Re: HIE for weddings

[Stanee Rae Pettit Murray <stanee-rae@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 04:10 PM 9/6/96 +0000, Murray White wrote:

>My background is in wedding photography and have never
>worked with IR and do minimal B/W which has currently become the trend in
>the wedding field.
>

I have used Kodak HIE, 35mm for weddings with great results!

>        I work with Hasselblad and would be interested in only using 120/220
>film. Because of the speed nature of wedding work, I am looking for
>something fairly simplistic in technique, filters etc. to produce the
>resultant image.

I use a Bronica SQ-A, but liked using the 35mm for the HIE.  By dedicating a
camera body strictly for the HIE, I didn't need to worry about changing
camera settings, film backs, filters, etc.  Also, I never found the need (or
time) for more than 36 exposures of HIE at a wedding.  You say you only want
to use 120/220 film.  Is this because you are putting square (10x10 and 5x5)
images in your wedding albums?  I used square images in albums, but didn't
have a problem mixing 8x10's and 10x10's.  If you want to put small images
also, you can print 5x7's and cut them down to 5x5's.

One nice thing about my Minolta x700 is that I put it in aperature-priority
autoexposure mode and let it meter through the red filter (Cokin #A003).  I
set the film speed to ASA 200. The Kodak film is good for weddings because
you can work fast, and without a tripod.  I use a hand-held incident meter
for my color film.

>        I am also concluding that unlike most of my wedding photos that will
>be done in shaded areas, the IR work should be done in strong sunlit areas.
>Please advise re this thought. I also am concluding that full length with
>lots of background is best. It also looks like profiles are preferred to
>avoid "eye" problems.

I've done HIE in the shade, but got very grainy, mostly gray-tone images.
In bright sun I got the full range of tones from white to black.  Depending
on the pose, either can work.  Once I get my scanner hooked up, I'll send
examples of each to Cor for the Gallery!

I liked the full-length photos best because of the ethereal effect of the
scenery.  Half-length photos where the couple is not looking directly at the
camera work well; have the couple look down at the rings or flowers, or off
to the side.  A close-up of the hands/rings and bouquet (if real flowers are
used) looks good too.

The satin lapels and pinstripe down the groom's pantlegs will render very
light or white, even if the tuxedo is black.

>  Of course, you also need to take the
>>time of day and time of year into consideration.

I took some wedding photos late in the day, but didn't like the IR photos as
much when long shadows were present; I found the mid-day photos, where
everything was evenly bright, more pleasing.  During the summers here in New
Jersey (USA), our "hazy, hot & humid" weather often makes the sky look
somewhat overcast, even on a sunny day.  You won't get the classic IR black
sky on days like this.  

If you want really surreal-looking images, spot color them.


Stanee

Stanee Rae Murray, CPP
Stanee Rae Studio
<stanee-rae@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
VOICE: (908)842-5268


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Topic No. 18