A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER’S TOOLS: 15MM MACRO LENS

If my 105mm macro lens is a bit of a classic, both for extreme close ups and portraits, a 15mm, super wide, macro is a real oddity. 15mm gives an extreme wide angle view in a full frame camera, so would tend to give a less than pleasant perspective on faces. And to get a macro image, you need to get very close to your subject, and focussing can be quite fiddly. All in all, neither an easy lens to use nor an obvious choice for a wedding photographer.

There aren’t many 15mm macro lenses on the market, and mine comes from the manufacturer who are really the kings of quirky lenses – Laowa of China. Their 15mm f4 is manual focus only and doesn’t communicate with the camera (you even have to manually close the aperture down!). Used as a normal wide angle lens, for buildings etc, you find that it has some odd “moustache” distortion. It offers a rudimentary shift mechanism – which was just awkward enough to convince me that I need to buy a “real” perspective control Nikon lens.

The Laowa 15mm f4 Macro

This may you leave you wondering, “what’s the point?” But the Laowa 15mm macro is very sharp, and allows you to get very close to your subject while still taking in a great perspective of the environment. I bought mine for one thing only – wedding rings, before the ceremony.

Before I dive into my very narrow, wedding photographer’s use of the 15mm macro, I thought I should show some non-wedding work with the same lens. I must admit, when I first bought it, it was partly with a view to natural world/wildlife photography. My shot to the right here – flowers on Newtown Creek Anchorage, Isle of Wight – was the kind of thing I had in mind.

Others have gone far further. A number of photographers around the world use the 15mm macro for wild animals – and even snakes. Given the distance you have to get to for a decent-sized image, I find these pretty horrifying and wonderful, especially where the snake is poisonous. There is no doubt that the context given by the wide angle is a unique benefit of this quirky lens.

Marko Guzmán is a remarkable Mexican photographer who specializes in wildlife work and makes fantastic use of the Laowa 15mm. His passion is to show people “the natural wealth we have and which we must conserve”.

Here is the spectacular caterpillar Automeris metzli – the highly poisonous but stunning larva of an equally beautiful Saturniid moth

Marko’s image here of a Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus basiliscus) shows considerable nerve and knowledge of what he is doing in the wild as well as brilliant technique with this tricky lens.

Marko’s work can be found on Instagram or Facebook, and I am grateful to him for permission to use these two excellent images.

Although the 15mm macro comes with me to most weddings, it doesn’t always get used. If time is tight before the ceremony there is generally no opportunity to get hold of the rings, set them up somewhere photogenic and take the shot. So it tends to be at full-day-coverage weddings that I get the chance. Here are some examples of this lens in action.

Chris and Becky’s wedding in St Matthews Church, Malvern, Worcestershire

My first attempt at using the Laowa – I discovered what lovely star-burst highlights it produces when stopped down.

Ollie and Sam‘s wedding at Holy Trinity Church, Wallington

Andrew and Grace’s wedding in York, at the City Church

Adam and Clare’s wedding at Bromley Register Office

Three sets of wedding rings in their boxes…

Andrew and Grace’s wedding in York, at the City Church

Looking into the room…

… and (more successfully) out of the room at Luke and Katie’s Windermere wedding – Cragwood House 

… and out of the box

The Laowa 15mm macro is never going to dominate in the mix of my wedding work. But as a wedding photographer, some variety in the tool box is essential. I have never been satisfied with simply delivering a few hundred images taken with a 24-70 and a 70-200. It is the small proportion of shots that come from the more quirky lenses which give flavour and texture to the recipe!

So, the Laowa will still travel with me for weddings. Bromley, London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex – unless I am forced to travel very light to a wedding or if I know there will be no time for a ring shot,  this lens will be with me!

The rings for Jacob and Beth’s wedding stand ready in Grace Church, Ryde, Isle of Wight 

To contact me to enquire about my wedding photography use my Contact Form or just text (07983 787889) or email me at Andrew@AndrewKingPhotography.co.uk

Photos © copyright Andrew King