Paris and Michael were very familiar with our distinct style of multi exposures and were big fans, so we just chatted through quickly what we were gonna hit (we’d already planned that spot together the previous day) and then we got to it. I always want couple to look calmly heroic, full of dignity, and the best version of themselves they can imagine when I’m shooting these kinds of portraits on that old camera.
“This is your light falling right here, lift your face up to it and just bask in this last glimpse of the sun on your wedding day.”
Calm
Framing compelling squares in 6X6 is a very different challenge to 2X3 or 16X9. A square is a very naked canvas and it’s easy to kook it if you don’t have your focal length compression right. Esp with multi-exposures I’m always dividing the viewing ground glass into a classic thirds grid in my head, placing subject detail and trying to remember excatly how much space I have to work with for additional exposures – and especially which part of the frame has the less exposed part of the first image so that it’ll take the next layer sharply. Composing great and compelling 6X6 images with texture layers overlaid in camera requires having a good solid idea of what you’re trying to achieve before you start building it in-camera. In this case I was trying to achieve a triple-lineup with each image just kissing the one before.
Rule of Thirds
Center Framed
A medium format camera, the Rolleicord is a TLR with a ground-glass that you look down as you focus. So I guess it’s a kind of live-view… lol. Shooting at f11 in full light you have a reasonable focus plane to deal with, but it’s still a challenge under pressure.
Live View
Single Focus Point
Bride
The way the EXIF is written out follows the common photographic method (with the inclusion of White Balance at the end). Here it is broken down:
Shutter Speed @ Aperture ISO White Balance.
With the sunset behind me , the light was falling directly on the bride which illuminated her directly which also helped to have her stand out from the background.
Natural Light
Harsh,Front Lit
Sunset
StormySunny
No editing in post, scanned on Noritsu. The final image that you see is exactly as it came back from the film lab.
Using an old camera on a high pressure shoot is always a bit of a pulse racer, esp when you have a very small window of light and you have to choose digi or analog.
Back yourself, know what the couple hired you for and roll the dice.
French Bay Yacht Club
Otitori Bay Road, Titirangi, Auckland, New Zealand
Coastal
New Zealand
Making analog multiple exposures in camera is a really enjoyable discipline, requiring a refined understanding of your preferred camera, the lens contrast and tone, and especially of your preferred film stock and how much latitude you have to work with. And then you need some good ideas for building multi’s that actually add to the story of the day rather than just being a cool trick.
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