Jump to content

Comfortable Clothes for Wedding Photography on Hot Days


rich_dutchman1

Recommended Posts

Does anyone know of a line of clothes that are lightweight,

breathable and fast wicking and could pass for formal attire? Even a

non-cotton formal photo vest would be a welcome find. Having done

weddings for a while in the D.C. area, I find that the heat can be

punishing in prime wedding season. Working in a suit/sports coat/tux

just isn't fun in June. I own a lot of North Face and REI gear for

cycling and hiking, and I wish their materials could be incorporated

into dress clothes. I have found very comfortable footwear from Cole

Haan: black dress shoes with a Nike Air system. Any other opinions or

suggestions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Patagonia makes clothes that are dressy and wick moisture from your body....it's expensive but works very well. Try the patagonia outlet, the one in Montana does mail order and the prices are very cheap. You can call them and they will email you a list of the current inventory. I know the puckerwear shirt from a year ago is very light dry and nice looking.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rich -- I also shoot in DC area and know what you mean! It can get so hot... and since so many couples want outdoor pics... we get fried. Check out this link: <A href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=007gtR">Dressing for Weddings</A> <p>I am a female so what I wear wouldn't apply.. I wear light pants and a very light cotton dressy top. My husband wears nice black pants and when it is hot -- a stylish - dressy - short sleeve cotton shirt (white).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always wear a shirt (sleeves rolled up below the elbows), tie and light colored suit pants.

Comfortable black Ecco shoes are a must. No suit jacket. I always keep a cloth

hankerchief in my pocket so I don't sweat all over the equipment. I once shorted out a

flash connection that way!

 

I work in the D.C./VA/MD area and I have to admit the outdoor summers are difficult. But

I always remind myself that the groom (in his Tux) is probably sweating a lot more than I

am!

 

If you are going to wear a suit jacket ask the tailor to customize it the same way they do

for secret service/police. They leave a lot of space so you can move your arms overhead

without getting caught up in a tight suit and there is plenty of space under the jacket for

battery packs, cable, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having an open collar to your shirt is a start towards comfort. Nix on ties. However, take

a clue from the Saudis, you need a layer of cloth to provide you with a walking umbrella.

Therefore, I wear all black. If I sweat, you can't see the dark wet marks around the arms.

Then I use a photographer's vest which is louvered to permit the vest to breathe. The

inside of the vest has thick webbing so that it keeps the outer layer at a distance.

 

Now, what you wear under the vest mostly cannot be seen. So, you could have a custom

black shirt taylored with webbed "holes" maybe 5x5 inches that would appear around your

shoulders and back and front area. Heat rises, so these webbed holes or ports should be

particularly at the top and at least a couple at the bottom so that you have a sort of

chimney effect with rising hot air. You could just have a whole 4" strip of webbing all

around your chest and continously around your back to do a real good job of it. The vest

will cover all this tayloring and provide you protection like an umbrella from direct sun.

The vest has layers of pockets, maybe 8 pockets of all sizes to hold your batteries and film

and flash meter. No one will be the wiser to this altered black undershirt, unless you

remove your vest. So, take along a real shirt, a complete shirt with no tayloring, no holes,

just in case you decide to ditch the vest.

 

Tamrac and many others make these professional photographers vests. You really need

to try it on to make sure you like the size of the pockets. The pockets should really fit

some of your pieces of equipment. The upper left pocket is handy for the flash meter on a

cord which is tethered by cord to a sewn epilet or eye hook on the front of the vest. You

will never lose your flashmeter! No more running to your suitcase for your flashmeter!

 

After you make these shirts, sell them to other photographers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just came from my local camera store in San Francisco. I tried on a Promaster vest. I

have a 42 chest, and with wearing a jacket, the Medium Promaster vest in black color

loosely fit over all that! This vest I recommend because it has thick webbing, large louvers

in the back, and pockets that will fit a vertically oriented telephoto lens. Therefore the lens

will not get pressure from a horizontal orientation on the body and rupture the lens from

body hits. I have had 2 vests, and this one is the most advanced I have yet seen.

However, there are a number of choices with Domke, Tamrac, and even a special Tuxedo

vest sold by Adorama. The Tuxedo Vest is very interesting, but not "cool" for your

purposes.

 

I think if you put the word "vest" into bhphoto.com search engine, you will end up

overwhelmed with choices. The Promaster vest seems to be very popular with camera

stores. I would chose the Promaster instantly. However, if you exchange backs with your

camera like a Hasselblad, you need to try the pockets in several brands to find out which

one works best for you.

 

Remember that if you don't like all the 21 pockets (!), you can unstitch some of the

pockets to make it all simplier looking with fewer pockets.

 

Because this vest is louvered at the back, you do not want a tight fitting vest. If you were

to have this tight fit, the louvers will expand to show your bare skin back underneath but

covered with black thick (3/16") webbing. So, a medium size is good for me at 42 inch

chest with a full tanker jacket on underneath! They definitely "run" loose in size

designation for the Promaster vest.

 

Only choose black. I once had a khaki vest for a while. Black vests did not exist. I got

serious complaints from a Bride later over the color of the vest. I explained that it made

me uninhhibited and freed me from my suitcase as I could carry more film and equipment.

It didn't matter. Khaki color or brown color made me look like a character in an adventure

film in her mind. Black is the only color to choose unless you live in the Bahamas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank your everyone for your responses. I have settled on white Capilene fast wicking dress-style shirts and t-shirts so that I can wear a tie (I still think they're important). On top on a Royal Robbins ploy-nylon black travel vest, which has plenty of pockets for gear. I chose this over a traditional photographer's vest because they're all made of cotton (slow drying and hot). Slacks are basic Brooks Brothers formal blends.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...