John Lind wrote:
> Many wedding photographers who have been at it for a while
> have some flash horsepower that recycles quickly. From your
> description, my mind is envisioning the pile of equipment you
> hauled to the event. I don't do much if any lens changing
> unless I'm limited by the officiant to working the ceremony
> from the back in a loft. The best thing I did was get a pair
> of 35-105/2.8 lenses for two bodies and an 80-200/2.8 for
> working from the back. AG Schnozz is right . . . f/5.6 is the
> magic aperture indoors with film.
John is absolutely right about the flash horsepower. Like the
old adage about hot rods, there is no substutute for cubic
inches. I'm running, what is what I'd consider decent, but
right on the edge of acceptable, a Vivitar 285HV. With an
Lumiquest Ultrabounce, it gives beautiful lighting--almost flash
free lighting. However, for running group formals indoors you
really can use some supplemental lighting, if for no other
reason than to fill in the shadows.
Simplification is the key to surviving the wedding trade.
Narrow your equipment selection down to what you can carry on
your body--with the exception of strobes for the formals. I'm
more than happy with just the E-1, 14-54, 285HV/Ultrabounce on a
Stroboframe and an OM-2S, 35/2.8 with ISO 400 film as my on-body
backup. I can count on one hand the number of times I truely
needed a long telephoto lens. If you're stuck in the back of
the church during the ceremony, you'll get a couple aisle shots,
some wide shots showing the entire alter area and maybe a medium
shot. Getting "up close and personal" as you would with a 400mm
lens just isn't practical. Not only do you have camera
vibration issues, but if you choose to use flash, the image is
too "flat" looking. The keeper ratio is quite aweful when using
anything beyond 100mm (35mm equivelent) focal length.
Limiting your gear is critical. Of course having backups is
necessary, but plan on only using what is mounted on your
primary camera for 95% of the shots. Ultrawides and telephoto
shots are rarely usable and fit in the same category as
cross-filters and vignettes: Good for one or two shots, but
aweful for an entire album.
AG (F5.6 and be there) Schnozz
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