wedding photograpy

[ksmattfish]

Here is a selection of prints from my most recent wedding. The couple actually had the ceremony on the beach in Hawaii. These photos are from the hometown ceremony/reception which was held in a hotel ballroom. I offered to shoot the ceremony in Hawaii for free if they got me there 8) The hotel ballroom was a challenge because it wasn't very exciting of a location, and there was crap that I didn't really want in the background everywhere: electrical sockets, exit signs, fire extinguishers, room dividers, etc... At the same time it was really dim, so I wanted to have a little extra DOF because it was hard to focus. They blew all their money in Hawaii, so the budget was bare bones, which meant no assistant or fancy lighting set-ups.

The film is Kodak Portra BW 400 shot at ISO 160. The camera is a Pentax 67II; 165mm lens on the first two pics, and 90mm on the rest. All pics were shot using a tripod and a Vivitar 285HV flash off camera.

The scans are from 8x10 Arista pearl RC.

The banquet table was only out about four feet from the wall, and the ceiling was too high to bounce, so I had to live with the shadows.

On this one I have placed them about ten feet from the wall, but I still got a shadow. I didn't compensate for the groom's height! Who knows, maybe my arm wouldn't stretch high enough anyway.


Tired of worrying about shadows, I moved them out into the middle of the room.

An assistant would have been nice here. To help posing the ladies so the legs are all the same. Also maybe would have spotted waiter in the background on the right. Maybe I can burn him out.

 

[vonnagy]

I offered to shoot the ceremony in Hawaii for free if they got me there

Nice, i'll have to remember that one next times any of my mates bugger off and get married

Just curious, do you usually shoot weddings in black and white, or was this what the family requested?

All the shots are fab! Just out of curiousity, does it come from experience to arrange people in creative ways, like the 'legs' and the 'holding the bride shots'? Do you have a pretty good rapport with them? I guess I would have taken some traditional poses - but this certainly gives me ideas if were to take wedding/people shots, thanks for sharing those!

 

[ksmattfish]

I shot some 35mm color of folks dancing and eating. I prefer to shoot almost everything in BW, but the paying customer is the boss. Many of my clients request BW after seeing my portfolio, even if they originally wanted color.

I usually take a selection of wedding party and family shots that are fairly traditional, but you have to throw in some fun poses. And it helps keep people relaxed. I try to get input from the people; most commonly the themes are something along the lines of the bride's maids kissing on the groom or the groom's men carrying the bride. And there has always got to be a pic of the bride's maids looking sexy. I'm all for getting weird and wacky, but even wild folks tend to get traditional on the wedding day.

I do try to get a banter going; you need to be a little bossy to get people to get moving. I try to be outgoing, but not as dorky as the DJ. My gear is sort of slow, so I don't want any long pauses for people to get bored. I find that if you can get folks talking about themselves they get just distracted enough to take some decent portraits. A good line is "So, how did you two meet?"

Here's a fun shot in color.

Agfa 100, Norita 6x6 w/80mm
tripod, no filter