For the past two years, I've been an 'official' photographer at the annual Jingle Mingle Christmas party in Atlanta, organized by Steve Kilby and a large team of less visible volunteers.

Shooting nightlife is one of the more difficult environments to work with for a photographer, as the light is minimal to start but also constantly changing. A friend used the Canon 17-55 last year, and after stubbornly trying the lens for myself at the same party this year, I decided she was right; unfortunately the lens struggles to focus precisely out of the box in low-light scenes.

I've since learned some tricks such as the right-hand thumb button to pre-focus with the 580EX II flash, but I've moved on to mostly using prime lenses for nightlife now, since in reviewing my shots zoom is rarely critical or even useful.