[Leica] SLR or M for weddings?????

[Thomas Kachadurian <kach@freeway.net>]

Duane:

You raise some good questions, so I'll answer them individually and try to
still keep this thread on topic.

First, allow me to come clean. I did not choose wedding photography as much
as it chose me. I am an editorial photographer, and shot a few weddings
about five years ago. One for young friends who simply would have been
without pictures save my work. One woman who I had used as a model asked me
to shoot her wedding. Word got out. I shot a few more. I raised my prices,
calls continued to come. It still isn't the bulk of my business, but I have
never advertised and am booking 15 to 20 wedding a year. Turns out, I love
it. 

>I would like to know how you get close-up shots of the bride and groom 
>during the ceremony with nothing longer than a 100mm without standing 
>up in front of the entire church? 

I use a 300mm (EOS) on a tripod. I set it up before hand and leave it
behind until I'm leaving.

>How do you get close-ups of the 
>rings?  

I don't shoot rings, goblets, double exposures

>How do you isolate the faces of the bride and groom from the 
>rest of the people around them during the reception. 

Sometimes I don't. Wedding pictures are often too much about only the bride
and groom. I shoot tons of the bride and groom alone, when there's other
things happening I want those things in the frame. I also shoot wide open,
often. Even at 2.8 on a 90mm you can reduce background. The 90mm
Tele-elmarit-M lens is the unsung hero of wedding portraits. It's not
cuttingly sharp, but gives good division between background and foreground.

>Couples could care less whether you use Leica or not.   They want 
>special photographs to remember a very special day.  

>I use three EOS zooms, a 17-35 2.8, 28-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8,  two EOS 
>bodies and 540 EZ flashes with a Quantum Turbo Battery.  

Same answer to both comments. They don't care that it's a Leica, but they
like how much I don't hide behind my camera. I don't know how anyone can
have a relationship with a subject behind that Canon 28-70 zoom. I borrowed
one once from CPS and was shooting kids and actually had one kid point at
it and run away. The M cameras allow me to talk with them about the
photographs, look them in the face and then quietly involve a camera. I'm
not sure my photographs look any different except that the people in them
seem honest and relaxed. 
	I am shooting a wedding this summer for the sister of a bride I shot in
1995. The mother called me to book the second wedding. "We had so much fun
with you that we wanted you at Lisa's wedding too," she told me. I'm not
that nice a guy. They like me because I work close and get to know them. My
photographs work for the same reason.
 
>concerned about getting great facial expressions.  When you are worried 
>about that there is no time to monkey with focus and exposure.   

That's exactly what I hate about the AF cameras. There's all that fumbling
with controls and modes. (EOS are better because you can separate the AF
function from the shutter release). With all due respect, the exposure
profile for shooting neg film in wedding situations is pretty basic, and
not something to fret about. If the M6 synced at a 1/250th I'd never even
change my shutter speed. Focus is much easier with the Leica M cameras. Get
it and forget it. AF cameras give you the impression you need to constantly
refocus to get that little green light. 

>no idea how anybody can follow focus a moving subject with an M camera 

Are we talking weddings or basketball?


>and 540 EZ flashes with a Quantum Turbo Battery.  

I tried the quantum and I still don't get why people need them. 4 fresh AA
batteries give me all the flash I need for a most weddings. With 400 ISO
film at close range you don't need a lot of fire power. Still, I keep 4
extras in my jacket pocket, and can change them in an instant. No cords, No
charging. It works for me.

>Also try to do the formal pictures before the wedding!   I had one 
>wedding where we had scheduled the photos for before and the bride 
>didn't show up in time.   Anyhow they insisted that the congregation 
>remain while we did the formal shots after the wedding.  What a 
>nightmare,  the whole wedding party was looking at their friends 
>instead of me.  The kids were terrified and barely looked up and of 
>course wouldn't smile.....  Bring some studio lights and a flash meter 
>and if you do it right, you'll get far better shots than with available 
>light.  Set your modeling lights to either dim or set them to beep as 
>they recharge so you'll know that all are firing.  I would use an 
>infrared or radio slave, don't use sync cords,  and make sure you don't 
>cause your shadow to appear in the shots.  

God I HATE the group shots. I do anything I can to lighten them up. My
favorite is to get everybody in the center of the church and shoot them
from the balcony. It ads the benefit of all of the subject being in nearly
the same plane of focus.

Too much gear. I always have lights in my trunk, but avoid them.
 
>I ask if anybody thinks they had their eyes closed! 

With a Leica M6, you _know_ if they're eyes are closed.

Tom