Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Good morning LUGgers! I had a trying time at the couples wedding shower (which had generated much debated on how one should approach the shooting) over the weekend (Saturday)! Got there slightly behind the couple's arrival but when I got to the 4th floor apartment where it being held, things didnt look too lively yet as people were just getting comfortable with meeting relatives from Donna's side (bride-to-be) and Jon's (groom-to-be) college friends (I fall under that category). Any shooting done then would have made peope very self conscious. It was not a large crowd (25 people) so I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb metering and framing for shots. Nope! There were no bushes or columns to hide behind and I forgot to wear camouflage "beige" to blend in with carpeting. Luckily the lighting was fairly bright since we started at 4pm and the indoor lighting was fine through 930pm at EI800. Slowly but surely I blended in after introductions were made. It sure helped when I told Donna that I thought she had two sisters when in fact one of the ladies was her mother!!! Mum was pleased! Trying to get candid shots was a little tough as the females were especially prone to posing as soon as they noticed the camera. They must have eyes in the back of their heads, because as soon as I lifted the camera to my eye, Donna (who had her head semi turned to talk to someone) stopped in mid conversation to smile and pose! They've been conditioned! Too bad also that I only planned to shoot B&W. Donna's female friends, sister and mum were decked out in colourful clingy chiffon-like dresses. All the colours of the rainbow were present :( I shot almost two rolls: finished up a trix400 and shot a whole roll of Ilford XP-2 EI @800. Then had a disastrous setback :-0. After loading the film (all was observed: film to sprocket were in synch, rewind knob turned when advancing film to '0' at 1/1000 f/16 with lenscap on) the left red triangle was flashing everytime I checked the exposure meter. The lenscaps was off. Light level had not changed so the light level was not below the threshold of the exposure meter. I even changed the iso dial from 800 to 1600 and to 3200 with all combinations of shutter speeds and apertures to make sure it wasnt "low light levels". This occurred just when they were starting the gift opening session. Frustrated, I didnt give up :-P -- through the gift opening, I tried reloading the film twice and checking everything. I could have continued shooting at the last settings since the light had not changed much BUT there were different light sources throught the apartment. I put the camera aside after 30 minutes of fiddling with the darn thing! And just when you think the whole evening was shot, on a whim, i tried metering again (still at iso 800) the red diodes were fine!! Got 15 more frames when people were about to leave and Donna was more relaxed. Does anyone have any idea what could have caused the flashing diodes. I've checked the manual -- two possible causes: lenscaps on and low light levels. Needless to say, during those withdrawal periods of not being to shoot when the moments came up, I resolved to bring to backup camera!! Even if it means the C****. So turning to the vast experience of the LUG, I humbly accept your suggestions :-0