The Best 5000

Sit down. We’ve got the best 5000 images from the wedding on the laptop and we can do a slide show. Now this first one would have been better if I had used f:5.5 instead of f:5.6 but the next 40 are better.

Yes, I’ll pause it till you go to the bathroom.

Hmmm. Hmmm. Where IS the chap...?

The chap has prised the bathroom window open and slithered through the opening. He is now boarding a plane for the jungles of central Brazil, where he hopes to be crushed to death by a giant anaconda. In a pinch he will settle for Adelaide and a jar of earthworms. Anything rather than the remaining 4999 images.

Every event has a natural rhythm – and a natural number of images that can be made appropriate to it. 5000 images may be right for a history of World War II but is far in excess of what is required for a wedding. Of course any marriage may eventually turn into WWII (without the whimsy and the fun tunes) but that is another story. If you are called upon to document Domestic Stalingrad use your own judgement but don’t expect to sell a lot of prints.

Likewise the pregnancy, the baby on the bearskin rug, the faithful hound, or the retirement watch and 50’th anniversary party at Sizzler. None of these need a DSLR set on continuous high-speed shooting and a full 16 GB card. Even if you insist on shooting the thing in RAW – know when genug ist genug. Or rather know how many to aim for and make the best effort you can to capture the thing in those chances.

The joy of modern photography is when you get that one great opportunity at frame 38 of the 36-exposure roll, you do not have to take it on the piece of sticky tape. Those of you too young to know what I mean can go and get me a gin, ‘fore I tans yo’ hide....

If you want to know how many to take, go to the bookstore and look at a good small photo essay by any professional. You can be darn sure they took more pictures than you’ll see but they, then their editor, trimmed back the selection until you got the right number for the best impact. Be a dear and buy the book, because booksellers need to eat as well.

This whole exercise will free you up wonderfully at your next wedding or party. You needn’t stay glued to the viewfinder nor to the computer screen if you take less, but better photos. Bracket exposure, if you will, and bracket focus if you must, but hang the damn camera up on a bracket and join the festivities as well.