Hi all,
This is my first season using the S2 for wedding photography. I've been using it for portraits and some commercial photography as well as personal work since getting it, but this thread is specifically about experiences shooting weddings with a S2 and all four currently available Leica S optics.
Initially, I viewed the S2 as the "go to solution" for the more controlled parts of a wedding shoot, the so called fashion/portrait portions that are more likely to be printed large and framed. While my primary wedding style is photojournalist which is usually done with either a Leica M9 and/or a Sony A900, in my market it is inevitable that I must take at least some posed or structured images. Previously, I had occasionally taken a Hassedlblad H kit with me for this more formal shooting ... and can say with certainly that the S2 promotes "take with" more readily than the more bulky H system does.
Attached below are typical posed portraits as done with the S2, which is NOT specifically what sells my approach to weddings, but is what I call a necessary evil in order to get the job in the first place. It isn't a reason to select me over other shooters, but without these samples it is a reason to not select me ... again, in this market.
Specifically, I use the S2 for "environmental type portraits" which fare best when printed larger ... 17" X 22" or larger. NO screen view can do justice to how detail and tonally rich these S2 images are when printed.
After a few weddings I ventured out into more spontaneous candid type shots that define my style, and will continue to do so as I become faster and more versed with using the camera while shooting in such a hectic, "you get one chance" environment that the typical wedding represents. Most of my weddings include multiple locations and everything is on crushing schedule. If something doesn't work then and there without fussing with it, it gets an immediate vacation in the SUV in lieu of something else.
So far, the S2 seems up to the task, and my goal will be to shoot primarily with the S2 and M9 which IMO produce very similar looking files and assures a certain continuity to the look and feel of the over-all client wedding portfolio.
At each wedding I take three S lenses, one on the camera and two in a Think Tank Lens bag. This keeps me mobile while moving from one "environmental" location to the next. Typically it is the 35, 70 and either the 120 or 180 depending on where we will be shooting. The most used lens is the 35mm for groups and for shots that include a lot of the place we are at.
-Marc
This is my first season using the S2 for wedding photography. I've been using it for portraits and some commercial photography as well as personal work since getting it, but this thread is specifically about experiences shooting weddings with a S2 and all four currently available Leica S optics.
Initially, I viewed the S2 as the "go to solution" for the more controlled parts of a wedding shoot, the so called fashion/portrait portions that are more likely to be printed large and framed. While my primary wedding style is photojournalist which is usually done with either a Leica M9 and/or a Sony A900, in my market it is inevitable that I must take at least some posed or structured images. Previously, I had occasionally taken a Hassedlblad H kit with me for this more formal shooting ... and can say with certainly that the S2 promotes "take with" more readily than the more bulky H system does.
Attached below are typical posed portraits as done with the S2, which is NOT specifically what sells my approach to weddings, but is what I call a necessary evil in order to get the job in the first place. It isn't a reason to select me over other shooters, but without these samples it is a reason to not select me ... again, in this market.
Specifically, I use the S2 for "environmental type portraits" which fare best when printed larger ... 17" X 22" or larger. NO screen view can do justice to how detail and tonally rich these S2 images are when printed.
After a few weddings I ventured out into more spontaneous candid type shots that define my style, and will continue to do so as I become faster and more versed with using the camera while shooting in such a hectic, "you get one chance" environment that the typical wedding represents. Most of my weddings include multiple locations and everything is on crushing schedule. If something doesn't work then and there without fussing with it, it gets an immediate vacation in the SUV in lieu of something else.
So far, the S2 seems up to the task, and my goal will be to shoot primarily with the S2 and M9 which IMO produce very similar looking files and assures a certain continuity to the look and feel of the over-all client wedding portfolio.
At each wedding I take three S lenses, one on the camera and two in a Think Tank Lens bag. This keeps me mobile while moving from one "environmental" location to the next. Typically it is the 35, 70 and either the 120 or 180 depending on where we will be shooting. The most used lens is the 35mm for groups and for shots that include a lot of the place we are at.
-Marc