Finch & Oak

Wedding | Last Updated: December 8, 2020

I’m a photographer based in Australia, originally from New Zealand. I’ve shot commercial and fashion, but now I’m really focusing all my efforts on weddings.

I shot my first wedding at 16 and loved it! I knew that I wanted to work for myself and never get a ‘real job’. 8 years on and I’m loving it. The end of 2014 saw the rebrand of my wedding studio to Finch & Oak. I’ve been loving the hugely positive response and I’m excited about the amazing weddings that are coming up this year.

I keep things simple, 2 DSLR bodies and few awesome primes is all I need. I only use flash for reception and sometimes for some special backlit images.

On to the gear:

2x Canon 5D Mark III’s – The workhorse of the wedding industry. The bad boy is reliable, fast and shoots all day. I use two bodies with different lens, usually the 50mm and 35mm.

Canon 35mm f/1.4 – This one is great all day lens, and has quickly become my favourite. Awesome for almost everything.

Canon 50mm f/1.2 – Such a good focal length that, I also use this one all day.

Canon 85mm f/1.2 – The dreamiest bokeh around. Mainly used for portraits and when I need to zoom in just a bit closer.

Canon 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift – This is a lens I only use occasionally, it’s pretty cool and can give an awesome effect. Just don’t over use :)

Canon 17 – 40mm f/4 – A solid wide angle that I mainly use on the dance floor at the reception.

Canon 430EX II – This one helps me get some sweet dance floor shots, plus I sometimes use it with some radio triggers for a bit of backlight action.

Memory Cards – A bunch of 16GB and 32GB CF cards, zipped up in a Lowepro wallet.

Fujifilm X-T1 – This little guy produces some great images, and has the potential to take over as top dog from the 5D’s. I have the Fujifilm 23mm f/1.4, Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4, and Fujifilm 56mm f/1.2 – these are equivalent focal lengths to the 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm on the full frame Canon.

Fuji Instax Mini, Polaroid Land Camera, and Polaroid Colourpack III sometimes pull these out on a shoot, clients love holding something tangible while they wait for the digital files to be ready.

Mason Fine Camera Bag Byron Leather Satchel – This bag holds three lenses, batteries and memory cards. I also have a Lowepro backpack and a Shootsac, but I really like this bag because it doesn’t look like a camera bag, anything that’s helps me to not stand out at a wedding is a good thing.

Hit us up if you have any questions :)

www.finchandoak.com

wed
11 Tools for Wedding Photographers

Check out the 11 essential tools and apps every wedding photographer should be using this year.

Includes limited time discounts.

Learn more here

6 Comments

  1. Azhar Aris on August 16, 2015 at 11:43 pm

    Hi Paul, for wedding event, when did you choose for using 5dmIII or using X-T1.? is it depend on the lighting, venue or others? please advice..

  2. Steven Hanna on April 2, 2015 at 2:06 am

    Thoroughly loved looking through your site Paul. Stunning images. I’ve also added the XT1 to my kitbag and use it alongside the 5D MkIII for weddings. Do you shoot most of your portraits near enough wide open? Love the bokeh in your images!

    • Paul Bamford on April 14, 2015 at 12:45 pm

      Hi Steven. Thanks! Yes, I almost always shoot wide open. Love that look!

  3. Brad on March 31, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    Great shots Paul! Just one question: How do you find the 5d MKII vs X-T1 in terms of image quality (colours, dynamic range, bokeh etc)? It seems like an awesome little camera with some really nice lenses to choose from.

    Thanks!

    Brad.

    • Paul Bamford on March 31, 2015 at 10:04 pm

      Yeah, it’s a killer little camera. I think the images are sharper than what I get from the Canon. To be honest a recent edition to my bag so I don’t have strong opinions on the files yet, but from what I’ve seen so far they’re great.

  4. Paul Bamford on March 30, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    Hey guys, thanks a lot for the feature! Let me know if anyone has any questions :)

Leave a Comment





mark-shotkit

WELCOME TO SHOTKIT

Enter your email to be sent
today's Welcome Gift:
19 Photography Tools

🔥 Popular Now:

Shotkit may earn a commission on affiliate links. Learn more.