Shooting a wedding on slide film...?

S

squeaky_clean

Back to basics...
Local time
2:31 AM
Joined
Dec 16, 2005
Messages
144
Location
Big Sky Country
View My Gallery
I am shooting a wedding for a friend in June. She is also a photographer of sorts, and has asked if I would be okay shooting all the color stuff on slide film (fuji Provia).

I love slide film and the colors it produces, and she doesn't mind having the extra hassle of making the prints from slides. However, my main worry is about the exposure latitude of slide film. I know it is fairly narrow. I don't want to end up with blown out highlights, or no detail in the shadows.

Any thoughts here? It is going to be an outdoor wedding, so the light should be good. Any advice would be greatly apprecitated. I can probably change her mind if I really tried...
 
squeaky_clean said:
I am shooting a wedding for a friend in June. She is also a photographer of sorts, and has asked if I would be okay shooting all the color stuff on slide film (fuji Provia).

I love slide film and the colors it produces, and she doesn't mind having the extra hassle of making the prints from slides. However, my main worry is about the exposure latitude of slide film. I know it is fairly narrow. I don't want to end up with blown out highlights, or no detail in the shadows.

Any thoughts here? It is going to be an outdoor wedding, so the light should be good. Any advice would be greatly apprecitated. I can probably change her mind if I really tried...
Click to expand...

You are right to doubt the latitude. Assuming a traditional wedding (white dress, black tux), there is a huge range to have to cover. Even color print film struggles, which is why the pro low-contrast film is made especially for weddings.

Slide film is for producing slides - color print film is for producing prints. Does she want a wedding album or a wedding slide show?

I would try to change her mind. But that's said from my huge experience of having shot a couple of weddings now. Wow, I'm so experienced - not. Still, I asked a lot of questions here before I did my first wedding shoot, and I learned a lot. When I was scanning negatives and seeing detail in both the black suits and the white dress, I was breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I was given these as a basis:

Kodak Portra 160 NC
Fujicolor NPS 160

I found that I really liked the Porta 160 NC a lot for skin tones.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I've only used Portra 160 NC for portraits with my local lab and absolutely loved it. I've used NPH (old Pro 400H) as a general purpose film; love it with cheapo processing at Walmart, but hated it when printed from my local lab. If I were you I'd try a roll of all the candidates printed where you'll have the wedding photos printed and pick your fav.
 
squeaky_clean said:
Thanks for the info Bill...

Have you used both NPS and Portra? I have used some NPS and didn't care for the colors. What do you think of Portra overall?
Click to expand...

Yes, I've used both, and I agree with you, I preferred the Portra. However, I am color-blind. Seriously - and badly. So what I see is often not what is. Thus, my love of B&W.

Overall, I find the Portra lovely.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Hmm... Maybe some Portra will be the way to go, if I can get her to change her mind. Her engagement photos were shot on Provia, which is what led here to ask for the wedding to be shot on the same.

And yes, it is a white dress/black suit wedding. That could be quite high contrast if it isn't overcast at all... Print film might be the only way to go here.
 
JoeFriday said:
Bill, were you using flash setups? that seems like pretty slow film for available light
Click to expand...

Yes, at that time I was shooting a Canon FTbN with Vivitar 285HV bouncing off the chapel ceiling (low ceiling on one shoot) or with a Sto-Fen Omnibounce (high ceilings, no bounce).

I now shoot weddings with my Pentax *ist DSLR and Sigma 500 P-TTL flash.

Biggest reason for the switch for me was my dodgy color vision - the DSLR images were more-or-less correct color since I did my white-balance on-site. The color Portra film came back from the lab looking like they had trod upon it, it was so scratched up I thought I'd run amok with a shotgun, plus the Fuji I used scanned so wonky that I never did get the color balance right and finally desaturated to B&W. I can't calibrate my monitor because I can't see the difference between the colors. Horrifying experience for me.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
squeaky_clean said:
Hmm... Maybe some Portra will be the way to go, if I can get her to change her mind. Her engagement photos were shot on Provia, which is what led here to ask for the wedding to be shot on the same.

And yes, it is a white dress/black suit wedding. That could be quite high contrast if it isn't overcast at all... Print film might be the only way to go here.
Click to expand...

