Participative Wedding Photography

[Bryan L]

Learnt last night that 1, my daughter has accepted a proposal of marriage with the wedding to be held in far off in Brazil; and 2. that my M8 will be on its way in a relatively short while - well before the wedding. Both will hit the pocket hard no doubt but I am of course delighted with choice of camera and groom.

My only experience of wedding photography is trying to avoid family photshoots by hiding in dark corners. But on this occasion I would like to take some meaningful personal shots without it being too distracting for the bride (or father of the bride). Any advice welcome as to choice of lens (both wide angle and telephoto seem for different reasons intrusive) and technique for on technique for recording formal events in which photograppher is participating.

Maybe I should leave the camera at home? Or simple P&S snapshots with a professional to earn his keep? Or resurrect the XA that recorded her birth and early years?
Bryan

 

[anselwannab]

While most people shoot an M with one eye open and one eye behind the viewfinder, you might want to keep both eyes free.

Maybe at the rehersal dinner, where it really isn't your party yet, or at brunch on Sunday (are they like American weddings?).

I'd say enjoy the day itself and shoot at informal times.

Plus, everyone is going to be shaking your hand!

Mark

 

[MelanieC]

Everyone here is certainly sick of seeing these, but I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding and took plenty of photos with an M3 and (mostly) a 50mm lens.

http://www.pbase.com/miranc/wedding

M shooting without flash is very unobtrusive. My brother and his wife were very happy to have the photos, especially since the official photos (professional photographer with giant dSLRs) didn't turn out very nice.

 

[Monz]

At a recent wedding, I used a M6 and mainly 50mm summilux and 28mm Voigtlander on Fuji Neopan ISO 400 without flash. The couple were pleased with the results. See my gallery for examples of shots.

--
Monz

 

[pvdhaar]

For me, this would be the kind of occasion that I'd pass on taking pictures. It's about your daughter, isn't it? On such a day she should be entitled to all your attention..

 

[ruben]

For me, this would be the kind of occasion that I'd pass on taking pictures. It's about your daughter, isn't it? On such a day she should be entitled to all your attention..

I strongly second Peter's OT opinion, and thanks him for having saved me from using harsher terms.

 

[Steve Cook]

I used my M8 on a wedding for the first time this weekend together with the Zeiss 28mm and got some lovely results. All my fears of having to manually focus virtually disappearing. Admittedly I also had 2 Fuji S2's round my neck (70-200 VR & 10mm lenses), but as always the Leica is the one I love using most.

If I was going to a family wedding I would definitely take my M8 (well I take it virtually everywhere else I go anyway), but there isn't any way that I would ever take my DSLR's. The unobtrusiveness of the Leica and the fact that I'd be happy using the one lens (with the Fuji's I always feel 'what if I want to use that lens or this lens' and end up with more than one body.)

Also the combination of the M8's higher ISO rating and my recent discovery of Noise Ninja software has meant that I'm even happier in very low light than I was before.

Cheers
Steve Cook

Oh, and I wouldn't use my camera during the ceremony, I'm sure I'd be crying too much to be able to focus anyway!

www.naturalweddings.com

 

[Bryan L]

Yup, Peter, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion and will put the M8 devil behind me for the occasion! I'll dwell however on Mark's suggestion of using the practice event as a photo opportunity - if they decide to have one. That said I will probably still yearn for something more personal than the ghastly shots taken by professional SLR at my own wedding!
Thanks for the views expressed.
Bryan

 

[Avotius]

I would most certainly stick lenses in front of the camera that end in LUX because low light shooting is something that is just going to happen there. That said I think you can enjoy your daughters wedding and shoot off some family photos with no fuss. Try this though, buy some one time use cameras (if they still make those anymore) and ask people to take photos with them.

 

[reginald]

Everyone here is certainly sick of seeing these, but I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding and took plenty of photos with an M3 and (mostly) a 50mm lens.

http://www.pbase.com/miranc/wedding

M shooting without flash is very unobtrusive. My brother and his wife were very happy to have the photos, especially since the official photos (professional photographer with giant dSLRs) didn't turn out very nice.

Hi Melanie, why would I get sick of looking at your photo's their nice!!😉

But I completely agree... any M with a lens capable of available light shooting, beats the giant DSLR's one sees around at weddings at the moment..
Another aspect I find though is that whenever a familymember takes the pictures the subjects tend to be more natural, hence resulting in more original photos with just that bit of a personal touch.

So from that point of view I myself would sneak my M8 in and take at least some shots of nice and quiet moments during the wedding, when no DSLR's are around...

Just me.....

 

[Grober]

My M8 is at the factory now for a re-fit, but whilst I had it briefly in November, I did shoot some wedding shots of a friend's wedding.

