If you ask pilots about the worst flying conditions, they’ll unequivocally point to thunderstorm. I think kids in bad light might be the photographic equivalent. Yesterday I took two of my nieces and one of my goddaughters to the Schönbrunn Tiergarten in Vienna. I’ve already experienced the difficulties of photographing overexcited kids, but now I had to deal with rain and battleship gray skies throughout the day. Harsh light can be a killer, but I swear this is even more painful – or I’m just not creative enough.
Well, on a positive note, having three adorable girls at shooting distance can convert lots of bad snaps into memorable images. Equipment-wise, this was the first time I took two cameras – a Panasonic GM1 with a Panasonic 20mm f1.7 lens for portraits, and a Panasonic GX9 with my beloved Panasonic 14-140mm for run and gunning. In retrospect, I might have been better off with an APS-C shooter in these conditions, but overall the portrait + generic setup worked well. Unfortunately I used a low quality UV filter on the 1.7 lens (bought it with it), and it showed…
