Trumpets

Since 2019 I work for Prague Radio Symphonic Orchestra. Reason for that is my “trigger discipline”. You might occasionally notice me being in the room, but you will never hear my shutter. That is the rule. Almost every concert of this orchestra is broadcasted live on one of our main radio stations. Meaning there are very sensitive microphones everywhere. Imagine taking photos with necessity to watch the conductor, so you can at least guess how loud music will get in the next couple of seconds. And now imagine covid pandemic, resulted with this kind of program being broadcasted from the studio. It is a big orchestra so the room is usually filled to the brim with people. There are a lot more of these very sensitive microphones. And they are a lot closer. On each of the four walls is the big red light with “ON AIR” label and clock right under. 

Vojtech Spurny conducting PRSO in one of the studios, 12. 4. 2021 / 85mm; T 1/125; F 1.4; ISO 3200; EOS 5D Mark III

I was using an EOS 5D Mark III at the time. DSLR cameras are not equipped with proper silent mode. All it cando is, it slows down the mirror in the box on the way to the starting position. Therefore it is far from completely silent and you have to really think about when you can take pictures and when not to.  

For a couple of minutes I had no idea how to do my job without being heard. But after the musicians started their warm up, I got an idea. I was standing about thirty centimeters behind the trumpets and I was taking photos only when they were playing. They easily overcame the sound of me clicking. 

Marie Dorazilova, violoncello, PRSO, 3. 5. 2021 / 135mm; T 1/250; F 2.0; ISO 3200; EOS 5D Mark III

I had hundreds of little adventures like this. They stopped being real after the appearance of mirrorless cameras. I resisted for three years, because I hate to look at the display in the viewfinder, but I was forced to change my mind eventually. At first, I bought EOS R. Very precise little camera with abysmal ergonomy. I found myself unable to work with its viewfinder, which I found to be too slow for dance. I was thinking if there isn’t any system I would find sufficient, I’m not gonna be able to use this technology. I use EOS  R3 now and am somewhat satisfied. What is a game-changer is the precision of the focus. I've been using mirrorless technology for a year now and I still feel like I’m stealing. And as time goes on I found myself less and less able to explain, how hard my previous fifteen years of photography were. It is mind-boggling. All the basics changed for the third time since I started photography. You might say there is no difference between DSLR and Mirrorless. For me, this difference is insurmountably big.