Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/03/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]While I believe your characterization of the photog in question is correct, I've got a story about handing over the film. My best friend's son hired a husband and wife team to shoot his wedding in upstate NY. They came very highly recommended fron New York City, and shot a pure PJ style. All 35mm, b&w (TMY if memory serves), done on Nikons with zoom lenses, just a few setups (poorly done), 90% candids. I don't know if the B&G had seen any samples of their work. They were commercial photographers who were branching out into this style of wedding. They shot from the mid-morning, through the afternoon wedding, and through the reception dinner. At the end they handed over about 12 36-exposure rolls of film, collected their check, and disappeared into the night. My buddy had the film processed and contacted at a local pro lab, and invited me over to help do the initial edit. I was horrified at the (lack of) quality. We finally found a dozen pictures that told the story and looked good. The check? It was for $8000 USD. To paraphrase PT Barnum, there's a couple born every minute. IMO 35mm and weddings just don't mix if money is changing hands. But that's just me, I suppose. Paul - -----Original Message----- From: A. H. Ongun [mailto:ahongun@ecsysinc.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 1:14 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: RE: [Leica] Wedding Photography In your case I believe you hired a hacker who shoots weddings on the side to support his habit. None of the professional photogs I know would agree to shoot by the hour or hand over the unexposed negs to be developed outside of their control (Costco, etc.). Most of them have a relationship with a pro lab (Burrell's etc) that have their exposures calibrated against the lab. Regards, Andy - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of w.gower@netmail.home.com To save money, we hired him for 4 hours - 2 hours prior, and 2 hours after the ceremony. He was very unobtrusive, and mananaged to gather the guests and family members for the formal shots quickly - the formal shots were his forte. Although, in about 10 shots, I have a large flower sticking out of my head. They make me mad every damn time I see them ! How could he not have noticed the damn thing behind me!! His big selling point was that he handed over the unexposed film at the end and let us do what ever we wanted. Flower sticking out of my head aside, if anything, it's the candids that were most dissapointing. We relied on friends and family to get these shots. One word - horrible. If we had to do it again, we would hire a pro to do the whole evening. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. Insist on reviewing the potential photographers portfolio (I was surprised how many didn't have one) and hire the best photographer you can (or can't) afford. It's only money.