If you really want to preserve detail in both black and white, then yes.

Or you could bracket like heck and hope for the best.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I've used Portra, NPH and NPS but if I were going to shoot something like that I'd probably use Fuji Reala CS. It's a 100 speed film that was thier pro emulsion before the N(ew) series came out as a response to Portra. I find it handles skin tones better while still having extreamly good latitude and realistic colors. They aren't eye-popping like the super saturated films, but they aren't as dull as they sometimes seem to me in the Pro films listed above. Since it's an outdoor event, the slow speed shouldn't be an issue.

IMHO, and all that, of course as your milage will vary... 😀 Good luck and have fun!

William
 
wlewisiii said:
I've used Portra, NPH and NPS but if I were going to shoot something like that I'd probably use Fuji Reala CS. It's a 100 speed film that was thier pro emulsion before the N(ew) series came out as a response to Portra. I find it handles skin tones better while still having extreamly good latitude and realistic colors. They aren't eye-popping like the super saturated films, but they aren't as dull as they sometimes seem to me in the Pro films listed above. Since it's an outdoor event, the slow speed shouldn't be an issue.

IMHO, and all that, of course as your milage will vary... 😀 Good luck and have fun!

William
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! I think my main complaint with NPS was the flatness of it. Portra looks to be a bit better, from some of the images I've seen online. I have some Fuji Reala, but I haven't developed the one roll that I've shot. Hmm... Decisions, decisions.
 
Portra, Portra, Portra. (160NC, in particular)

It's been my mainstay color film for a few years now, and, so long as you have the light for it (or, failing that, a decent flash setup), stone-reliable, with latitude up the yinyang and good handling of skin tones. Scans almost too easy. Fuji's equivalent is probably pretty good, too, but Portra, IMO, is a sure thing.

Whichever you choose, I'd pass on using slide film for any wedding shoot, indoors or out. Seriously.


- Barrett
 
I did a lot of research between the Fuji and Kodak "pro" films prior to the quinceanera that I"m shooting in a month. Basically, they are all good. But most people said that if they had to choose, they preferred Portra 160NC for slower speed (VC didn't do skin tones as well and was too contrasty) and Fuji 400H for faster. That's what I'll be shooting.

And flash is almost a must at weddings to keep the light even.

allan
 
Call me crazy, but some of the prettiest wedding photos I've ever seen were on Kodachrome ... both by another photographer (my tutor) and some of my own work. (I'm not saying I was a great wedding photographer, BTW.)

I agree that dynamic range is less with chromes, no matter which one you use. Provia would be easier than Kodachrome, of course, for pulling decent prints.

So after discussing with the bride again, if she insisted on chromes I would shoot both, but I wouldn't deny her wish to have a set of shots on slide film. Hell hath no fury like a bride scorned.

The key with chromes in this kind of situation is to meter carefully, specifically use an incident meter or at least meter multiple zones to get the highlights right. Let the shadows fall where they may unless highlight overexposure contributes to the photo or is not important.

Earl, the contra-indicator.
 
I would actually recommend Astia if you do end up using slide film. It's less saturated than Provia, but it's about as much latitude as you're going to get with slides...also the lowest grain.

allan
 
Astia is the best E-6 choice for shooting people. It has beautiful skin tones - better than Portra in my opinion. BUT, slide film is not the best choice for shooting in situations where you don't have total control over lighting.

It would make alot more sense to get some portra 160 or something like that. Or NPH 400.
 
I'm "wedded" to NPH and NPZ for nuptial events. And, yes thank you, it scans just fine.

Don't ever shoot much chrome film for anything but, despite said that, isn't transparency film way too limted on latitude?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rob-F
AI is helping me decide whether to buy a Leica M10!
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
2K
Rob-F
Rob-F
A
Empty 120 film reels with backing paper for shipping costs
Replies
0
Views
238
Alpsman
A
G
Europe in the 90s as seen through my lens
2 3
Replies
52
Views
3K
chuckroast
C
Mos6502
How do we feel about Ferrania? (New film. No, it's not slide film.)
Replies
12
Views
2K
Godfrey
Godfrey
Chriscrawfordphoto
Why I'm Shooting Film Again
2 3 4
Replies
72
Views
11K
wlewisiii
W
Back
Top Bottom