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Blog | Mezzaninehttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/2020-08-07T09:41:50+00:00Blog5 Days and a Tour of Michigan's Best Wedding Venues2020-07-29T16:45:39+00:002020-08-07T04:40:37+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/5-days-and-a-tour-of-michigans-best-wedding-venues/
About the Michigan Wedding Venue Tour Project

This project started as a simple idea to connect. I've spent my entire life visiting Northern Michigan in the Summer but never established any connections in the industry that now has become my life and allows me the flexibility to spend my Summer amongst the beauty of the Michigan landscape. I connected with Emily from Connolly House Events on Instagram. What started out as an attempt to connect with wedding planners in Michigan turned into a personal bonding over fashion and a genuine desire to elevate the style of the wedding industry. I felt that Emily and I both had the desire to do things a bit differently. We loved the traditions of marriage and weddings, but sprinkled with a touch of Vogue. We adore the quiet Michigan landscape, but with a pinch of NYC energy.

Something I have learned in my early career as a wedding photographer is that the industry functions in teams. Being the best individual often requires the best team. Thus, the idea to engage with Michigan's Best Wedding Venues was born. Thousands of "best wedding venue" blog posts already exist, so in Emily and I's genuine and true fashion we set out to do it differently. We spent 5 days road tripping around the entire state visiting the best wedding venues in West Michigan, Grand Rapids, Metro Detroit, and Northern Michigan. We visited venues, explored cities, crashed with friends and family and ate good food...all fueled by the best coffee you can find.

When you are done reading through the best of what Michigan has to offer for nature wedding venues, city wedding venues, modern wedding venues, and historic wedding venues, please check out Emily and I's websites and be sure to give us a follow on Instagram! If you'd like to chat, please call or email either of us and I'm sure we can convince you of just how passionate we are about what we do and why it makes us the best in Michigan's Wedding Industry.

About The Michigan Wedding Photographer and Wedding Planner

I spend my Summers in Northern Michigan, and whenever I have weddings scheduled throughout the year, and Emily lives year round in Grand Rapids. She also grew up in Metro-Detroit. So, between her and I, we have the entire state covered and have a deep, personal connection to the entire Michigan landscape. Emily and I are great as individuals but, if you are planning your wedding, I highly encouarge you to speak with the two of us and we can echo our shared vision of what we find inspiring about the wedding industry and how we strive to push it forward into a fashionable future.

For More Information About Each of Our Michigan Wedding Businesses Check Out Our Websites

Brian D Smith Photography - Michigan Wedding Photographer

Connolly House Events - Michigan Wedding Planner

Likewise Connect with Us and Follow Us On Instagram

Brian D Smith Photography On Instagram

Connolly House Events on Instagram

Michigan's Best Wedding Venues

I'd like to start out by saying that this list isn't necessarily all inclusive. Some venues we reached out to were either not open or unable to accomodate because of covid restrictions and resulting staff shortages. So, if you'd like to be on the list but are currently not, please reach out because we would love to speak with you! This project was largely about making connections with the people who run and are passionate about the wedding venues, but we also wanted to highlight our favorite details and vignettes that make each such a desireable place for your Michigan Wedding.

Best West Michigan Wedding Venues

Our Journey started in West Michigan, the home of Emily's wedding planning business and a wonderful mixture of hip, historic and countryside wedding venues.

FELT MANSION

Felt Mansion is located just north of Saugatuk Michigan and is one of West Michigan's most historic and cherished wedding venues. Felt Mansion comprises the sprawling estate and residence of Dorr E. Felt, a self made millionaire who inveted the comptometer - think early calculator. Dorr E. Felt passed away, along with his wife, shortly after the homes completion in 1928. It remained in the family until WWII when it exchanged hands a few times serving as a home for Catholic Nuns and an office for the State Police. It was sold, by the state, to Laketown Township in the early 1990s under the stipulation that it be used as a public historic site. Today, Felt Mansion operates as a wedding venue to fund the costs of upkeep and preserving the beautiful history of this Western Michigan Estate.

