M9 saves the Wedding

D

Denton

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Hi Folks,

I shot a wedding for hire yesterday in a park. I had gathered my Canon 5D, 70-200 and 24-105 as main lenses. I also pack two 580EXII speedlights for after hours receptions and fill flash during full sun as this wedding was at 2:30 EST and it was Hot!

I was using the 70-200 as the bride was almost ready to walk into the open amphitheater to meet the groom when my 5D threw it's mirror! I handed my assistant the bad camera and lenses and she said, "now what are you going to do?" I had my M9 in the Domke F2 I also carry on my shoulder but it had a Color Skopar 35mm f2.5 lens on it and I didn't want to shoot a processional with 35mm. I traded the Skopar for my ONLY other rangefinder lens, the 75mm Heliar classic and got the shots off, focusing madly as the Bride, Mom and Dad came down the path. The happy couple were standing with their backs to full sunlight so I had to expose for the shadows at ISO 200 and 1/200 about f8. The sun became too much for the groom and the wonderful woman pastor moved the couple into some shade just to their right. Good break for me, the light in the shadow was just what I needed for lower contrast and f5.6. I shot the rest of the ceremony with that 75mm Heliar and followed the group shots with the 35mm Skopar. We also did some marvelous beach shots with the Heliar and a homemade portable scrim I've invented. Later that night at the reception I could not use the 580's so I pulled out the old Vivitar 285 and slapped it on the M9.

So how did the images compare? I'm very happy with them. I certainlly did miss the spotmeter on the 5D as I find this is the best way to assure proper exposure, metering on the face and using back button for focus. But, I usually meter all posed shots with a incident meter anyway. I do find metering candids is better done by setting the camera manually and switching between memorized sun and shade settings. Another issue is the parallax of the 75mm so that I had to occassionally reshoot after chimping. I did not have my 75mm finder in the bag, unfortunately. Since I did not have my 580's for fill light, I posed the groups with the sun at their backs and used two large white reflectors laid out on the ground in front of them for fill light, probably 10x3 feet of white reflective fill.

So why didn't I have another 5D in the bag? I had sold my 5DMII and several L lenses to get the M9!

Cheers,
Denton
 
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Anyone who does paid work without two sets of equipment complete down to batteries and sync cords is not professional. And at an event that can not be redone is even worse.
 
Assumptions and sagely advice

Assumptions and sagely advice

Ronald M said:
Anyone who does paid work without two sets of equipment complete down to batteries and sync cords is not professional. And at an event that can not be redone is even worse.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your words of wisdom. I've sold my Canon equipment because I'm getting out of the professional photography business. I've got a much better gig. This is my last PAID wedding, however, I hope to shoot more for my own pleasure. Backup is always essential, but it need not duplicate the preferred kit if the photographer is experience in other gear. I often have a tertiary backup with film, which can provide it's own unique advantages.

Did you peek in my bag and see everything that was in there?

Denton
 
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Denton said:
Hi Folks,

I shot a wedding for hire yesterday in a park. I had gathered my Canon 5D, 70-200 and 24-105 as main lenses. I also pack two 580EXII speedlights for after hours receptions and fill flash during full sun as this wedding was at 2:30 EST and it was Hot!

I was using the 70-200 as the bride was almost ready to walk into the open amphitheater to meet the groom when my 5D threw it's mirror! I handed my assistant the bad camera and lenses and she said, "now what are you going to do?" I had my M9 in the Domke F2 I also carry on my shoulder but it had a Color Skopar 35mm f2.5 lens on it and I didn't want to shoot a processional with 35mm. I traded the Skopar for my ONLY other rangefinder lens, the 75mm Heliar classic and got the shots off, focusing madly as the Bride, Mom and Dad came down the path. The happy couple were standing with their backs to full sunlight so I had to expose for the shadows at ISO 200 and 1/200 about f8. The sun became too much for the groom and the wonderful woman pastor moved the couple into some shade just to their right. Good break for me, the light in the shadow was just what I needed for lower contrast and f5.6. I shot the rest of the ceremony with that 75mm Heliar and followed the group shots with the 35mm Skopar. We also did some marvelous beach shots with the Heliar and a homemade portable scrim I've invented. Later that night at the reception I could not use the 580's so I pulled out the old Vivitar 285 and slapped it on the M9.

