My first wedding 'assignment' - I'm nervous and I'm not even the photographer!

[Julian Thompson]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

A colleague of mine is getting married at the weekend and I'm only a guest in the evening - but I've got it in my head that I'm going to nail one absolutely stellar photograph and present it to the happy couple as an addendum to our wedding gift.

 

I would dearly love to capture this on film and wanted a little bit of advice from those that know about such things.

 

For a complete novice to this (and I realise it's a profession so you can't teach me everything!) - can I get a bit of advice as to what kind of film might work well in an evening 'do' situation? I have it in my head that the shot I want will be a fairly high contrast b&w affair for some reason. But if I want to do colour I would appreciate some advice on that, too.

 

What film speed should I take? I am likely to use a 50 Lux I think, probably pretty wide open I guess.

 

TIA!

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[earleygallery]

It's difficult to give any advice without knowing the venue, time, lighting conditions etc etc.

 

Faster the film the better if you're using available light, which may be bright or near dark! Neopan 1600 or TriX pushed to 800/1600. Colour is more tricky as you don't know what kind of lighting there is (you'll get a colour cast unless you use a correction filter, or scan and post process in photoshop).

 

My advice would be either not to bother, and just enjoy the event, or take candid shots of the guests and couple during the evening and present them with an 'album' of shots which the official photographer almost certainly won't have taken or be there to take!

[aesop]

<snip>...My advice would be either not to bother, and just enjoy the event, or take candid shots of the guests and couple during the evening and present them with an 'album' of shots which the official photographer almost certainly won't have taken or be there to take!

 

...nervous photographers suck and very rarely come up with the goods. Relax, grab some HP5+ and/or Tri-X (rate according to conditions), and just enjoy yourself. Go easy on the drink, keep your eyes peeled for odd photo ops, and be very very ready for grab shots.

[zlatkob]

I photograph weddings but have only shot a few rolls of film in recent years. For an evening wedding, I would probably use Fuji Pro 800Z for color and Neopan 1600 for black & white. I think the 50 lux will be ideal for what you want to do. To nail that one absolutely stellar photograph, just concentrate on getting a really good moment from a good position, probably close but not too close. That will mean anticipating the moment, setting the right exposure, and being quick to focus. Easy!

[Julian Thompson]

Perfect - 50 lux and 800 / 1600 film - that's faster than I was thinking but on reflection makes a whole lot of sense. Need to get some today! Yikes that might be tricky!!

[Jaybob]

Look for something totally different that what the paid shooter is getting. Whatever you do, don't work over the shoulder. I would suggest a very wide berth, it's totally ok to outshoot the pro, but you should attempt to do it with some stealth, don't rub her/his face in it. Be cognizant of where the pro is, and try to be somewhere else. Think of yourself as a second shooter, or 3rd if there is a second, and try to contrast what they are doing. While I personally would be intrigued, some wedding shooters are VERY territorial, and nothing intimidates the meek digi-Canon wielder more than a red dot. You want them to be paying attention to their job and not what you're doing, stealing all of their digital glory!.

 

You should be perfect in the tri-x, tmax400, pushed 1000 to 1600 film speed range. I prefer the "modern" look of tmax, but that's just me. 800 fuji is good film, too but pushed c-41 can be hit or miss in mixed light.

 

I second the easy on the drink sentiment. It robs you of the most important thing you need, FOCUS!

[Julian Thompson]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

nothing intimidates the meek digi-Canon wielder more than a red dot

 

:-)

[wattsy]

Jeff Ascough is a well known "digi-Canon wielder". I doubt he'd be very intimidated by a hobbyist shooting an à la carte M7. Whatever happened to just enjoying the event as a guest?

[FiZZ]

:-)

nothing intimidates the meek digi-Canon wielder more than a red dot!

 

BEST.QUOTE.EVER.

[Julian Thompson]

Whatever happened to just enjoying the event as a guest?

 

Oh no I'll do that as well - just want to actually put myself under a fun bit of pressure to get a really professional shot. ie - to prepare in advance knowing what it is I want to achieve. I'm not a pro and don't want to be, but that doesn't mean I don't want to pop on different shoes now and again :-)

[Jaybob]

Jeff Ascough is a well known "digi-Canon wielder". I doubt he'd be very intimidated by a hobbyist shooting an à la carte M7.

 

SOME would. An under confident, new to the business, leaning way too heavy on the automation that a digi-Nikanon provides, just maybe a tad more uneasy.

 

Obviously, I wasn't trying to single out any ONE Canon shooter, especially one with a website so nice.

[George Balle]

Have fun! If you are not the principle photogrpher then relax. This is a perfect learning experiance for you. Depending on your equipment I would shoot Neopan 1600 and Delta 3200 for the getting ready and reception - really anything inside. Outdoors durring the day Neopan 400.

 

If you are shooting with 2+ bodies one can be colour: Fuji 400 and 800 overexposed by a stop look very nice.

 

Relax and enjoy!

[Rolo]

A colleague of mine is getting married at the weekend and I'm only a guest in the evening - but I've got it in my head that I'm going to nail one absolutely stellar photograph and present it to the happy couple as an addendum to our wedding gift.

!

 

Julian,

 

Wouldn't be at Shrigley Hall tomorrow by any chance, would it ?? I know it's local to your house.

 

If so, I'm the photographer.

