Don’t put shots you can’t consistently repeat in your portfolio.

Keep them, it’s a great way to appreciate your progress.

With your selection, the 35mm 1.4 is a no brainer. It’s 50mm equivalent focal length which is great for portraits as well as general shooting, and the aperture will mean you can handle all lighting conditions.

The xf 56mm 1.2 will be even better for close up portraits, but it’s pretty redundant and won’t shine above the 35mm without professional off camera lighting. Your kit lens is likely crappy. The best lens for this kind of work is a professional 24-70 (full frame or 18-55mm crop). However, I would take the 35mm 1.4 over the kit lens all day every day.

I would also bring the 16mm for indoor or group shots. I would leave the kit lens at home. I would only switch to it if you’re stuck in a tight space. You may not put it on at all, but it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Do not bring your manual lenses. If you are not experienced, shooting moving kids with them will be a nightmare. You don’t need the added stress of manual focus in a situation like this.

Just like any form of miniaturization, making smaller lenses requires tighter tolerances to get similar quality. Big lenses gather more light, reduce vignetting, and more easily allow for larger apertures. When you try to make these things smaller, it requires better materials, more difficult manufacturing, and more complicated engineering. Professional lenses of any brand are expensive. Leica lenses are very, very expensive in part due to these challenges.

There are a lot of toxic egos everywhere. Especially on internet forums. The internet is garbage in general. I don’t even know why I’m here. At least it’s better here than over on YouTube where I would have to watch Manny Ortiz do his next cum tribute to the camera he’s switching to this week.

Don’t shoot for free.

Communicate just how much work it is, so that they appreciate it. It’s fine to communicate to them that you feel unappreciated. It’s alright for family to want help, but it’s not ok for them to not appreciate it.

Communicate just how much work it is, so that they appreciate it. It’s fine to communicate to them that you feel unappreciated. It’s alright for family to want help, but it’s not ok for them to not appreciate it.

This is so stupidly easy to solve. Just make a new instagram account with a pseudonym that does link to you at all and post whatever you want.

That said, this is super weird and unprofessional.

I have deep concerns about it for young naive people. It’s very exploitive and manipulative. However, I’m not sure how to stop people from being stupid. If we had a way to do that, we wouldn’t have war, famine, or homelessness. People are dumb.

But I do agree with you wholeheartedly. These influencers and coachs are the worst. Everything they teach can be learned for free from YouTube or a book from your library. Even a cheap Udemy class. If you’re going to spend money like that, go to school and get a degree and have something to show for it. Stay away from anyone that uses words like “gig” and “hustle”. Fuck me I am so fucking tired of hearing gig and hustle. It is so fucking cringe.

The wine part sounds rape-y af. Also, did he really write “out way”?