Primes at a Wedding

Steve Smith said:
Do you ever get customers asking for the old, more formal style instead of the documentary style?

Steve.
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Yes Once. It's well documented, I got a call from an elderly couple who wanted me to 'Take 2 photographs, one of us signing the register with our witnesses, and one of just the two of us'. They wanted 25 prints of the couple shot and 2 copies of the register shot. They found me in the Yellow pages where clearly my portfolio and style aren't obvious. I shot them, over-delivered and they were as happy as the proverbial pigs in muck.

But it's a complicated question, because my website says I shoot in a documentary style (both by example and in actual sentences), so if someone was looking for a more formal approach they'd presumably find that elsewhere. Whenever I speak to couples about what they want, they want what I do, because presumably they're speaking to me because they like what I do.
 
No, but my point was that if what you want to do is shoot in a documentary style and your customers are coming to you for exactly that having seen your website/advertising then you are obviously doing it right.

It would be interesting to add an offer of a more traditional style to see how much interest you get... but other than that, it would be fairly pointless if you didn't want to actually do it!

Sometimes I think that there might be a market for someone to turn up with an old Speed Graphic and do black and white formal shots working alongside a modern style photographer.


Steve.
 
I now use a 24 35 85 combo for almost the full wedding, but i have a second tog with a 24-105 70-200 combo so have other areas covered , if photographing on my own i swap down the 85 for the 70-200 if i can and light is good enough.

The 35mm is use is the new F2 IS and it is awesome !

35mm%20f2%20IS.jpg
 
Phil V said:
It doesn't matter, we are where we are. The tide will change at some point, just like the resurrection of vinyl at inflated prices, we'll have artisan photographers shooting 3 rolls of 12 on who'll be 'the latest thing. ;)

What I will say though, is that the current offer to document the day is a vastly superior product to the old 30 group shots and twee couple poses we used to do.
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Strange you should say that Phil, I totally agree with you documentary photography is vastly superior than it was twenty five years ago and I don't ever remember vinyl being that brilliant, maybe I just had a crap record player ? ;)

It's also amazing how many young people think Polaroid photographs and Lomo images are really cool !

There is a growing interest in all things retro. I am acutely considering dusting off the old Hassleblad 500CM. I also have a spare body and a few film backs in storage (as I couldn't part with it for silly money, the market was awash with 2nd hand Blads a few years ago) and doing 'retro' traditional weddings, exactly like I was doing in the early 80s. Not artisan, just traditional (bronze, silver & gold package). It's very much in the embryonic stage at the moment, I'm ruling nothing in and nothing out. Wedding photography is all about choice for the Bride & Groom, I just see this as just another strand. It's a very niche market but clever advertising and marketing might win some business and pay off, i'm still testing the market at the moment. Sometimes it pays to buck the trend and sometime doesn't.

The idea came to me a few weeks ago when I was watching a TV programme about a young couple who were getting married, they lived in a totally museum piece, 'everything 1980s house' and by their own admission born a decade too late. It got me thinking.......... Recently, I was also thinking about how stressful wedding photography was back then compared to now, by that I mean there was a lot more to go wrong (exposure, processing etc, etc.) not being able to relax until you have seen the exposure for the first time on the negatives. Still lots of things to consider but I have planted the seed. As I have all the gear I need, my only financial commitment is time and planning. Do I want to go back there,,the jury is still out on that one !

Returning back to the thread, it's not difficult shooting with a prime lens on manual if you are using a manual camera with split image & microprism, but it is a lot harder (but not impossible) with a DSLR as normally the plain screen allows you to see the AF focusing points. If it comes down to money (I understand that) then practice, practice, practice is all I can say but in all honesty, I wouldn't recommend using MF on an AF DSLR at a wedding, it's only really usefull for macrophotography.
 
Blank_Canvas said:
I am acutely considering dusting off the old Hassleblad 500CM ... and doing 'retro' traditional weddings, exactly like I was doing in the early 80s.
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Have you kept a shower cap or something similar to pop over the back in the approved manner in order to cut down the light leakage?

Whatever, don't forget that for authenticity's sake you'll need a navy blazer, preferably double-breasted, with at least two pens in the outside breast pocket, a pair of cavalry twills and a pair of good shoes (black, of course) well polished. No doubt you'll still have the tripod with the b&s (not p&t) head and the well-worn khaki Billingham ;)

PS If a summer wedding, don't forget that you need a shirt with a breast pocket for the dark-slide, and whatever you do, don't forget to take your film boxes and the paper strips home with you ...
 
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