B&W or color or both

[andre_bosmans]

Have Leica M6 + M3 and 4 lenses(28,35,50,90)for shooting a wedding

next month. Would you stick to just one sort of film (color or B&w)

or mix both? If you mix - how do you mix - what is your set-

up/combo? Thanks for your suggestions and ideas.

[r.m.]

Both. While I shoot primarily b&w, I can't imagine shooting a wedding and not capturing the color of the day in one form or another, particularly details such as the flowers and formals...

[david_schilling___chicago_]

I would just shoot in color and PS to B&W on an as needed basis. Most people don't "see" well enuff in B&W to know when to use the film anyway....and unless you are doing the darkroom work yourself, I doubt that you'll be able to tell the difference between B&W capture and good PS conversion. Weddings are busy enuff as it is and I don't see fussing with B&W worth the effort. Alot of time the B/G may want 20-30% of the images in B&W but they don't have a clue exactly which shots they want ahead of time. You can always take the color out...putting the color in is something else.

 

The only exception I would see is to have an assistant, give em a camera loaded with B&W and tell them to have some fun.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Oh, BTW, what DO the B/G want???

[think27]

Andre - in my wedding info sheet that I give to couples... It asks what percentage of color to b&w they want for the wedding day. Most want at least some of getting ready and couple shots as well as a few during the ceremony. Some say I should use my discretion and a very small percentage say all color or all b&w. If they request all b&w I do talk them into 3-4 rolls of color. I shoot with 3 cameras and when I'm shooting B&w in one or two cameras...It think out the shot in a different way than when I shoot color.

[bruce_rubenstein]

For clients who want some B&W, I tend to shoot the same sort of things that Mary does in B&W. The only thing that makes sense with film is to use multiple bodies with different film in different bodies. You wind up with a very inefficient work flow if you have to start scanning into the digital domain and converting to B&W. This is particularly true if you plan on doing this for your set of proofs.

 

I really think that what the photographer is getting paid for is their visual skills and the knowledege of what will look good in B&W or color.

[cjogo]

We shoot VC/NC and the B&G can take their negs to any lab >>> just request the tech to "dial-out" the color. For me, it takes too long to adjust from "thinking" color and then switching to B&W > They are two completely different art forms. We used to incorporate a second shooter, just for B&W >>> but the clients are "tighten' their belts" these last few years...rather spend their $$ elsewhere on the day.

[cjogo]

Several years ==back about 5 or so == we were shooting B&W weddings ONLY<div></div>

[russ_butner___portland__or]

My clients tend to want a mixture. Especially after they've seen some nice B/W portfolio images. I have separate bodies for each type of film. I did have a young bride that wanted all B/W. I thought that was great! However, I did burn a few rolls of color, and she loved the results. When they don't specify an amount, I (or my assistant) tend to shoot about 25%-35% of the affair in B/W.

 

Russ

[lex_jenkins]

I shoot about 75% color and 25% b&w. I'm a lifelong b&w shooter and do my own darkroom work so I don't have any trouble visualizing how certain shots will look in b&w. This hasn't changed much now that I'm shooting more digital. I still use film for b&w.

 

In the past I've loaded two cameras with color film and one with b&w. Most recently I used one camera with color film and my dSLR for shooting color. My b&w camera is usually my OM-1 with no motor drive since I'm shooting at a slower, more deliberate pace. My color cameras have motor drives so I can keep pace with action, such as group shots with inattentive kids.

 

Only occasionally will I convert a color photo to monochrome. Many viewers can't "see" b&w very well - without color they have no reference point to orient them to the content of the photo. So if my first instinct was to shoot a particular photo in color rather than b&w, very seldom does a color-to-monochrome conversion work for the other viewers.

 

For example, I recently converted some photos from color to monochrome of the bride and groom with their hands around each other's waists. It was a very tight shot but the hands and arms were clearly distinguishable. But the bride's grandmother had no idea what she was looking at - without color it was just a blob. I watched the bride pass around the proofs at a church function and noticed that while most folks would linger over certain color photos they skipped right past the b&w shots. Only one or two people commented favorably on the use of b&w for some photos.