Paulo Santos
Wedding | Last Updated: April 4, 2024
Hi, I’m Paulo, based in the North East of England and I shoot weddings, wherever they take me. My photographic life started out in landscape photography, where I swore the tranquillity of nature would always win over photographing real people.
Now four years later most would say I now eat, sleep and breathe wedding photography, and I seldom photograph anything else. Before this, I was a Financial Advisor. Let’s not talk about that.
For the most part, I like to shoot weddings very simply, but always including an appreciation for the basics, and how I can include them. Photography with good light, honest emotion, and thoughtful compositions are things that get me going.
I’m nosey and creative and I like variety, so shooting weddings allows many of my needs to be met. Throughout the day the changing scenery and changing light means the challenge is on-going. Being kept on my toes is when I feel I work best.
Most of the time my gear will be transported around in a Langly Alpha Pro camera rucksack, although sometimes I’ll swap over to my black Peli 1510 case
. Once at work my two camera bodies will hang from a chestnut Holdfast MoneyMaker
camera strap.
Here’s my gear:
Two Nikon D750
camera bodies – still choosing to shoot DSLR over mirrorless, give me the absolute best combination of weight, quality, speed and low light performance.
Nikon 85mm f/1.8
– The first of my go-to lenses. I love the 85mm focal length hugely, so much so that this might be my lens of choice if I had to choose just one lens for a wedding.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art
– My other go-to lens. I’m 35/85 for the most part of every wedding. A cracking lens, well made, sharp, and it takes a few knocks too. Thankfully.
Nikon 135mm f/2
– I’m almost embarrassed to admit how seldom I use this lens. The background bokeh as a portrait lens is something else. Please, tell me to use it more!
Nikon 20mm f/2.8
– For when 35mm just isn’t wide enough. I mostly use it for first dance if needed, especially when it’s just too dark with naff lighting so I’ll pair it up with triggered off camera flash.
Two Nikon SB-900 Speedlights
– Although I shoot weddings pretty much all using natural light, I do shoot in the UK—it’s a bit dark and gloomy sometimes. Sometimes, on occasion, I’ll provide my own light.
Yongnuo YN-622N
– For the times when I’ve needed them, these TTL triggers have never once failed me, and provide the required result every time.
I also love film, both 35mm and medium format.
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