Available light wedding

[japilado at pacifier.com]

Hi Drew,
I just let the 400 T and the 645 do all the work balancing the ambient
light and the flash output.
Most churches prefer photographers not use flash during the ceremony.  For
my available work,  I use the fabulous LX camera and the following lenses,
 the 40mm,  135,  or 200.  I did a wedding in February where the bride
wanted the church lights dimmned down to approximate candle lighting.  I
asked the priest to adjust the lights a little brighter so I could record
the scene with the Fujicolor 400 film.  The bride never realized that I
had boosted the light up.
Wedding photography is hard work.  I offer a one evening class on wedding
photography through a community college.  The first words out of my mouth
is that wedding photography is very hard work,  work that isn't for the
faint of heart.  I've been working weddings for over 35 years.

Jim A.




> Hi folks!
> Thanks for the input received so far. I'm finding it very helpful.
>
> Paul- I do plan on having both my bodies on me. I shoot like this a lot
> at festivals and parades for the newspaper. To address the issue of low,
> mixed lighting, I may propose--when I meet with the couple again in a
> couple of weeks--using some high speed black and white film since the
> disposables the guests will have will likely be color. I did that once,
> as a "guest shooter" with my Yashica Lynx 14 (my wife was using the MX
> with the 50/1.4) and a Vivitar 283 when it was necessary and my friends
> were tickled with the album we gave them.
>
> And thanks for reminding me about fill flash to balance subjects with
> backgrounds outdoors. I appreciate it.
>
> Jim- Thanks for your thoughts as well. I've had my eye on the 75mm LS
> for that very reason. I haven't had much call for flash at all in my MF
> work, this wedding will be an exception. When using the 400T for fill,
> do you find you typically dial it down about 1 stop below what you'd
> need for "full on" flash? Also, which camera and lenses do you tend to
> use when shooting the ceremony itself?
>
> Graywolf- I appreciate the encouragement. Like I said to Paul, I've used
> the combination I mentioned earlier in events and haven't felt lacking.
> I'm a big fan of my Nike-zoom.
> I am doing a CD, but the couple knows that it will only have a few
> hundred shots. In fact, they really don't want to go overkill with the
> coverage. Talking to them about this initially, they really aren't
> interested in quantity. They're interested in a modest selection of
> shots that are well-done. I had to urge them a little bit to agree to do
> formal portraits, because I knew their parents would murder me if there
> weren't any of those to show for the big day.
>
> Thanks again, folks. I'm open to more input if anyone has it.
>
> -Drew
>
> --
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML at pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
>
>