 Kristi Seanor |
Outdoor Wedding Film Choice I will be shooting my first wedding outdoors in July. I need any advice you might have on the best film, speed, filter needed or not and flash outdoors or not. I have a very basic camera (Canon Eos Rebel G) with a 550 EX speedlite. I own 2 lenses (28-80, 75-300 IS USM). Which lens should I use? Then the reception will be indoors. Any suggestions???
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Bob Cammarata |
Any film which is balanced for daylight use, or for flash, will work fine outdoors without any lens filters. A film speed of 200 or 400 should handle all scenarios. You should plan on using flash outside to help fill in dark spots and shadows if it will be sunny during the ceremony. For the reception indoors, you can use the same film as long as you are using the 550 EX flash as your illumination. Good luck!
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Peter K. Burian |
Most professional wedding photographers use professional films optimized for portraits with softer contrast - great in harsh lighting. Also optimized for pleasing skin tone reproduction. You really do not need to do so, because the standard Kodak and Fuji films are great. But if you want to use pro film, check a retailer's Web site for Fujicolor Portrait NPS 160 Professional and Fujicolor Portrait NPH 400 Professional. http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/Products.jsp?nav=1&parent=PRODUCT_CATEGORY_234666&product= Or Kodak PORTRA 160NC or Cheers! Peter Burian
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Michael McCullough |
I highly recommend Fuji NPC 160 speed film it will suit your needs very well I've found it to be about the best there is for this type of application ,my second choice would be Fuji NPS 160 speed and my third would be Kodak NC 160 speed.All are pro films all are really great as well!!!!
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Michael McCullough |
And by the way take both lenses,one for wide angle, and the longer lens for portraits,the longer lens will let you get in close from a good working distance,without disturbing the wedding itself!!!!!
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Chris London |
Hi Kristi: Bring both lenses, (with the 28-80 on your main camera body and the zoom on a spare camera body if you can find one - you should try hard to find one!). The 28-80 will give you lots of good wide, indoor shots, while the zoom will help you to make nice portraits with a nice soft feel, not to mention the benefit of candid people shots taken from a distance when they don't even know they are being photographed.
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JOE |
I HIGHLY RECOMEND KODAK PORTRA 160NC I HAVE HAD EXCELENT RESULTS,ALSO IF POSSIBLE USE A LARGE LIGHT DIFFUSER WHEN POSSIBLE IT SOFTENS THE HARSH LIGHT ON THE SKIN . I USED MY 70-300MM LENS AND IT GAVE ME GREAT OPTIONS ALSO I USED PORTRAIT MODE AND PROGRAM MODE.
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Kristi Seanor |
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and much needed help with this. I am a little apprehensive about using less than 400 sp film but the majority recommends 160NC.
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Michael McCullough |
Also Kristi don't forget your tripod,you might need it with your long lens,Kodak Portra NC comes in two speeds 160&400 use the 160 outdoors and the 400 indoors simple solutions ,and really relax I'm sure you will do a good job,and oh do you have a back up camera? might be a good idea!also with a back up you can load it with B&W or another speed film,I really believe a backup body is a must if you plan on shooting more weddings in the future,it also will give you flexability re.films or even format!!!!
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John A. Lind |
Kristi, I've done a fair number of outdoor weddings and other events. Kodak's Portra 160NC is the film of choice for a number of reasons . . . provided we're discussing daylight lighting levels following dawn or before evening twighlight . . . starting about an hour after dawn and and an hour before sunset . . . and we're not working with deep shade (under heavy double or triple tree canopy). For close work I normally use fill flash. A faster film speed (e.g. ISO 400) does not allow the lens to stop down far enough to get to X-Sync, and in brighter daylight you can have problems with having the lens nearly stopped down completely and still having to use a shutter speed of 1/500th or 1/1000th. The exceptional depth of field completely stopped down may not be desirable (background clutter distraction) and it takes the lens out of its "sweet spot" of best optical performance which is found in the middle apertures, usually f/5.6 and f/8. BTW, I don't like doing outdoor work under direct sunlight (clear sky) unless it's the ceremony itself and there's no choice. It's too harsh. One of the reasons for having flash on hand for fill to remove some of the high contrast under those conditions. I do all the posed work possible under indirect skylighting (in shade) if the sky is not overcast . . . and will do a recon of the wedding location beforehand to look for suitable backgrounds that will be under indirect lighting conditions during the time of day scheduled for the wedding. Looking for these locations when doing the wedding shoot bogs down the work flow and one must settle for what suffices quickly instead of what may be optimal. -- John Lind
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Kristi Seanor |
While we are on the subject of film speed and the best film for an outdoor wedding, does anyone have a website they use to order the Kodak Portra 160NC? At this point, I do not know the time of the wedding but will be finding that out very soon.