Felt Mansion's exterior is a lovely faded brick with towering stone columns that surround it's entryway. Greenery adorned arches offer a glimpse into a tiny breakfast nook patio that is a perfect cocktail hour bar location for your outdoor Michigan Wedding.

The venue features a permanent, conrete floor reception tent and patio so you never have to worry about adding a tent option. Not to mention it extends right out into a state park and sprawling grass field where guests can mingle at cocktail hour and the couple can take some dynamite sunset wedding portraits.

CEREMONY LOCATIONS

Felt Mansion features two primary wedding ceremony locations. The first, and the one that I find the most unique, is a circular reflection pool with a long stone walkway leading to a central fountain. It is surrounded by lush greenery. It's a really wonderful option if you are hiring a film photographer, as the light reflects quite intensely off of the stone pathway. Film handles highlights so beautifully. Plus, can you imagine walking down this walkway in your dress?

The second ceremony location is in front of this adorable white chapel at the back of the property and butting up to the state park. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either location. Imagine walking down that long stretch of as guests turn around to see your wedding dress in all of it's glory! It's pretty rare that a wedding venue offers two distinct outdoor ceremony location and the property's size certainly makes it a rare find as a Western Michigan Wedding Venue.

INTERIOR

The interior of Felt Mansion is certainly something that makes it wonderfully unique. The township did such a wonderful job preserving the original character and architecture of the estate. It features period correct murals, meant to replicate the originals found in the home, and wood craftsmanship and trimmings worthy of magazines. I spend my time in a 1960s wood cabin in Northern Michigan when I stay here during the summer so I am always partial to dark wood interiors. Guests will love touring the home and aweing at its history.

It features one of the best groomsmen getting ready locations I've seen in a wedding venue yet - a vintage book lined library.

This wedding venue has enough vintage touches to make the hippest of couples feel at home. Guests can stay in the home's historic rooms. It's funny to look back on the cycles of traditions. If I had to style a home today, I would do it just like this one.

It features an alternate, indoor reception area on the top floor of the property with a beautiful, curved plaster ceiling.

Admiring quirky wallpaper and vintage mirrors quickly led to a tour long trend of taking selfie's in the wedding venue mirrors. Please please tell me where I can buy that wallpaper (hint...you can't).

The bridal suite at Felt Mansion was far and away my favorite room in the house. It had plenty of natural light, which is a wedding photographer's dream, and tons of vintage furniture for your interior bridal portraits. Honestly, it is probably my favorite bridal suite I've seen at any wedding venue and one of the reasons Felt Mansion would be at the top of my list for best michigan wedding venues.

Last but not least...a touch that probably won't be reflected in your wedding day photos too much, but something I always admire - a good vintage bathroom. I adore vintage tilework andd the bathrooms at Felt Mansion certainly do it well. I'd love to shoot some bridal prep boudoir in these bathrooms. This project really opened my eyes to appreciating the little details of Michigan Wedding Venues and thinking outside my ever expanding creative box for portrait locations and storytelling opportunities.

MORE INFO ABOUT WEST MICHIGAN WEDDING VENUE FELT MANSION

Click here for more information about Michigan weddings at Felt Mansion

GRAND RAPIDS ACCOMODATION

Emily was gracious enough to host me in her own home during the first two nights of the trip. It was a real step up from the intended sleeping spot of my 4runner, and it was a great opportunity to have someone show me the charming uptown areas of Grand Rapids.

Backpacking through Europe has made me excellent at packing light and living minimally. I packed a small backpack of clothes andn my favorite film camera gear!

Of course I brought along my favorite Austrian hat (A country that Emily and I both bonded over) and had time for my classic mirror self portrait.

We stopped by the perfect Covid friendly coffee shop/van as we departed early for Greencrest Manor. Outside coffee company in Uptown Grand Rapids did not disappoint and is certainly a spot I'll go back and hang at again.

