Peter Klein
Well-known
I shot "candids" at two of my cousins' weddings on two consecutive summers. The same pro was hired for both weddings. For the first, he used a Nikon film SLR, for the second, a DSLR.
I actually had a very good time with the pro. He knew what he was doing, and we were after different things, so there was no competition. It was fun to talk shop, compare notes. Interesting point: The first year, when people asked him the inevitable "Is that a digital camera?" he said no, he would only use a digital camera in situations where he could be sure he could control the light completely, like for studio and product work. The next year, he shows up with a D70. I kidded him about it. He said, "Well, you gotta do what you gotta do." Evidently people were demanding digital.
For the second wedding, the couple asked for digital. Unfortunately, they chose the pro's cheapest package, which involved shooting JPGs, burning them to a CD and that's that. Then they were angry when the indoor pictures turned out with muddy shadows. Of course they did--the pro had to protect his highlights, and had no opportunity (at that price point) to bring up the shadows properly in RAW conversion, because there *was* no RAW conversion.
Me, I shot film in a Leica with fast lenses. B&W for the ceremony and the first part of the reception, then color for the latter part. Both sets of cousins loved my pictures. The first year, they said that both mine and the pro's were good, but mine were more personal, and my B&W's especially were "beautiful and evocative." The second year, it was "Thank God you were there, because half of the pro's pictures were terrible!"
I shot both weddings with a Leica M6TTL, a 35/1.4 ASPH, a 50/1.5 Nokton, and occasionally a 90 (f/2 Summicron one year, f/3.5 CV the second year). Film used was Kodak BW400CN and either Fuji Press 400 or Kodak UC400 (I prefer the Kodak, others like Fuji). I shot them at 200 when I could, and 400 when I needed the speed. If things were really dark, I would have gone to a silver B&W film like Tri-X at 400 or Neopan 1600 shot at 800-1200--color negative film can look very lousy when underexposed.
There is no reason why a Bessa couldn't do a similar job. Use your knowledge of the people and your affection for them to your advantage, shoot close with a moderate wide and a normal, and you'll do fine. The D200 is a fine machine, but so is a film RF. If the other guy is a braggart, he'll be trying to impress you. Ignore it, and just get good pictures. He'll lose some shots to chimping and bragging.
Oh, and don't be afraid to use flash at the reception, where appropriate. Bounce flash looks pretty good off a white ceiling, and if you're shooting B&W, it doesn't matter what color the ceiling is as long as it reflects. For the ceremony, try to scout out the place and measure light levels beforehand. If you need to buy or borrow a tripod or monopod to get unblurred pictures, do it. And use whatever film speed you need.
Good luck!
--Peter
I actually had a very good time with the pro. He knew what he was doing, and we were after different things, so there was no competition. It was fun to talk shop, compare notes. Interesting point: The first year, when people asked him the inevitable "Is that a digital camera?" he said no, he would only use a digital camera in situations where he could be sure he could control the light completely, like for studio and product work. The next year, he shows up with a D70. I kidded him about it. He said, "Well, you gotta do what you gotta do." Evidently people were demanding digital.
For the second wedding, the couple asked for digital. Unfortunately, they chose the pro's cheapest package, which involved shooting JPGs, burning them to a CD and that's that. Then they were angry when the indoor pictures turned out with muddy shadows. Of course they did--the pro had to protect his highlights, and had no opportunity (at that price point) to bring up the shadows properly in RAW conversion, because there *was* no RAW conversion.
Me, I shot film in a Leica with fast lenses. B&W for the ceremony and the first part of the reception, then color for the latter part. Both sets of cousins loved my pictures. The first year, they said that both mine and the pro's were good, but mine were more personal, and my B&W's especially were "beautiful and evocative." The second year, it was "Thank God you were there, because half of the pro's pictures were terrible!"
I shot both weddings with a Leica M6TTL, a 35/1.4 ASPH, a 50/1.5 Nokton, and occasionally a 90 (f/2 Summicron one year, f/3.5 CV the second year). Film used was Kodak BW400CN and either Fuji Press 400 or Kodak UC400 (I prefer the Kodak, others like Fuji). I shot them at 200 when I could, and 400 when I needed the speed. If things were really dark, I would have gone to a silver B&W film like Tri-X at 400 or Neopan 1600 shot at 800-1200--color negative film can look very lousy when underexposed.
There is no reason why a Bessa couldn't do a similar job. Use your knowledge of the people and your affection for them to your advantage, shoot close with a moderate wide and a normal, and you'll do fine. The D200 is a fine machine, but so is a film RF. If the other guy is a braggart, he'll be trying to impress you. Ignore it, and just get good pictures. He'll lose some shots to chimping and bragging.
Oh, and don't be afraid to use flash at the reception, where appropriate. Bounce flash looks pretty good off a white ceiling, and if you're shooting B&W, it doesn't matter what color the ceiling is as long as it reflects. For the ceremony, try to scout out the place and measure light levels beforehand. If you need to buy or borrow a tripod or monopod to get unblurred pictures, do it. And use whatever film speed you need.
Good luck!
--Peter
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