So how did the images compare? I'm very happy with them. I certainlly did miss the spotmeter on the 5D as I find this is the best way to assure proper exposure, metering on the face and using back button for focus. But, I usually meter all posed shots with a incident meter anyway. I do find metering candids is better done by setting the camera manually and switching between memorized sun and shade settings. Another issue is the parallax of the 75mm so that I had to occassionally reshoot after chimping. I did not have my 75mm finder in the bag, unfortunately. Since I did not have my 580's for fill light, I posed the groups with the sun at their backs and used two large white reflectors laid out on the ground in front of them for fill light, probably 10x3 feet of white reflective fill.

So why didn't I have another 5D in the bag? I had sold my 5DMII and several L lenses to get the M9!

Cheers,
Denton
Click to expand...

Betcha you didn't expect to push it into full service at such short notice then! Good to read that it held its own and you got the job done.
 
Ronald M said:
Anyone who does paid work without two sets of equipment complete down to batteries and sync cords is not professional. And at an event that can not be redone is even worse.
Click to expand...

Ummm.... He had two sets of equipment.

What sort of professional work do you do? 'Cos I certainly don't have 2x 10x8 iinch cameras, or two Strobe 5000 packs, and nor did the advertising studio I worked in during the 70s.

Cheers,

R.
 
Good thing it worked out for him. I would never want to deal with an unhappy Bride and Groom. Or especially, their immediate family.

I happen to have two 8x10 Sinar Normas, and two Broncolor 6000ws Power Packs.

I do all sorts of work.
 
If I was doing weddings I'd always have a back up with same lens mount.
Sod's law dictated that Denton had sold his other Canon! At least he got the job done.
I usually have 2 Nikon's in my bag with an LX3 for back up!
 
I certainly believe in back-up gear. But I don't see where it is critical to have two entirely different sets of equipment. Merely having enough backup gear in one set-up should be quite adequate.

I'd never shoot a wedding without at least two bodies, a pair of flashes and enough lenses that if one gets broken - I'd have another that could essentially take its place. (That's one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of zoom lenses)
 
A few years ago I was hired to shoot a wedding and was driving down the NJ Turnpike to the church. I was a bit late and the traffic was heavy, so I unzipped the camera bag on the passenger's seat, reached in to grab one of my three Canons so I could load the film before I arrived. While I was holding the camera and driving at the same time,
the car in front of me stopped short (to this day I don't know why) and I stood on the brake to avoid a collision.
The bag thrust forward into the passenger's footwell and both Canon's were smashed and jammed.
I shot the entire wedding with only one body and no backup. I sweated so much that I think I lost ten pounds that day. Never again!
 
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"So why didn't I have another 5D in the bag? I had sold my 5DMII and several L lenses to get the M9!"

In this situation, I would have thought that the M9 nearly ruined the wedding :)
 
A back up is a back up.

You made the images you needed to make. That's one thing pros do. They get the photos their clients ned no matter what.
 
if you have equipment with you and know how to use it, I don't think it matters that the backup camera is a different system. That's the difference between a pro and an amateur.
From what the original poster has said, it seems like he did a good job and saved the day because he knew what he was doing and how to use his equipment.
Plenty people use rangefinders for weddings so what's the problem.
 
tlitody said:
if you have equipment with you and know how to use it, I don't think it matters that the backup camera is a different system. That's the difference between a pro and an amateur.
From what the original poster has said, it seems like he did a good job and saved the day because he knew what he was doing and how to use his equipment.
Plenty people use rangefinders for weddings so what's the problem.
Click to expand...

I do believe I could pick up a fully manual camera like the Leica and get the shot faster than I could confirm that a backup Canon was properly configured. Yes, I could have an exactly configured Canon in my bag, but I like to shoot with two cameras with different lenses.

The point I'd hoped I'd make was that two rangefinder lenses are more than "adequate"!

Oh, and there was a tertiary backup, but I choose the Leica!
 
Nokton48 said:
Good thing it worked out for him. I would never want to deal with an unhappy Bride and Groom. Or especially, their immediate family.

I happen to have two 8x10 Sinar Normas, and two Broncolor 6000ws Power Packs.

I do all sorts of work.
Click to expand...

Have you had them go wrong often? When there was no hope of hiring or borrowing a replacement?

Cheers,

R.
 
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