GREENCREST MANOR

Greencrest manor is a Bed and Breakfast and Western Michigan Wedding Venue located in Battle Creek. Greencrest is Michigan's best European style wedding venue, and I'd argue one of the best in the country. It's truly a gem, located deep within the trees down a narrow road in a Western Michigan farm town. I've had my eye on Greencrest Manor for a long time, in large because of my love for European styling and architecture. It isn't something easy to find in any United States wedding venue. Greencrest was built as an estate for an early 1900s lumber baron. It was later transfered to the Catholic church and served as a seminary before exchanging hands with a few private owners. Today, the estate is owned and run by Jenn and David Ederer. I prefer to let the exquisit french architecture of this west michigan wedding venue do most of the talking, but I'd be remissed if I didn't mention a few words about Jenn. Jenn owns, operates, and tends to this property as a passion project - not just as a wedding venue or bed and breakfast. When we visited, she was tirelessly tending to the gardens with the heart and care of someone whom the littlest detail is a reflection of their own personal vision. When you stay at Greencrest, you are staying at someone's home. You are staying in a place built to inspire, to relax and to comfort. You are transported to a french countryside in the middle of West Michigan, where Jenn is your tourguide, curator, and hostess. You have to see the property to truly appreciate it, but I hope my pictures come close or inspire you to visit yourself. I could make magic hear as a Michigan wedding photographer, and I hope you see it's potential too.

The ivy walls on the front of the home's facade are certainly the showstopper, but when you inspect the home in further detail you see just how much attention to detail goes into every inch of this west michigan wedding venue property. Can you imagine your wedding day portraits in front of this facade?

If my images don't convince you enough just how much I loved every detail of this property, please reach out and I'd love to tell you just how breathtaking a michigan wedding would look catpured on this property, all on film.

GARDENS

Making your way around to the back of the property reveals sprawling gardens, with the quaint and cozy feel of the french countryside. Archways and stone staircases guide you through the properties numerous, lush gardens.

The opportunities for wedding day portraits at this michigan wedding venue truly make it one of the most desirable in the state, if not the entire country.

EUROPEAN INTERIOR

Greencrest Manor's interior is just as well thought out and styled as the home's exterior. Every inch of the property is pure character and reflective of old world french styling and architecture. Wedding guests can stay in one of the manor's numerous, uniquely styled rooms, making it the perfect weekend getaway wedding venue for you, your bridal party and entire family.

The interior is spacious, yet cozy. I felt like I could live there after only having been inside for a few minutes. Its inspiring, yet inviting. Your guests will love your wedding day exerience just as much as you will.

Light and textures, everywhere.

The sun room / breakfast room to the left when you first walk in the property is a large and inviting room where you and your closest friends and family can gather during your wedding weekend getaway in west Michigan.

Every fabric, every texture is curated to be true to the original french inspiration of the manor.

This pink themed room was my personal favorite.

THE BRIDAL SUITE

Once again, a west michigan wedding venue nails the bridal suite. Lighting and space is everything in a bridal suite and this room at Greencrest Manor had plenty of it. The textures and colors complemented the bright and spacious feel of the bride getting ready suite. Your entire bridal party can fit in the room and the light allows for those joyous bridesmaids getting ready photos that you've been dreaming of.

PREP KITCHEN

Another important detail that makes this a great weekend getaway wedding venue is the spacious prep kitchen / functioning guest kitchen. Your guests can prepare their own meals in the comfort of european styling without ever leaving the manor. The venue even provides a stocked bar service!

Last but not least, the original architectural prints complementing the modern day photograph of it's preserved exterior. These are the small touches that make this Michigan wedding venue truly one of it's best, if not best in the entire country.

