Wedding photography woes; get your iphone out of my scene please!

I really hate to complain, for the most part, but I recently shot a wedding for some really neat clients and was appalled to find that my endeavors were repeatedly confounded by guests thrusting their cellphones, with oft trembling hands, into my scene!

I was discussing this with one of my daughters later, who is herself planning a wedding, and she told me that the photographers she was talking to about her wedding had complained to her regarding this very same problem.
This actually leaves me a bit perplexed, and here are some of the issues that I have with this practice. First of all, I know that the advent of current technology has made us all photographers at some level, but what I don't get is the sense that many seem to have of entitlement to use the devices indiscriminately.  I think that we are coming to a place in society where we need to add a disclaimer to the box that a new cellphone is packaged in that explains basic photojournalism responsibilities.  Mutual respect for one and intellectual rights for another.

I'm also perplexed by the narcissistic overtones involved with intruding on a scene. I can see why someone would be so brazen as to disrespect me, I mean you don't even know me. But, the question is: "Why would you be so disrespectful to the person whose wedding I'm shooting?" Do you really think that your little shaky cellphone shot somehow carries more value to the people whose nuptials are being celebrated than mine does, the people who are paying me thousands of dollars to be there and use my expensive equipment to record their memories?

Please keep your phones out of my scene. It's rude and it's obnoxious. It's also infringing on my creativity. If you want a clever, well thought out shot of a scene, then ask the bride for a copy of the shot later, or get together with her on your own time and plan one out for yourself.

Photography equipment is NOT, (always), disposable

As I sit here writing this, I am awaiting a lens that I know isn't functioning correctly, but which I am fairly confident that I can fix... fairly confident.
I have a theory. My theory is that if it was built by human hands, then it can be fixed by human hands and more specifically... it can be fixed by MY human hands!
Now, that theory hasn't always panned out, but many times it has and many times the very fact that I am willing to tear into a mechanical device and try to fix it has saved me a lot of money. 
To date these are the project that I have undertaken successfully:

I have rebuilt a 28-55mm lens
I have changed the LCD screen in a Sony a5000
I have taken apart and repaired a Canon ElanII broken film door latch
I have taken apart and cleaned the dust/mold out of a 2x teleconverter

I will post the links to  three of these undertakings, (the fourth wasn't recorded), and show you my hillbilly technique. 

My advice is to never throw anything out that could be used if functioning properly. Try to fix it. You might find that it isn't as hard to repair as you think. However, you might find out it's completely beyond your skillset to do so. I have done both.

How to make a very cheap lens cover for wildlife photography

I love to film and photograph wildlife. As a matter of fact there are very few things that I would rather do with my time. However, one of the issues I have ran into is the fact that EVERYTHING that has to do with photography is overly expensive.

And so, I do everything that I can to cut costs here and there when possible. Well, I discovered right off that the best wildlife video comes from the use of long length Canon "L" lenses, but I also found that most wildlife has an inborn detesting of the white lenses that are their trademarks.

This concept isn't new, and it is for this reason that certain companies offer lens covers that cost over $100 each. This is basically highway robbery because the substance of these covers is no different than that of an $.85 can coolie. It is for this reason that I came up with this $2 hack to make a very cheap, re-usable lens cover for your long length Canon "L" lenses.

Enjoy!

Using legacy lenses on your dslr

I have been using old, legacy lenses for my Canon 80D and my 5D MkII with great success. As a matter of fact, you can watch a review I did here: The Dreaded ERR01

 What I have found is that if you are adaptive in your mannerisms, you can use these 400mm - 500mm lenses quite nicely for a couple of hundred bucks. I have shot everything from Hockey games to Horse Shows on one of these lenses, as well as various types of wildlife and zoo photography.

The most important thing to remember is the fact that many of these lenses, as well as being fixed length, are fixed aperature as well... otherwise you'll get the dreaded ERR01 message. The trick to using these lenses successfully then is not to re-chip them, but to set your body to Aperture Priority mode. That way you only have to worry about adjusting exposure through the ISO, as the aperture is fixed, (usually 5.6), and shutter speed will be selected for you.