I went to a photography meet-up today. The theme was wedding photography. We met at The Loft at Union Square in High Point, NC. Tim and I arrived at around 3:45 PM on Sunday. After taking a bit of time to figure out how to get into the place, we walked into the well lit loft area that was formerly a furniture making factory. Both High Point and Thomasville, NC were, at one time, the furniture capitals of the U.S., if not the world.
When we entered the loft, we say lots of windows on either side, brilliant lighting, lots of girls in white dresses, many more photographers. Canons, Nikons, and one lonely Leica M9. 
I saw dozens of Radio Poppers and lighting stands galore, umbrellas, and various reflectors and diffusers.
My intention on going was to give the M9 a test run for Pedro’s wedding. This was rather an acid test, of sorts. As the light was pretty bright and the dresses were white. Lots of opportunity to blow out the highlights. Lots! There were even a couple of darker skinned models, which increased the challenge to get detail in the dress and be able to see the model’s face. I blew it a couple of times, but finally got it right, as shown above. Basically, I had to meter for the dress, open up a stop or two, and take the shot. After the fact, I had to add a bit of fill with Lightroom to allow her face to be seen. Of course, others were doing similar, but using fill flash and reflectors. i wanted to see if I could pull it off without those and, for the most part, I was able to by selecting different angles.
Models everywhere. Some shy. Some exciting. Some outgoing. Some reserved. Some that looked happy to be there, others not so much. I tried to look for those unguarded moments, of which there were quite a few to capture, save for with the most popular models, those that were the most engaging.
It was a great meet up and I learned quite a bit roaming around with the M9 in hand. No one noticed it, except for one guy. He asked what it was. When I told him, he seemed not to recognize it and went on.
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5 Responses to “Wedding Photography Meetup”
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Why do wedding photographers prefer Canon and Nikon? In a word – versatility. The number of lenses, speedlites, filters and accessories for these brands is staggering. And a cheaper back-up body is usually available in case there’s a fly in the ointment. Will they produce better images that the M9? Not likely, but if you were to make your living solely by doing weddings, you need to go with the flow.
These are really nice shots. Looks like you had a good time and learned something as well. Are you now ready for the big day?
Oh, no doubt. It make perfect sense. The array of accessories for Nikon and Canon is astounding! If I were going to shoot weddings, as a profession, I’d certainly have Nikon gear, Radio Poppers, umbrellas, reflectors, diffusers and whatever else I needed. However, this was more of a challenge to see what I could do with difficult lighting conditions, one camera, and one lens.
I’ll keep practicing, to be sure. I’ve got about 7 more weeks!
I’m still learning your Nikon but I really received some hard fought practice that day. Looking over my pictures I seemed to light them and frame them in either a gothic or storybook pattern. Change the aperture there, now change the ISO….(after a while I learned to leave the ISO alone and just use the other dials!) Yep, really needed the practice.
Definitely a challenge, dark skin and well-lit, white dress. I, who come from a snowy part of the world, have learnt to always over-expose two steps when there’s lots of sun-lit snow. Even if most of us are pale to the extent we’re almost transparent, it’s possible to see who’s who in the final exposure. A dark skinned person in the snow, that would be beyond reach even for an M9 without fill-light.
I guess you will have the best opportunities for really good exposures while staying indoor or in shadow. But, telling from what you produced above, I’m sure you will do more than fine even with moderate sun.
Thanks, Ove. Yeah, I had to do a little bit of slider movements in Lightroom. Fortunately, I exposed well, doing exactly what you said. I metered for the dress, overexposed by 2 to 2 1/2 stops, then just shot. I looked at the histogram and all seemed well. When I got home, I had to selectively burn in certain areas and add fill light to others. There was quite a dynamic range between her skin and the dress. This shot was taken at 4:04 PM and the sun was still pretty high in the sky and intense. The shots before this had the dress totally wiped out. No detail, just a white splotch. Tough metering there.
I would have had to crank up the exposure, make it a high-key shot and say: I meant to do that!