MORE INFO ABOUT EUROPEAN STYLED WEST MICHIGAN WEDDING VENUE GREENCREST MANOR

Click here for more information about Greencrest Manor

VENUE3TWO

Located in Grand Rapids, Venue3Two has a unique history and mission behind it's existence as a west Michigan wedding venue. What started as a ranch, was purchased in 2016 and turned into an Equine Therapy Center. The venue uses horses, in a non-riding atmosphere, to comfort and assist underpriveledged families, communities and victims of sex trafficing. The wedding business supports the property and the non profit 3TwoRanch that facilitates the program. Venues like this have been one of my most surprising realizations of my tour of the best Michigan wedding venues. So many of the venues have a mission behind them. Wedding are expensive. We all know this. If you are going to invest so much money in an event, I love the idea of that money going towards a charitable and noble cause.

The stone architecure or Venue3Two seamlessly blends classical manor faceade with modern touches that the venue's brand is known for (check out the copper roof).

CEREMONY LOCATION

The ceremony location is positioned at the back of the property, offering two views. Front facing you have a view of the wedding venue's beautiful architecture, and rear facing you have a view of Michigan nature. You can't go wrong either way and I think it is a wonderful option to have for brides to choose their ceremony view.

INTERIOR

Venue3Two's interior is beautifully, minimalist styled with plenty of light. Windows are everywhere and it is one of the first things I noticed about the venue when I entered the interior. I also quite liked the earth toned contrast between the dark woods, cream walls, and gold features/lighting.

RECEPTION LOCATION

Receptions are held in the Conservatory - the most recent addition to the property. It's spacious and well lit and even has a grand piano on location for bands to use! It's a clean, blank canvas of a location to craft a reception and offers large window views to keep you connected to Michigan's nature.

BRIDAL PREP AND GROOM GETTING READY ROOMS

Venue3Two offers a large bridal prep room, indcluding a smaller attached staging room, and a groom getting ready room equipped with comfortable furniture and fantastic light! Again...I can't stress just how critical good light is for wedding day getting ready photographs.

Attached prep rooms and groom getting ready suite.

The venue even includes a cozy bridal prep hair/makeup studio! That way your entire wedding day can be completed start to finish in one location.

PREP KITCHEN

One of the showstoppers for this Grand Rapids wedding venue is its massive and well lit kitchen. It serves as a cocktail hour location, staging area for food services and a great option for a desert bar later in the evening. I want to live in this massive kitchen!

MORE INFO ABOUT GRAND RAPIDS WEDDING VENUE VENUE3TWO

Click here for more information about Venue3Two

HOLLAND MICHIGAN AND DOWNTOWN GRAND RAPIDS

I had an opportunity to explore downtown Holland on my own before Emily and I reconveined for a burger pick-me-up in downtown Grand Rapids, before heading on to our next destination.

Ann Arbor's Best Wedding Venues

Ann Arbor was the bridge between our western michigan venue tour and detroit. We stopped in Ann Arbor for a quick exploration of downtown before heading to one of the more unique, destination event and wedding venues in all of Michigan.

ZINGERMAN CORNMAN'S FARM

Zingerman is another example of a well-intentioned wedding venue. It pitches itself as a wedding venue and culinary destination and it certainly backs up it's claims. The venue states that the culinary experience is the heart of the venue. I absolutely adore this. It puts intention behind the event and makes the space so much more than a blank space for a wedding venue. The venue becomes such an integral part of the experience. Food is a wonderful conversation starter and such a strong unifier in any culture, and I can't imagine a better focal point for the reception atmoshphere of a wedding than some tastefully curated, chef prepared cuisine. Chef Kieron Hales grew up working in Michelin Star restaurants in England bringing family recipes and heritage to central Michigan along with a farm to table mentality that can be experienced and view through the wedding venue's fruitful gardens. I typically lead these blog posts with an image of the venue facade, but thought it fit for this Ann Arbor Wedding Venue to lead with the gardens that produe so much of the flavors that make this place so special.

The exterior of the building is inviting as any farm house should be.

You are greeted at the front entrance by fresh herbs and local craftsmandship and I can't think of a better way to set the tone for your wedding experience at this farmhouse venue.