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John A. Lind |
Try B&H Photo Video in NYC: http://www.bhphotovideo.com or Adorama in NYC: Buy it in 5-roll "sticks" or if you're doing a fair amount of wedding work you can buy 20-roll "bricks." I buy the sticks. There's no cost savings in the price but I also order enough film at a time to amortize the shipping cost over about 20 rolls. Portra, like all pro films should be stored in the refrigerator. You can pull it out for upward of a week at a time without hurting it . . . I've done it often for "road trip" projects . . . just put any unused rolls back in the reefer when you get home. Don't leave it in a parked car out in the sun though. Pull it out about an hour before you'll use it to let it warm to room temperature . . . otherwise moisture will condense on the cold film when you open and load it in the camera (which produces photos that look like they were fogged). If you're using 35mm exclusively (no medium format), go with no less than 15 rolls. It's highly unlikely you'd burn more than 500 frames. Plan on using about 8-12 depending on size of wedding party, the bride/groom families, length of ceremony, and how long you'll be at the reception. Running out of film is worse than catastrophic and I ensure there's always more on hand than could ever be needed. What you don't use can go back into the reefer behind the vegies afterward (store it in a Tupperware or Rubbermaid container). I've done enough weddings that I know I run a burn rate of 40-50 frames per hour at a wedding so I guage film quantity on the length of time now. Example: 8 hours would be a max of 400 frames, or about 11 rolls. I've never shot that many over that long . . . after 6 hours it slows down a bit. After 6-7 hours not a whole lot happens that hasn't already been photographed. The key events are generally done and guests start drifting off leaving the "party animals" (they sometimes provide a few interesting shots) . . . and that's starting the shoot 2 hours before the wedding ceremony begins. I know there are longer wedding reception "marathons" but I've never done them and the longest I've run is 8 hours which is exhausting. You'll have to find your own burn rate with experience . . . everyone has their own shooting pace that's driven with their style of shooting the candids. BTW, I just noticed this is your first wedding. If you haven't had any training in wedding work you might want to see my "survival guide." It's *not* intended for professionals, but for non-pros who find themselves pressed into service doing it for friends or relatives. I use considerably more equipment for weddings including medium format gear and portable studio lighting for all the posed groups and portraiture. There's also the business end of things that isn't discussed at all (pricing and other buisness practices/policies). Even if you're doing this professionally and have never shot . . . or helped shoot one (as gaffer/grip) . . . you may find some very valuable technical tips there about the shoot itself: http://johnlind.tripod.com/wedding/ All the photos in the guide were done with 35mm film format, using a standard 50mm lens, and camera mounted flash (in a bracket or on a handle). IOW, I didn't use anything fancy or exotic to make them. Many were done running #2 working gaffer/grip for a wedding photographer so I could learn how to do weddings, and test and fine tune my own equipment setups, particularly the flash. Some of the reception camera angles are not optimal; the #1 photog was using them and I shot from the other side. -- John Lind
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Angela K. Wittmer |
HI! I am also shooting my first wedding coming up soon... I was wondering about Kodak Portra 160 VC vs NC... would VC be better? Also would using the 400 speed Portra NC be better in outdoors situations??
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Kristi Seanor |
From my post, seems like the prefered film of choice is the 160NC. Everyone has been so helpful on this site.
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Michael McCullough |
Kodak Portra 160VC has higher contrast,a little more pumped colour great for available light photography,I personally love the Fuji NPC 160 for all round portrait, weddings ect.it is a truly great film and ideal for these applications,it has more contrast and zap than portra NC,so it 's kinda like a balance between NC & VC,and it does an amazing job handling skintones!!!!!!
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John A. Lind |
Portra NC versus VC IMO is a matter of personal preference for general portaiture. For weddings, one must deal with white dresses and very dark, often black, tuxes. This requires a wide latitude film and print material. Otherwise the dark (black) tuxes will block up into pure black (a Bad Thing) and/or the white dress can wash out with little detail (a Very Bad Thing). NC has slightly more latitude and thus it's slightly more forgiving. NC is also slightly finer grain compared to VC (don't know why; something I've wondered about). Not much, and it would b unusual to be concerned about it, but it's measurable. Even so, VC, if that's what you want to use, is still more forgiving in latitude than the films for general photography. BTW, extreme color saturation for portraiture, such as Portra UC (a relatively new film) is generally a Bad Thing; extreme saturation and skin tones don't mix well. In addition, high saturation and and high contrast (less latitude) go hand in hand. Stay with a mainstay "wedding/portrait" film . . . and the Fuji NPC Michael mentioned is an excellent alternative the Kodak's Portra. -- John Lind
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