The M7s, The Wedding, & Some Thanks :)

[dcsang]

Folks,

I just want to express my thanks to the lot of you here.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to be allowed to tag along with a good friend of mine, a fellow full time wedding photographer.

I've done work for him and with him in the past and I asked if I could do the whole day with him, as long as the couple was cool with it. He checked with them, they agreed and I then loaded up on film. I carried more than I needed - I kind of wished I carried more colour but the shots I did get in colour would have looked, in my opinion, just as good in B&W (save for the flowers *LOL*).

The suggestion to have two of the same cameras was excellent. It made my life a lot easier. One M7 (0.85x) was great for the 90mm Summicron (which I also thought was an excellent choice) while the other M7 (0.72x) was perfect for the 35mm Nokton (f1.4) and 28mm Ultron. I found myself rarely going to the Ultron; which I found odd as I always assumed that I would want wider shots but that wasn't the case.

That said, I believe I did what I set out to do - and now, I have much more confidence in shooting full on with this gear. My shoulders and neck and back were thankful at the end of the day and I found that, when I carried both M7s and my Rolleiflex at the same time it still wasn't as heavy as my D700, grip, 24-70 and SB-900.

I'm posting some of the images from the day, i still have many more rolls to develop and the primary photographer said he'll be happy to include some of these images into the album for the couple. Not because he feels he has to appease me in any way, but because he feels they're good.

So, again, thank you all so much for your input and help with this, it was (and is) greatly appreciated. 🙂

Cheers,
Dave

(self portrait) 🙂

 

[johannielscom]

Cheers, Dave, great shots!

That couple must have had some compliments, or they are likely to receive them: 'Oooooooh, you got black-and-white pictures from your wedding from a real photographer!!!' 😉😉

Love to see more work of yours taken with the M's!

Let's make film as fashionable as digital was a few years back! 😀

 

[fbf]

Any trouble focusing ? or should I say did you feel like the AF was indeed necessary for weddings?
Just curious.
Great shots btw.

 

[dcsang]

Johan, FBF, thank you for the compliments 🙂

I found that there wasn't much trouble focusing per se.

The ceremony, recessional and processional, I didn't mind getting some motion because, after all, people were walking and it, to me, adds to the scene. I believe I have some of those on the Neopan 1600 rolls and with the Rolleiflex.

Now, do I feel AF is necessary. Well, yes and no. I think it's necessary for some things. Kids running around for example at the reception. Do I think it's always necessary.. not as much. It's just something that makes taking the photos a bit "easier" / "quicker" - I found the way I shoot means not doing the "run & gun" technique (firing off 8 fps with my D700). I never have been that way so it makes sense that I wouldn't be that way (or want to be that way) with my M7s. Therefore, AF appears to be less of a requirement for me now.. 🙂

Cheers,
dave

 

[robklurfield]

Dave, great work.

 

[kshapero]

This is great stuff. I switched from DSLR's for events last year to only film. It took courage, I am sure you know. A few months ago I was asked to do a wedding. I referred them to a "professional" and said I would tag a long doing B/W film. They said yes, I stopped by and saw them last week. They had a beautiful color album on their coffee table and 3 of my B/W's on the wall framed. Keep it up.

 

[maggieo]

Dave, those are some seriously beautiful frames you've posted! The color work is sublime!

 

[dcsang]

Thanks a ton for the compliments folks - I'm honoured 🙂

Dave

 

[ckuang]

love the black and white images!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Dave,

Great! It worked!

Cheers,

R.