Since I started my photography career, I have fallen in love with the barn/farm aesthetic. Its something I didn't know I missed until I left my childhood home of Ohio. I spend the cooler months in Charleston, SC before returning north to spend my summer in Michigan and everytime I make that drive I fall in love with red barns and golden grass fields all over again.

CEREMONY LOCATION

The ceremony location is situated at the front of the house where the front porch greets in traditional farmhouse comforst. Plenty of shade is offered from nearby trees and distant fields of golden grass and red farmhouses make this a rustic, yet authentically comfortable backdrop for your wedding ceremony. It makes you want to get married here then just have a sit in the rockers and listen to the sounds of nature.

INTERIOR

The interior stays true to the warm, farmhouse aesthetic of the Central Michigan wedding venue's exterior. My favorite feature of the house was this cozy, intimate dinner room perfect for family celebrations, rehearsal dinner's and micro-weddings and elopements.

Of course, it has a true chef's kitchen where guests can watch the magic happen.

As always...self portraits and a matching hat

Upsairs features a bridal prep suite, catering to the truly all-inclusive nature of this intimate wedding venue.

This mural in one of the upstairs rooms was a show stopper...I had to stop through twice to take photos of it's old world charm.

RECEPTION LOCATION

Receptions are held in the large barn. The barn retains the original structure with some modern finishings and upgrades to the faceade, prep kitchen and strucutre. The downstairs to the barn is used as a cocktail hour retreat while the upstairs is a rustic blank canvas to craft your dream wedding reception. Importantly, the venue features an elevator so it is accessible to the handicapped and elderly!

MORE INFORMATION ON ANN ARBOR WEDDING VENUE ZINGERMAN CORNMAN'S FARM

Click here for more information about Zingerman's Cornman Farm

Metro Detroit's Best Wedding Venues

I've never been to detroit before. I've spoken with people that grew up there and they raved about the culture and the rich history. We all know recent narative surrounding Detroit and the poverty that has surrounded the crashing of the auto industry, but I was excited to see the city for myself and form my own unbiased opinion. I thrive on unique, stylish clients and weddings and I was excited for the Detroit wedding market as it could be the city to provide just that!

DOWNTOWN DETROIT

Detroit stood out to me for one reason...the architecture. Genuinely, it is some of the most beautiful architecture I have ever seen. The mid century styling and mixing of bronze metals and intricate stone work was awe-inspiring. I took more photographs here than any other city I visited. We only had the chance to tour the city, just long enough to grab coffee and do a quick lap, but it will be a destination I quickly return to...plenty of film in hand.

The towering GM building was certainly a sign of more profitable times. Having seen the city in it's state of poverty, I would have love to have seen it during its heyday. Hopefully, moving forward it will regain its old glory...this time more inclusive to all of the cultures that make up its diverse population.

The city architecture is such a beautiful mix of warm earth tones and cool blue reflections from the windows and sky.

THE WAR MEMORIAL - GROSSE POINT

The War Memorial was our first Detroit wedding venue stop, located in the afluent suburb of Metro Detroit - Grosse Point. The stone facade of the building welcomes you at the end of a long stretch of stone road, lined with trees and golden yellow florals. At the end is a roundabout with a Italian Renaissance style mansion that was constructed in 1910. Soon after the passing of the original owner, the home was donated as a community arts center and memorial to the Gross Pointe community that served in the world wars. It has remained in this state ever since, serving as a gathering place for ideas, arts, community and rememberance - yet another Michigan wedding venue that serves a greater purpose. It has remained a constant theme on this trip that these beautiful venues exist to celebrate something beyond marriage, using the revenue from weddings to further its charitable goals. I find this all quite romantic and love that these wedding venues in Michigan stand for something greater.

Yellow is my favorite color to photograph and I was instantly captivated by the landscaping welcoming you into the venue.

The architecture and the light shining through it...

FRONT GARDENS

My second favorite feature of this venue was the landscaping. The family hired a landscape architect to design the gardens while the house was being designed and it clearly shows. The gardens in the front of the house, shown below, offer so many portrait locations for your bride and groom portraits on your michigan wedding day.