Given all the controversy about the IR problem and having no IR cut filters, I elected to shoot only b&w at a speed of 1250, available light, attending the nuptials with only ZM 25/2.8 and CV 50/2.0 lenses. I shot over a hundred photos and presented the nuptial couple (and their families) with a CD of the results after the fact. One example of the results is attached to this post (shot from my seat on the aisle with ZM 25mm lens as proud pappa and bride came down the aisle.)

The M8, once it gets its teething problems solved, will be a GREAT available light wedding camera.

-g

 

[anglophone1]

Book Sean Reid to shoot it for them as a present.
Result a stylish Leica M8 shot wedding and no stress for you..............
Best
Clive

 

[MelanieC]

That said I think you can enjoy your daughters wedding and shoot off some family photos with no fuss.

So do I. I wouldn't take photos during the ceremony itself obviously (and at my brother's wedding I couldn't, since I was standing up there as a member of the wedding party) but I don't feel like I missed anything because I was taking photos and no one found it intrusive. This might be because I just kept my camera on me and took photos opportunistically instead of acting as though the main reason I was there was to take photographs. I also think this resulted in more natural photos.

 

[Kin Lau]

As family or as a close-friend, you'll get insights and opportunities that no one else will get or see.

Weddings also bring together people you haven't seen for a while, and the wedding photog won't know that either.

So bring the camera, but just be sparing in it's use.

 

[easyrider]

Shoot!

Shoot!

I agree with those who say bring the camera and shoot. Obviously, the pro will shoot the ceremony and cover all the obvious. As a Liecaphile, your family is likely used to seeing you with a camera. They will think that you are naked if you don't have one around your neck!! LOL

My younger daughter said she did not want me to bring a camera to her wedding so that I could have a good time. I wish I had. The pro pix are posed and stilted. I did shoot the wedding breakfast the following day and she told me she wished I had brought my camera (Canon EF with a 1.8 85mm at the time) to the reception.

It's actually easy to talk to people and shoot and the pix -- as noted above -- are more natural.

I did shoot at both my nieces' weddings although they also had pros. One actually had two pros. She has two kids since and they are still chasing the pro for some prints. I recently gave her my negs that included a next-day party in Central Park in NY.

So bring the camera!!!!! Post the pix here. And don't forget to shoot some of the hot bridesmaids and mother-in-law. 😛

 

[cornellison]

M8 weddings

M8 weddings

Steve Cook. Do you have any samples of the shots from the M8 at the wedding? Would be great to see them. Seriously considering one for my wedding photography. Tired of lugging DSLR gear around.

cheers from NZ

 

[IGMeanwell]

I am going to fall under the party that says... since your the Bride's father don't bother with photography for the ceremony; just maybe before and after... after all she will want you to be as much apart of it as possible.

That being said, being their as a guest or at least covering some shots during the reception can provide somethings that the professionals might miss.

I was at a college friends wedding back in October, brought along my Nikon DSLR and two lenses, took only brief shots during the ceremony (of the setting and a couple grab shots from the side of the couple down the aisle from my seat) and then carried around the camera during the reception even when dancing. I had enough to call it an album. Printed it up and sent it for a present among other things.

They were absolutely delighted by the album, mostly because I managed to get many shots that they didn't from the pro photographer and his entourage (literally). They got almost 1200 proofs and a couple albums ... but for whatever reason they missed a ton of pictures that I managed to squeak out during the ridiculously dark reception. Her father, the grooms parents, all bought copies of the album as well.

I am not trying to toot my own horn, I am just stating that sometimes its good to have someone to document the procession from a more personal side of it. I knew more of the significant people of that wedding than the pro did.... the shots were more for me than for the couple but it just happened to be that it was enough to represent the whole day from their point of view.

To be honest it really would have been nice to have a smaller camera on me... lets just thank god that Lowe Pro makes some amazingly durable camera straps 🙂

 

[amvma]

Hello Bryan

I have taken my M6 (with 50mm and 35mm lenses) to a couple of recently attended weddings and taken pictures in B&W using Delta 100, 400 & 3200. I then had them processed & scanned at a commercial lab in the UK (Peak Imaging), then made some minor edits in Photoshop (slender crops, fix any vertical that are off line, tweak the levels) and the results have been very well received by the bride, groom along with their friends and family.

Please note I am not a fee charging pro, and my images, which are really in a reportage and documentary style, and what I choose to shoot. Also, to clarify, in the Rome wedding I was just a guest, and on the second occasion in Norway I was a guest but the couple had asked to shoot some films.

The images can all be found at my site http://www.nickjd.com if you want to take a look.

Best wishes / Nick

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

amvma:


I like the wedding photos and I can clearly see why the people involved were very happy with them.

Welcome, a great first post here.