Quantity of film needed in AD wedding

[sweat100]

Will be covering a wedding on film slr. Just want a rough gide on how many rolls i should prepare for a church wedding and a simple botanical garden shoot after that? 6-7 rolls? The following day will be a dinner at a chinese restaurant. How many rolls I need to prepare?
Is there a need to get all films of the same make to get some form of consistency? Or get different films for different environments? I planning to get the NPH 400 for the church and the dinner shoot. And get the NPC 160 for the botanical gardens shoot? What do you people advise? If have better films, do let me know.

 

[Magix88]

I've yet to do a AD wedding in a Church but a typical AD Chinese wedding will take up approx 8-9 Rolls if it includes groom fetching of bride, tea ceremony, new home and simple outdoor shoot.

Normally I would bring
6 rolls of NPC 160 or Kodak 160VC
5 rolls of FujiPress 800 or Fuji Superia 800 if the former is not available.

Serves as a guide but do prepare MORE films & many fresh batteries for your flash & camera! Always plan ahead and visualise ahead of what the bride and groom is going to do next and anticipate the shots. Also, change into a fresh roll even if the present roll has a few more shots to go if an event is coming (i.e. groom enter bride's house or room, tea ceremony, march in during dinner, traditional toasting ceremony. You don't want everyone to wait for the cameraman because he is frantically loading his film.

 

[jesser]

Will be covering a wedding on film slr. Just want a rough gide on how many rolls i should prepare for a church wedding and a simple botanical garden shoot after that? 6-7 rolls? The following day will be a dinner at a chinese restaurant. How many rolls I need to prepare?
Is there a need to get all films of the same make to get some form of consistency? Or get different films for different environments? I planning to get the NPH 400 for the church and the dinner shoot. And get the NPC 160 for the botanical gardens shoot? What do you people advise? If have better films, do let me know.

always bring more than enough. you never knows what will happen on that very day.....so all must be very very well prepare. i ever shoot more than 15 rolls on a actual day wedding.

 

[sweat100]

Hi Magix88, you said that you are using the NPC 160 or Kodak VC 160. Was it too slow for indoors? (eg HDB makeup etc) Managed to capture enough ambient light at 1/30s?
Would you use NPS or NPC, what are the main diff between the 2 iso160 films?

Actually I dont mind getting many rolls. Why not right? The thing is that the newly wed is on a "economy scale". So I want a good estimate of how many roll i will use and i will add 1 to 2 more rolls on top of that. Dont wanna later the event i have surplus 5-6 rolls. Haha... :bsmilie:

 

[Magix88]

If you are using direct or bounce and ISO 160, not much ambient light can be captured. Many would avocate f5.6 and 1/60s for most under shelter shots. As for church ambience, I am totaly unsure. I feel that the Kodak 160VC gives more vibrant colours.

This might help you. http://www.fuji.fi/documents/10/npc__nph_nps_npz_leaflet.pdf

If the couple is on economy scale, according to my own experience, I normally would finish around 4.5 - 5 rolls after the tea cerenomy which is the afternoon event.

If I were you, I would prepare the following: 6 rolls of iso 160 and 4 rolls of iso 800. Being dinner table shots would be 1 shot per table. Else, you may need to spill into your balance iso160 negatives.

Generally I would use 8-9 rolls in total. It is normal to prepare additional 2 rolls ontop of each iso film. Whether it is a paid assignment or not, I will always tell the couple I will only charge for film that are used. We ourselves (photographers) need to bring additional few rolls of film for just in case.

If you need further help, I am contactable thru' msn. My email is magix88@hotmail.com.

 

[Pro Image]

Whatever it is, more is better than just nice. The extra left overs can be kept in the frigde for a year or until the expiry date. It's not wise to bring just nice.

Normally i will bring 8-10 rolls of Fuji Superia 400 for day time and another 8-10 rolls on Fuji Press 800. Wouldn't use any other than this. Fuji 800 is ok but if you can afford Press 800 would be the best.

 

[jesser]

Actually I dont mind getting many rolls. Why not right? The thing is that the newly wed is on a "economy scale". So I want a good estimate of how many roll i will use and i will add 1 to 2 more rolls on top of that. Dont wanna later the event i have surplus 5-6 rolls. Haha... :bsmilie:

shoot digital?...since they don't wish to spend that much.:think:

 

[synapseman]

Depending on which stage of the procession, some times of the day may call for more shooting than others. But my rule of thumb (which I've arbitrarily set up, based on experience) is 1 roll per hour, + 2 rolls standby.

ISO400 for day, ISO800 for night shots.

 

[LKSC]

sweat100,

NPS and NPC have been replaced by new emulsions Pros160S and Pro160C. Have not tried the new films but reports are that they retain the same characteristics, but have finer grain.

The difference between NPS and NPC was that NPS had much lower contrast. The lower contrast means its easier to hold detail in both highlights and blacks, hence its usefulness in weddings where there is extreme contrast between the white dress and the black suit. But NPS must be carefully printed. If you dont explain it to the lab that you want to retain the low-contrast look they will typically boost the density to make it look more saturated. Same thing applies with NPH400, though NPH has slightly more contrast.

Indoors I would recommend Fuji NPZ800 (rated at 500 to 640) or the new Fuji Natura1600 (rated at 800). Both render skin tones better than Press800 or Superia800.

 

[sweat100]

Hmm... High contrst and low contrast. Which one would the couple prefer. Assuming that they are those who jus want to see good colours. Will they be put off by the low contrast of the NPS? Usually, i feel that it is the colours that catches peoples eye first. The details are not really that important, unless you blow up to A3 size and beyond (which i think they are not doing it). Am i right to say that?

 

[Magix88]

Nothing is better than going to a reputatable developing lab for colour consistency and colour vibrancy.

What synapseman said is true. 36 exposure/60min = 0.6 shots per minute or 1.2 shots every 2 minutes. Very reliable math. Anything more than that I think you need an additional flash to prevent flash bulb burnt out :bsmilie:

Do a run thru with the couple on the actual time table and what ceremonies and events will take place so you will get a clear understanding of the whole process such as who, what, where, when and how. And if it still worries you, visit the church or ask the brothers here if any one of them covered any assignment in that particular church before.