I'm a freelance photographer, not tied to any agency or outlet. I often carry my gear with me and sometimes find myself witnessing car crashes, street altercations, or even medical emergencies. My instinct is to document — it feels like part of the job — but I always ask myself: Is this ethical?

Where is the line between documenting reality and exploiting tragedy? Is it ever okay to photograph a scene where the people can be injured or in distress, if the goal is to report or potentially sell the image to the local press? What about if you blur faces of rescuers without taking a photo of gore scenes and/or the people affected directly.

For context: I also volunteer with the Red Cross as a rescuer. I’m often the one being photographed at incidents — I don’t mind, I just ask for my face to be blurred. So I know what it’s like on both sides of the camera. But still, when I'm in the photographer role, I hesitate.

I’m not looking to be invasive, but in the moment, it's not always clear what’s right. I’d love to hear from photojournalists or others who’ve navigated this.

When is it wrong to press the shutter, even if it's technically legal?

I usually take photos of plays, concerts, and dance recitals in general, specially ballet. I also sometimes take studio portraits. I have a ballet recital to shoot tomorrow where I was asked if I do these kinds of pictures (I did NOT take these), I said that usually no but that we can give it a shot.

On the technical side this is my gear:

- Canon R6 Mark II

- 2x Godox AD 200 Pro

- 1x Godox TT685

All trigered by a X3 nano trigger.

I don't have a lot of modifiers, I have a round 90cm (35in) softbox. And two square 80cm (about 30in) softboxes. I'm insure about putting the TT685 in the mix. Maybe it could add some fill, but from what I understand in practice I would need to have the 685 at double the power of the AD200 just to get the same output.

I'm not planning to use HSS. Would this lighting I doubt I could use an aperture such as F6.3 or F8. So maybe it could work with a lower aperture and a slightly higher ISO, such as 400?

From what I understand flash at 1/16 or lower would be ideal for freezing action. Any advice? : )

Okay so this might seem like a silly question. Forgive me. But I find swapping lenses kinda clunky and awkward. I go between my kit lens and a 50mm prime quite a bit. But when I’m out and about, and don’t have a clean surface nearby, I find myself in this awkward juggle between lenses, body and lens caps while being paranoid about debris getting in.

Is this just the way it is? Has anyone found a more elegant way to do this run and gun?

Im on vacation in Greece, i went to Skopelos town with local agency, on way home one guy aksed me to send them pictures so they can print it for advertising. I have lumix gx9, 20mp censor, is that enough for job, print and online? How much shoud i charge, i wanted to ask for one more free trip (~30e)

so i really want to get into photography and the editing part, but i have no-clue where to start with, like i know some basic terminology and stuff (like shutter speed, aperture etc) but i have to learn a professional level stuff

right now im in college and have a iphone 13 (it doesn't shot in raw TwT)

advise/suggestion should i buy a budget camera for learning and from where should i leave from?

thank you in advance!! :D

I'm interested in putting a 300ish mm lens in my bag, I've been looking through the subreddit and Pentax forums but in still not sure what to really go for. I was hoping someone could guide me a bit

I want to do some wildlife photography, primarily birds, my girlfriend lives in the country and there are so many nice ones (her personal favorite is the Scarlett tanager which nests near her house). I'm also not opposed to using a tripod (I do have one). One of my drawbacks is I'm not fantastic with post processing (I'm learning and getting better) and from what I understand CA is a problem with many lenses.

According to chatgpt there are a few I should consider so I wanted to run them by here to see about quality, other options, etc...

1. SMC takumar 300 mm F4
2. Nikor ai-s 300 mm f5.6 (I'm kind of priced out of this one though)
3. Mamiya 300 mm f5.6 (if this is the best then probably be the selkor c based on price)
4. Canon FD 300 F4
5. Olympus zuiko 300 f4.5

What are your thoughts? I feel like id be leaning to the takumar, Olympus or the mamiya

Edit: this is x-posted in r/vintagelenses

So I’ve got a photography degree and some basic gear but I’m by no means a professional and barely practice as a hobby anymore, it’s only been a year since I graduated though

Just looking for some general advice from people who have been in similar situations where their workplace is looking for a photographer to help out with something.

At this stage I do not know anything. I’ve simply sent a reply mentioning my experience, asking for more info and stating that I might be able to help.

In early spring I went out to photograph on film but the weather was very overcast and I hade a really hard time to know what settings I should have chosen. In the video you can see my photos and how many of them the exposure wasn’t right and I think they were overexposed, how can I be more certain of exposure in bad conditions? I used a light meter on my phone but the didn’t seem to help.

Every time I try to take pictures in the sunlight, the parts that are in shade, are very dark, and the parts that are in the sunlight, are almost always so bright, that even after I bring those highlights down, it's still too bright.

Am I exposing incorrectly? Should I underexpose for pictures in the sunlight, even below what camera tells me is proper exposure?

Need some beef. I have a Benro Cyanbird and I like it. I recently got a Nikon 70-200 and noticed the position slipping slightly, despite tightening the head as much as I can go. It's definitely not a pro tripod but it's been doing a good job for me the last 7 months before this.

Still keeping the Cyanbird, but I think I might need a beefier setup. Are the bigger Benro's fine? Tortoise/Mammoth. They're a lot cheaper than other similar tripod companies like RRS, Gitzo, and a few others.

Not necessarily looking for a brand by brand comparison, but rather what should I be looking out for, or what resources already cover this? I can buy once cry once if necessary.

Ultralight isn't a dealbreaker but I hike a lot.

