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Re: [OM] Albert's quest

Subject: Re: [OM] Albert's quest
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:07:45 -0500
At 06:38 PM 9/1/03, you wrote:
The situation may be different here, we never use any film over ISO400 for wedding, it is too grainly. Most situation will allow flashes and the E-20 digital flash is very accurate.

I wouldn't dispute the flash capability. About half my weddings are "no flash" during the ceremony itself. The person officiating has the final word on the matter . . . along with restrictions on where I cannot be during the ceremony. Some are quite restrictive.

 If digital's color is not good I don't see how film can work out.

The great majority of the few "problem shots" can eventually be pulled in to match the rest. The time it takes to work these few exceptions isn't small though. There is also the time spent ensuring everything is consistently the same throughout over a large number of prints.

If you really need available light ISO1600 you need a N*kon or C*non,
they are less grainly than film.

Last I looked, the max for Nikon was ISO 800, but that may have changed. I use 1600 color and 3200 B&W only for the ceremony itself (and indoors) and only if no flash is allowed. I personally prefer it that way, but the client's desires come first with the persion officating the ceremony having the last word on the matter. It's exceptionally rare if any of them are ever made bigger than a 4x6. Everything else is done using Portra 160NC and the portraiture of the bride/groom (individually and together) are medium format, for exactly the grain reasons you mention.

I think most pro edit digital file themselves, in most cases you need less than 2 minutes for a picture.

True; the cost of a lab doing it is outrageously high. Now multiply the time per image by 180 and add to it the time to make prints. Vertical integration of a darkroom and its workload into a studio's business has been going on for decades with top end, expensive professional film photography studios. They use "master printer" assistants to do the routine developing and print work. Their business model with its revenue stream can justify it. One-person sole proprietor studios that serve the Everyman cannot afford the capital investment, facility space or time required to operate a vertically integrated film lab. The workload is shifted to a full-service professional lab that prints proofs when the film is developed. The cost of the proofs is about 1/3rd that of reprints making them economical. With digital, this workload shifts by necessity to the studio regardless of its size, business model and revenue. Labs charge for printing digital files as if they're reprints (at least 3X the cost of proofs from film made when it's developed). The capital investment is lower, but that doesn't alleviate the time required to do all the work. It's the reason an assistant must help with routine "back end" work leaving [hopefully] a few "problem image" exceptions for the photographer to deal with personally.

BTW:
Weddings in the U.S. for "first marriages" are unlike those nearly everywhere else in the world, including Europe. IMHO it involves our culture, how girls are raised here, and the commercialization of weddings that touts all manner of "must haves." It's the most important day of her entire life, during which she reigns as emperess of the universe. Let there be no doubt whatsoever the photography is for the bride, and usually for her mother as well, as is all the rest of the wedding and reception. The groom is her tag-along "consort" for the affair. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. It's a generalization and there are (thankfully) some sane exceptions. At the extreme end is "Bridezilla." A term coined here, it's graphically descriptive and applicable to a few who expect total perfection with every miniscule detail. They go on outrageous rampages if it's anything less, teeter on the brink of mental adhesion until the reception is completely over, and emotional breakdowns are not unheard of. Fortunately I've only encountered one of them; reminded me of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.

Expectations for low budget weddings still range around 175-200 prints, even if all they ever get is the proof book (no reprints or enlargements). Expectations of quality in composition, print "clarity" and color accuracy/consistency through the entire book are very high, especially for the portriature, and for perfect timing with "decisive moments" on the candids. On "low budget" affairs, the only expectations that get dropped are enlargements (a quantity of 5x7's and 8x10's), and separate books of prints for the parents.

-- John


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