Welcome back to our What’s In Our Bag? series! Today I’m talking about a must-have lens for wedding photographers: the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS II. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this lens is not the most convenient lens to use. This lens is HEAVY and I certainly couldn’t shoot with it all day but the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L II is just too essential to leave behind. Similar to the Canon 24-70 2.8L II, this is a zoom lens, so it allows us to zoom in when we need to get close to our subject or zoom out when we need to capture more in the frame. It’s also great in low light, which is important, especially if your ceremony is in a church with little to no natural light. Jay and I each have one of these lenses but we rarely use them at the same time. We like to shoot the same moments with different lenses so that we are creating a completely different look for our couples. Read on to learn how we use this lens on a wedding day!
The 70-200m 2.8L II first comes out during the First Look. This lens allows us to keep our distance from our bride and groom in order to give them a little privacy when the groom sees his bride for the first time that day. Even though we may be standing about 30 feet away, this lens allows us to capture this intimate moment of the day by zooming in closely, like we did for Stephanie and Sean’s First Look:
Once we’re at the ceremony, Jay will take the 70-200mm 2.8L II up to the balcony to take some overhead shots for a perspective of the ceremony that the guests don’t get to see. Here’s a shot he took at St. Dominic’s Church in Brick during Kaitlyn and Brian’s wedding ceremony:
We also use the 70-200mm 2.8L II for detail shots such as the bride and groom’s hands…
…or the bridesmaids’ bouquets. Since we like our style of shooting to be as unobtrusive as possible, we really like being able to zoom in to get these detail shots without creating distractions during a quiet ceremony.
The 70-200mm 2.8L II is also great for portraits. It produces such beautiful, sharp images with creamy bokeh (soft, blurry background) and we love that! Here’s Christine and Bobby during their portrait session in Spring Lake last year:
At the reception, the 70-200mm 2.8L II comes out for the first dances and toasts. During the dances we like to stay at the perimeter of the dance floor and this lens allows us to do that while still getting close-ups of our subjects. Here is Christina and her father – I just love how he is looking at his daughter! This lens allows us to capture expressions like that one without having to even be on the dance floor!
And the last time the 70-200mm 2.8L II comes out during a wedding day is usually during the toasts. We are careful not to block the guests’ view and this lens allows us to capture the speakers from several feet away as well as candids of the guests in the most discreet way possible! Well, as discreet as one can be with such a long lens attached to your camera.
Now you see why the 70-200mm 2.8L II is so essential on a wedding day. There are other times when the big lens comes out but these are the most common ones. 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. For more posts in this series please click here: What’s In Our Bag?
Idalia Photography is a husband and wife team of NJ Wedding Photographers. We are based in Central New Jersey and specialize in weddings and newborns. For more information, please fill out our contact form.