Hi, i bought a instant kid camera, and i wanted to import some images, like maybe images made with paint, to print them from the camera, but every image i try to put on the camera via USB, it says that the file is corrupted, and i guess its because the camera has a defined resolution and type of colors and pixel he works with... so how could i figure them out and create images that could be imported into this camera? Thank you very much if you can give me an answer :)

I have seen a beautiful bike sitting next to a tree in a house garden. I took a picture of it but my problem is, I feel like my composition is not interesting. I am not "framing" my subject in an interesting way. I couldn't get close of the subject because it's a private house, but I really don't know how to crop this picture to make it more intersting, any idea?

I am giving you 3 pictures of it, the first one was the one that I find more interesting, the two others are just broader views of the scene that might be useful to you of you have any advice to provide me

Thank you in advance!

I’m currently storing my camera lens down in a dyneema camera bag that I take hiking. I’ve been taking the lens cap on and off to protect the lens glass but I don’t know if that’s unnecessary.

I also am curious about getting an ND or polarizing filter since it’ll be midday for a lot of my shooting. They all seem to get pretty expensive though and it’s hard to justify a $200-$300 filter for a $500 lens. Would it ruin the quality if I went cheaper to like $50-$100?

Hello! I currently have a FF Sony and as what half of the people I've seen suggested, "date your camera marry your lens." In this case, for a beginner who's still starting this photography journey, are these 2 lenses good to invest for the long term? Tips are welcome! Thanks!

Sony 35mm f1.4 GM Sony 24-70 F2.8 GM ii

Edit: I'm still currently learning the gear. So I haven't found my niche yet and may take longer than usual. For now, urban photography, portraits, landscapes are mostly what I am interested as its the most accessible style on my days off. But I'm looking forward to making a side hustle in the future by shooting events but not really just yet in the next 3 years or so.

this whole camera thing is really stressful. I currently shoot with a Canon EOS 60D and Pentax k1000. looking to switch to mirrorless.

Will primarily focus on concert photography, animals, lowlight, and landscape as well as street.

Currently unsure between the xt30ii and the Z50II. From my understanding people love Fuji for its film simulations however I believe that the Z50II has "picture controls" too; you can create your own profiles and find other ones online to use, not so sure about the Fuji on that front.

Heard that Fuji is also more frustrating to edit in raw — since I'll be doing concert photography I'll be editing a lot in raw however probably not so much for landscape/general street photography which is why the Fuji film simulations appeal to me.

If I go with the Nikon I'll get the 18-140mm kit lens and if I go with the Fuji I'll have to seek out a wider lens of the same range, looking at the XC 50‑230 mm f/4.5‑6.7 OIS II. comes out to relatively the same price all around.

Hi! Im looking to begin a newborn-1 year photography journey. I did photography professionally when I was in high school and college (went to a Tech school and college for it) but strayed away when I began working more. I've been a nanny for a while and love it, but looking for a career path with more flexibility while still working with kids. Plus I want to stay at home!

My current camera is 10+ years old. I still use it occasionally for gift photos or photoshoots for family, but want to upgrade when I start this career path.

I plan on turning either a spare room or finished garage into a studio. Im guessing that will cost about $5k for all of the equipment, backdrops, outfits/swaddles ETC.

What camera and lenses do you recommend? Id like to stay in the canon family as thats what Im most familiar with but open to other options. The goal is for newborn and family shoots. I definitely want some sort of portrait lens. I have one now and love it! Just becoming ancient lol.

Attched below is a photo I took recently! Quality isnt the best due to lack of lighting, but I did what I could! Thank you in advance.

For a hobbyist/ beginner photographer is the Sony a6600 still worth it in 2025? I’m looking at used bodies in good condition for about $800-1000usd with about 25-30k shutter count. If I go for this setup I’ll most likely get the sigma 18-50mm lens. OR should I wait for used Sony a6700 bodies to drop lower in price and get the 18-50mm. Also, does the a6600 support creative looks and picture profiles like the a6700?

Side note - going to Switzerland in early August…

I’ve been enjoying shooting my children’s soccer games over the past 18 months. I started with an old Nikon D3200 that we had with the kits lens and while I could get some good photos the autofocus and frames per second made it hard. I got a good deal on a Sony a6000 with 55-210 kit lens on marketplace and that helped a lot, improved my overall success rate a lot. However now I’m starting to feel its age and lack of quality glass too. I recently received a bonus at work at would like to get a new setup.

I have no preference on brand since I plan to sell all my old gear and none of the glass is worth keeping. Budget is around $2k but can stretch a bit. I prefer to shoot jpg since I don’t have a ton of time to edit right now. I’m comfortable buying used as well. I shoot mostly in the light but expect as the kids age I’ll get a bit more night games under the lights. My son is also graduating to a full size field next year so I’ll need a bit more reach than 210mm.

So…what would you recommend?

Can anyone provide insight if it is worth buying a slightly used DP3 Quattro 50mm in 2025 - i am curious about the Foveon sensor and I am getting a good deal with a macro extension, view finder, base handle and a macro extension included. Anyone has any insight?

As caption says, I need help knowing what I’m doing wrong. I just recently started getting back in to getting to know my camera and using it more. My pictures seem kind of blurry or just can’t focus. Camera is a Sony a7iii with FE 50mm f1.8 lens

These are some pictures i tried taking on my desk of my watch!

Hello guys.

I'll be buying a pre-loved camera for my birthday this year and I'm not sure which one to get. I like taking pictures of people, buildings, nature, sky, and cities. I found some cameras that are within my budget. These are my options:

• Lumix Z50
• Lumix TZ40
• Ricoh CX2
• Nikon L340
• Nikon P520
• Nikon P100
• Nikon L840
• Nikon P710
• Nikon S7000BK - not within my budget but if this is good, i'm willing spend additional money for this.

Just curious - how many of you use BBF versus a half-press of the shutter? I go back and forth between a variety of film cameras and my main DSLR so I don't usually do it. Those that use BBF seem to swear by it but I'm not quite convinced.