Today I photographed my 1st Thai wedding, it was awesome....

Leica All Day

Leica All Day

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My western friend got married today to a lovely Thai girl and I was the "official" photographer. There were many Thai people (friends of the bride and groom) with DSLR's and it was a bit hectic. He hired me because he and his wife are both fans of my photography and they wanted "artsy" photos. At first I was hesitant to accept the job because weddings are not my usual thing, even though I have done some weddings back in the states and in Italy I told ( warned) them that I am not a "wedding photographer" but they really wanted me to photograph their wedding and after talking about the details I agreed to do it. It was an amazing experience. In the morning they had a Thai Buddhist wedding which was spectacular to photograph and later in the day they had a western style wedding.

It was a long day for me and I shot 20 rolls of film with my Leica....I came fully prepared with all my lenses and even a flash. I ended up using my 35mm 1.2 Nokton for 99% of the photos due to the light and it just seemed to be the proper focal length for the photos that I wanted to take.

I used a 90mm summicron and a 50mm Summilux for a couple of shots, but my 35mm 1.2 was my main lens .

I brought a sekonic light meter and a flash just in case I needed them. It was an extremely long day and culturally very interesting. I will drop off the film tomorrow and hopefully be able to post some interesting photos in this thread in the next couple of days.....

Cheers, Michael
 
Great... look forward to viewing the 'Event'

I am also Interested in using Flash on my M4 / never have used flash before
So Please Michael, Steer me in the Direction of
What To Buy and Tips on Best Way to Use

Thx.... Cheers- H
 
Done a few Thai weddings in the past and never again! All where on the beach on a tiny little island I once lived. The heat was unbearable, harsh light made flash essential, sweat rolling down my face made focusing a nightmare and I was burnt to a crisp at the end of it. I was so dehydrated after one I spent 2 days in hospital. But, as you say, a cultural experience not to be missed.

Wait until you're asked to do a Thai funeral! I've done a few of these and very difficult they are as you can imagine. All the guests including the photographer are required to dress formally and again most uncomfortable in our climate.
 
EdwardKaraa said:
Thanks ReeRay! I've been using them for many years. Agreed about the price and speed, but not the scratch free part 🙂
Click to expand...

I think the trick is to visit them and explain that you're a Pro and request extra attention and care with your negs. I did this initially and now when I send film to them I add a note to this effect. 5 years on I've no complaints.

Worth a try for sure.

Incidentally I get my film from "Film-festival" on Ebay which may interest you. Contact them direct for better rates and overnight delivery.

http://myworld.ebay.com/films-festival
 
Thanks everybody for the replies, I'll post some photos when I get them back from the lab.

Hello Helen, to be honest I used a metz flash that works on my M6ttl so I just basically set the exposure to whatever speed ( under 50) and a couple of easy settings on the flash to get the effect that I am after....but sometimes in Myanmar I'll use my M2 with a Vivitar 285 (I think) and use a flash cord and and I use the flash off camera, but when I use my M6ttl and the Metz, the flash is mounted on the camera.....

Hello EdwardKaraa, I use a local lab called "Master Lab", they actually send out my film to their main processing center, because I have had experiences in the past that some small local labs don't develop a lot of film daily and usually my negatives are either dirty, scratched or the chemicals that they use probably are not as fresh as my lab which does a lot of film processing.......

I use IQ Lab sometimes but I'm not that impressed with their prints or even the way they scan film.....I use IQ lab for basically just E-6.

Hello ReeRay, I understand what you mean about doing a beach wedding, I have seen them done before and I don't think they would be a lot of fun due to many of the situations that you mentioned above. This wedding was in Bangkok at a lovely Thai Lanna style house that is used for weddings and it was a beautiful day in terms of light and climate. So I did not really experience any difficulties as you did, but the duties of being " The Photographer" were quite exhausting.

Thanks again for all the replies, I'll post some photos up when I get them back.....

Cheers, Michael
 
I shot a wedding once. I can't believe it now. I don't see much of that couple now and at the time they and I thought I'd done a pretty good job. Now I am older and wiser I have my doubts. You're a brave man. I often look at the photo.net wedding forum as I admire the professionalism of a lot of those guys. There are some very good people there who maintain that they could shoot a whole wedding with just a 35 f1.4. Interesting you found the same. Good luck. Love to see the result.
 
Looking forward to seeing your photos. I photographed a few weddings many years ago, including a Laotian wedding. It can be fun and interesting, but there sure is stress and work involved because it has to produce the correct results. Glad you have a lab you can trust as well.
 
Ray, thank you for the link to the film shop. I usually buy from Photo Gallery, previously in Silom complex, but now moved to Thaniya Plaza. As for IQ lab, I have complained for many years about the dust and scratches, and at a certain time I was working professionally and shooting at least 40 rolls per month. They always refused to acknowledge the problem. Now I use the IR cleaning channle in my scanner extensively and it takes care of 95% of the scratches.

Michael, thanks for your reply and the info about Mater Lab. Do they have a website, or can you give us an address? Looking forward to seeing your photos 🙂
 
EdwardKaraa said:
Ray, thank you for the link to the film shop. I usually buy from Photo Gallery, previously in Silom complex, but now moved to Thaniya Plaza. As for IQ lab, I have complained for many years about the dust and scratches, and at a certain time I was working professionally and shooting at least 40 rolls per month. They always refused to acknowledge the problem. Now I use the IR cleaning channle in my scanner extensively and it takes care of 95% of the scratches.

Michael, thanks for your reply and the info about Mater Lab. Do they have a website, or can you give us an address? Looking forward to seeing your photos 🙂
Click to expand...

Master Lab:- http://www.masterlabphoto.com/index.html
 
Hello Edward, the Master Lab I use is on Lad Prao road in the Bangkapi area.......it is between Soi 87 and Soi 99....it is very close to Lap Prao hospital.....the number is
02 538 1477 and
02 538 1478

Just to be clear, I have had problems at basically every lab I have ever gone to in this country and countless other countries....even the " best labs" in Paris, San Francisco etc.....have scratched, or had left some kind of dust particles/or chemical residue on my negatives at one time or another.....

The lab the I use makes me happy and I like the results that I get, but I have still yet to have found a lab that is 100% perfect 100% of the time......

Cheers, Michael

p.s. I have my own black and white darkroom here and I find that to be my favorite "lab" 🙂 Unfortunately most of my work lately has been in color
 
Thanks for the address and details, Michael! It is not far from my girlfriend's home, so she might have to play the messenger role 😀

I agree that all labs will eventually scratch film, but some are more consistent in this than others. I have even sent my film to be processed in the US (NCPS) a couple of times but the expenses were too high. The film was mostly scratchfree but I found their B/W processing to be lacking.

I will give Master Lab a try 🙂

Ray, that link seems to be in the USA not Thailand.
 
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