Happy Monday, friends! I’m excited to start the week out with a new post in our What’s In Our Bag? series! Today I’m going to focus on one of Jay’s lenses: the Canon 16-35mm 2.8L II. This lens doesn’t usually get a lot of love, as Jay says, but we find that it’s a must-have for wedding photographers (but I think I say that about all of our lenses!). The 16-35mm 2.8L II is an ultra wide-angle lens that is often a favorite for a documentary style of photography. It is great for when you need to fit a lot into the frame so it generally comes out in tight spaces, for wide ceremony shots, and when the dance floor is lively. Below are a few shots that highlight our favorite ways to use this lens.
We love this shot from Stephanie and Sean’s Skyview Golf Club Wedding, The 16-35mm 2.8L II is ideal for a birds-eye view of the ceremony.
Jocelyn and Daniel were married at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church on the University of Virginia campus. The church had this amazing, modern ceiling that Jay was able to capture while keeping our bride and groom in the frame. Doesn’t this image make you feel like you’re in the space, too?
Jodi and Andy were married in an outdoor ceremony at Lake Mohawk Country Club. The ceremony was held on the boardwalk overlooking the lake. It’s an amazing place to say your vows and we love shooting there! When we saw the ceremony setup, we immediately noticed that the aisle was a little on the shorter side. To make sure we would be able to capture our bride and groom during the recessional in a way that still showed the setting and the guests, Jay used the 16-35mm 2.8L II. I love the photojournalistic style of this image:
Casey and Nick’s wedding took place at Columbia University’s St. Paul’s Chapel. The chapel is absolutely stunning and it is huge! The central dome is 91 feet high and it is jaw-dropping. In order to capture it all while still keeping our bride and groom in the frame, Jay got really low and used the 16-35mm 2.8L II to take this impressive image during the ceremony. Once the ceremony was over, he also used this lens to capture Casey and Nick as they exited the church so that he could still get the top of the church’s façade as well. 
The 16-35mm 2.8L II is not a portrait lens. However, when you have a gorgeous lobby like the one at Addison Park and you want to fully capture an elegant space like this one, our wide-angle lens is the perfect choice. Check out how much we were able to fit in the frame:
Sometimes we find ourselves unable to back up enough to fit what we want into the frame. At this Skyview Golf Club Wedding, we couldn’t move back enough to fit the whole cabin in the frame so we opted for the 16-35mm 2.8L II to get the shot we wanted.
Here we wanted to fit the entire bridal party along with the surrounding mountains. We love the openness of this image, which could only be achieved with our wide angle lens.
The 16-35mm 2.8L II is most popular during the reception, especially when the dance floor is crowded. This lens allows us to get dancing shots like the next few images. I love that we can be super close to our subject, yet they’ll appear to be at a distance from us in the image.
And lastly, the 16-35mm 2.8L II will come out during sparkler shots! Here are some fun ones for you:
The Canon 16-35mm 2.8.L II is certainly not a versatile lens but it is great to use at certain key moments of a wedding day. I hope this blog post is helpful to you! If you have any questions please leave a comment below or email me at info@idaliaphotography.com. Looking for more posts like this one? Check out our page FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