OUTDOOR CEREMONY LOCATION AND REAR GARDENS

If you love being on the water, then I truly can't imagine a more beautiful wedding venue. The back lawn serves as an outdoor ceremony location and cocktail hour for your detroit wedding. Being so close to the water was certainly a highlight of the War Memorial and made it quickly skyrocket to the top tier of my best Michigan wedding venues list.

Just as much care and attention to detail went into the rear gardens and landscaping as did the front. It's a wonderful location for portraits and for guests to enoy themselves during cocktail hour.

It even has a cute balcony for some Romeo and Juliet inspired romantic gestures.

INTERIOR

The bridal suite at the War Memorial was well styled, and beautifully lit. It's a photographer's dream, with plenty of space for your bridal party and beatufiul furniture and styling to give you album worthy getting ready photos on your Michigan wedding day. The vintage chairs and matching curtains were a standout favorite of mine.

RECEPTION LOCATION

The War Memorial features an indoors wedding reception venue that overlooks the water. It's quite spacious and can easily accomodate your 200-300 person wedding making it one of few venues in the metro-detroit wedding market that can accomodate this size.

LIBRARY AND WOODWORKING

I am going to jump straight to my favorite feature/room of the wedding venue - the library. Looking at the photographs now, I am still in awe of the styling and lighting of this library. From the intage book lined shelves, to the brass clad ceiling tiles, to the inlaid wood details on the early century credenza - I was in awe everywhere I turned. If this venue didn't stand out as a favorite wedding venue in Michigan before, it certainly did now. I could take the most romantic and timeless bride and groom portraits in this room. If you are imaginging your dress draped across that herringbone wood floor with golden light reflecting off the woodwork just like I am, please get it touch and let's get to planning.

Contact Metro Detroit Wedding Photographer - Brian D Smith Photography

The ceiling tiles will give you a sore neck. I was looking up for a significat portion of the wedding venue tour.

The art-deco and italian renaissance styled lighting fixtures and door accents were another personal favorite of both Emily and I.

Window light is always the best light.

Since I can't live here...please, at least let me photograph your metro detroit wedding here.

Last but not least was this naval inspired staging area / groomsmen getting ready area located in the lower level of the wedding venue property. It's a nice, cool spot for the groomsmen to relax while the bridal party is getting prepped on those hot summer michigan wedding weekends.

The architecture in the War Memorial house, specifically the woodworking, and it's waterfront location made it a standout hit for the Michigan wedding venue market. It's easily one of the prettiest homes I've ever been in and the architecture provides a high-end, romantic feel for your wedding day portraiture. The gardens and landscaping was the other standout for the detroit wedding venue, featuring ample portrait spots all in close proximity. This is the photographer's dream.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ONE OF METRO DETROIT'S BEST WEDDING VENUES PLEASE VISIT THEIR WEBSITE BELOW

Click here for more information on the War Memorial in Grosse Point

MEADOWBROOK HALL

Our second Metro Detroit wedding venue stop was Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester Hills. What first strikes you about Meadow Brook Hall is its sheer size. The home is one of the largest in the country, constructed between 1926 and 1929 by Matilda Dodge Wilson, originally for her late husband and Detroit auto industry pioneer, John Dodge. You enter the estate either from a large brick road with a small museum exhibit dedicated to early Dodge automobiles or by crossing a bridge and exiting into a roundabout at the home's grand entrance - my personal favorite entrance to the property.

The alternate, rear entrance to the property provides a stunning glimpse into the stonework of the property's facade.

CEREMONY LOCATION

The ceremony location was my favorite view at this metro detroit wedding venue. It had plenty of space to accomodate 200-300+ guests and multiple directions for staging your ceremony depending on the view you wanted. Personally, I love the view of the home with the gardens on your left and the spacious lawn and treeline to the right.

The alternate perspective looks onto the a large stone wall and one of the wedding venue's lush gardens. The bride emerges from a large, vintage wooden door for a grand entrance to your Michigan wedding ceremony.

