it ago' vs 'Gear' camps it is essential that you know your way round you kit. You do need to worry about the wedding not your gear - backup or not

As I posted above one of the reasons I think threads like this get heated is because there is a level of wind up about them - intentional or not, when somebody suggests they can shoot a paying gig, without ever having used a flash.

Hugh
 
OK - while everyone is being so nice I'll ask a serious question and hopefully add something positive to the thread.

I've got my first wedding in a month or so, my list of gear is below.

The people getting married are friends of friends and know I've never done a wedding before and approached me after seeing our website. The groom is a full time pro automotive tog, they had another tog lined up but were let down. He has openly said he like the idea of giving someone their first shot at a wedding.

My wife is great at organisation and managing people, she is going to be assisting and acting as a second shooter.

We are meeting the bride and groom at the venue a month before to plan out what and where we are going to do the group/posed shots allowing for the weather conditions.


Gear -

D700
D300

24-70 Nikon
70-200 Nikon
50mm f/1.4 Sigma
28-300mm Tamron VC (surprising sharp in good light but backup only)

SB900

8 x 4gb Sandisk Ultra II cards
16 x 2100mah AA batteries
7 x camera batteries (EL3e)

I've also got the usual software such as LR2 which I use primarily, plus CS3, Noise Ninja etc etc.

For web display I have a pro account with Smugmug.


So what am I missing (apart from wedding experience)???

Do I need -

85mm f/1.4 - (hire probably)
backup flash (sb600?)

I'd love to be able to pick up a backup 24-70 and 70-200 but its not going to happen.

We've agreed on £200 for the shoot with me providing all RAW images and a fully processed set, that basically covers transport (as its miles away), childcare, food and cost of hiring the 85mm f/1.4.

Not the same I know, but we are shooting a christening in a huge church in Hayes soon, nice on the inside but not a tree or anything green in sight outside. Again for expenses only and experience.

thanks for any advice, but please refrain from telling me not to bother as I'm commited to doing it and I need more confidence, not less. :D
 
Phil,

Your kit is exactly as I used to use (down to the same D300 :) and I don't use the Tamaron but have an 85 1.4

One that point - I would say you don't really need it. I just had a very quick look back through LR and I used it att one wedding out of the last 4 and presented 20 shots with it, so I'd say no at a glance. It would be sensible to check out the venue ( apologies if you're doing this) and make a decision there if it would be good to have.
On balance - without a reason to have it I'd say you don't need it.

Hugh
 
I wouldn't bother with the 85 ..... you have a backup in the 50 and can just use your feet if it was needed to zoom in and out

I would personally get another SB900 .... have one on both cameras at all times even if you don't use them much - it is easier using a common interface in the heat of battle.

Probably get some more CF cards

Visit the church and venue before hand to get a feel for the lighting - also scheck that the couple have covered what is and is not allowed during the service.

Get a formal group list off the couple and try to keep it down to 10-12 and explain that each can take 2-3 minutes ...

Plan a timeline for the day so you have a rough idea when things might be happening

Get the couple to commit to quality time with you alone - say 30 minutes
 
great advice Hugh and spxxxx, thanks.

We are meeting the couple at the venue soon, I've been reading a book by Mark Cleghorn which seems to cover a lot of the basic's. Are there any other that are worth a read?

Do you guy's carry a tripod with you? Something else I may need to pick-up, mine is knackered...
 
psenior1 said:
great advice Hugh and spxxxx, thanks.



Do you guy's carry a tripod with you? Something else I may need to pick-up, mine is knackered...
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No problems :) glad to help.

I don't carry a tripod - I find that most of the day I'm moving round far to much and it would just get in the way. I do take a monopod though - just in case - especially during the ceremony. Its also far less intrusive. Can't remember the last time I used it but I know I have.

Hugh
 
psenior1 said:
Do you guy's carry a tripod with you? Something else I may need to pick-up, mine is knackered...
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Own one in the back of the cupboard somewhere ..... its wooden - so perhaps tells you something about how often it is used :lol:

Have thought about a monopod for use with OCF .....
 
Marks book should be essential reading for anyone interested in shooting weddings so blooming well done for grabbing a copy. :)

I do take a tripod even on a hot sunny day for a couple of reasons. One is to actually shoot from. Sometimes for a long shot from the rear of a church I need that extra stability. The second is for doing group shots. It's actually quite a good prop to stick the camera on the tripod in that it marks your territory as the pro and stops "Uncle with camera" intruding too much. You can then shepherd and arrange the groups without losing your shooting position even by accident. The third is to pop a flash on top of it rather than lugging a lighting stand too. I can use a radio trigger and use some remote flash. So yes it can be useful but I do also use a monopod and a video light when I'm shooting with colleagues. :) The video light can be very effective and I'll try to get some shots of that in use up later.

Also makes it harder to nick if you turn your back for a nanosecond.
 
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