 

Presume you weren't a guest at my wedding today at Stanneylands, in Wilmslow, which is also near your home. I only contracted to shoot until the end of the speeches, so didn't see the evening guests.

[Julian Thompson]

No Gary, it's nearer Manchester than that. It's one of the lads that works for me and he's a big camera nut and a really good photographer himself, so I thought it'd be a fun gift for me to give him so we can have a laugh taking the shot apart :--))

 

Still not sent you that negative we discussed. I will do it :-)

[italy74]

Julian

 

sorry to ask so late but.. which camera are you thinking of ? Have you an M or an R ? Both have 50 lux but the way you face the whole photographic process changes a lot.

I don't know the M but the R8/R9 has really a nice focusing viewfinder and I honestly hope to get one asap.

 

More experienced people might tell if 50 mm is a focal lenght better managed with RF or SLR, to me it should be fifty-fifty, but I admit I've never shot with an RF (except once with a Hexar RF and a very tiny Leica 35 summicron). For an SLR however, it's a lens which I'd exploit a lot.

 

If you would use an R you might go also for a 90 F/2 or a F/2.8 if you have more light. But now is late, I guess... weekend is over..

[Doug A]

Just a quick comment on photographing a once in a lifetime event. I had begun playing around with my meterless Nikon F after a 20+ year hiatus when our son was married. I was fairly confident that I could take some good photos on Kodacolor Gold 400, but I decided to play it completely safe and use the point and shoot Sony digital that I was then using for 90% for my work. I'm glad I did. I got one perfect shot of the couple dancing that is now in the photo albums of everyone who attended the wedding. Risking that shot on a camera/film combo with an unproven success rate would have been irresponsible.

 

(I waited until the professional photographer was finished with them and was photographing other guests. I asked them how they were holding up, waited for them to look at each other, and took the photo.)

[Rolo]

[(I waited until the professional photographer was finished with them and was photographing other guests. )

 

As a Professional Wedding photographer who's generally on top of the job, I'll say that I'm largely unaffected by wedding guests taking photographs at any time in the proceedings. If the guest has brought a camera to the event he's unlikely to purchase reprints from me and if there's no impact on income, I'm not concerned about his activity. My photos will provide the images for the B&G, parents albums, gifts to close family and prints to be framed. I can expect nothing more and I'm happy with that.

 

I'll suggest that it's very impolite for guests to shadow the photographer on every shot; distract the subjects so that eyes and heads are not pointing where they should be; delay the arrival of a subject to join a group etc.

 

Last Friday, I had an uncle shadowing me, even during the church ceremony, but when it came to a photo of his side of the family, he stood out to take a photo of the group before dashing around the back to join the group. I'd already shot the group and had to reorganise with small delay. Having removed the photo without him from the set, I've decided whilst typing this to use the one with him missing for the proofs.

 

So don't hesitate to take what images you want at the wedding, just don't become a nuisance and irritate the guy who's doing his job.

[Julian Thompson]

I used a M with a 50, italy74 - I couldn't get fast film though because my normal supplier was out of stock (never happened before - sods law I guess!) so I ended up with 400CN - it was very tough because I was down to really slow speeds even with the 1.4 lux. I'm just scanning them in now with my fingers crossed :-))

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Jaybob]

As a wedding shooter myself, I try to never have a problem with ANYONE at a wedding. I use D3 bodies and will often hand one of the beasts off to anyone standing right next to me to replace their point and shoot. "You've got a much better angle." or "You've got the job! I have to warn you, after hour 3, both your shoulders will more than likely go numb. Don't worry though, when that happens, I'll be right here next to you, shooting with your phone." That approach usually gets me back the subjects attention (what I need) even if it's just for a short period of time, and after that, then the guests can shoot. Honestly, 99 times out of 100, those are usually the photos that I care the least about, lined up in a row, completely stiff and stagnant. It's not how real people present themselves, and definitely my least favorite part of being a wedding photographer.

 

I bring the M's with me, but use them sparingly. They are the cameras for I use for EVERYTHING else that I do, all of my personal work, including weddings that I go to as an invitee. I've seem them work their Kryptonite on other "straight to digital, never picked up a film camera before" pro shooters. When I see that, I try to just stay out of their way, and shoot it the way I want to. They've got work to do, I want their pictures to be good, and so does the bride.

 

I'm am really looking forward to seeing your results...

[ndjambrose]

... nothing intimidates the meek digi-Canon wielder more than a red dot.

 

No one except an absolute imbecile would care what colour dot is on the camera. Please preserve us from people who think the brand of the camera counts for more than what's shot with it.

 

No experienced wedding photographer would be worried by other guests shooting. It's all in a day's work - most weddings work out at around one camera per guest. And I suspect that most wedding photographers - even those of a non Leica persuasion - would outshoot the random hobbyist without even trying.

 

@Julian - buy film, do your thing, and most of all make sure you have fun. Your biggest advantage is you know the couple and their friends -- that alone should offer you some nice opportunities which will be more useful than any technical choice.

 

In terms of film, Tri-X works a treat - you can push it up to 1600 and with the right processing will get better results than using 3200 TXP. I can (and have) shot weddings all day long with nothing else, just adjusting the speed as I needed it. An indelible marker comes in useful for marking the rated speed, and prevents mix ups if you shoot several rolls at different speeds.