Wedding photography as a guest Canon 60d + Sigma 85mm 1.4

Last October we attended the wedding of a teacher of my youngest son. It was a beautiful day in Sydney and the church service was held in a school at North Sydney. Now this was not an official shoot, as I had my family with me and we needed to stay out of the way of the official photographer. The Canon 60d was great and armed with an 85mm 1.4 lens I had the right balance between reach and light to get some ok shots. With the cropped sensor 60d the lens had the actual effect of a 135mm lens. It also goes to show that you don't need to spend many thousands of dollars on more expensive cameras to capture some memories. The church (like most churches) was dark and not well lit. I've tidied these shots up with the Perfectly Clear plugin for Photoshop Elements 10. Enjoy.

Canon 60d and Sigma 85 f1.4 capture weekend sport

There is much said about the Sigma 85 f1.4 being a great portrait lens, which is true, but depending on your distance from the action, it's also a handy lens to capture weekend sports. The lens is a prime lens, fixed focal length with no zoom. The 1.4 aperture allows the lens to capture lots of light allowing for fast shutter speeds at most apertures. I always use mine with a hood and uv filter to protect the lens from accidental bumps and knocks. I know different people have different views on Sigma lenses, but I've generally thought that these are great. I own the 30mm 1.4, 17-55 2.8, 70-200 2.8 and extender tube. Occasionally the compatibility with Canon cameras means you can get either front or back focussing issues, which in Australia the distributors fix for free. Optically they are neck and neck with native brands. Just my experience, others may disagree. The Canon 60d was my step up dslr from the Canon 400d, which was also a great camera - it still is. I shot sports on the 60d with the centre focal point selected and use the AF button on the back to keep continuous focus to get more actions shots that are keepers. These were all shot jpeg and processed slightly in Snapseed on the iPad. The day was very contrasty and bright, so excuse the shadows. Enjoy.

Cooper in action

Pele

quick!