GARDENS

The majority of the estate's gardens are located dat the rear of the property and are cared for by an entirely volunteer staff. I loved that the community cared so much to keep this historic landmark operating and in beautiful condition that they would volunteer their time and efforts to tend the gardens. I think this is a very romantic sentiment to get married alongside.

WEDDING RECEPTION LOCATION

One of the most appealing features of the property is a permanently installed tent, capable of seating all of your guests for your 300+ person Michigan wedding party. The tent's interior and ceiling are draped and the sides open up to reveal the property's gardens on those beautiful Michigan summer days.

WEDDING VENUE INTERIOR

The interior serves, largely, as a museum to the original condition of the house and the Legacy of Matilda's design and the Dodge family name. Most locations are open for the guests to mingle and awe in the intense detail put into every inch of the house. Look at that ceiling work in the home's main corridor.

The plaster ceiling in the main dining room was my favorite architectural detail in the entire home. Meadow Brook Hall even hosts dinners at the original dining table!

The sun room / breakfast nook featured warmer styling and themes from Matilda's travels which are reflected in numerous other architectural elements throughout this Detroit Michigan wedding venue.

What makes this estate one of Metro Detroit's best wedding venues, if not certainly one of the best in Michigan and perhaps the country is a simple vision. Imagine rolling up in a limousine or vintage car, circling the roundabout and exiting out dressed in your wedding dress to this grand exterior view. You'll be in awe, just as much as your guests.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT METRO DETROIT WEDDING VENUE MEADOW BROOK HALL

Click here for more information about Michigan Wedding Venue Meadow Brook Hall

Best Northern Michigan Wedding Venues

Northern Michigan is where I reside when I spend my Summer's here as a Michigan wedding photographer. Between me living in Northern Michigan, Emily living in Grand Rapids, and her growing up in Metro Detroit, we have the entire state covered. Northern Michigan is known for its lakes, wineries, countryside and nature. The 3 wedding venues we visited on this leg of the trip cover that gamut perfectly, showing you the best of what a Northern Michigan wedding venue has to offer.

AURORA CELLARS

I was already familiar with Aurora cellars, having visited the property once before for a wedding, a venue tour, and to enjoy the winery. I wanted to include this on the tour of Michigan's best wedding venues because I knew it was one Emily should experience and I wanted the chance to approach the property from a different, more documentary style perspective. The feeling I left with was this - there isn't a bad angle to this property. Every direction you turn, is a beautiful feature, texture, color. It feels like you are on a quaint farm, at a winery, and in the middle of nature all at the same time. The entrance to the venue sets the tone with pink floral adorned arches and a colorful row of shrubs, as guests gaze out into the winery vines on the right.

WEDDING CEREMONY LOCATION

The showstopper and reason most people are won over by this property is the ceremony location. Just steps from the wedding venue entrance is one of the largest willow trees I have ever seen. Not only is it a dream ceremony backdrop, but a dream location for your couples portraits for your Northern Michigan wedding.

EXTERIOR FARMHOUSE AND GREENSPACE

The property features a cute, refinished farmhouse / guesthouse where the bridal party can get ready and even stay the weekend on the property. It's fully furnished on the interior and serves as a cocktail hour bar before your wedding reception.

WEDDING RECEPTION LOCATION

As a lot of my favorite venues seem to have, Aurora Cellars features a permanent, concrete pad, tent installation so you never have to worry about rain washing out your Northern Michigan wedding day.

Aurora Cellars even takes it a step further and provides farmhouse tables for seating of guests during dinner.

FARMHOUSE INTERIOR AND BRIDAL PREP ROOM

The interior of the farmhouse / guesthouse has a fully functioning kitchen, guest bedrooms and a large masterbedroom for wedding couples and bridal getting ready. The bridal party can also use the downstairs living room as a prep/ hangout area. it features lots of space and a ton of available light - perfect for those dreamy getting ready photographs with your bridesmaids.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BEST NORTHERN MICHIGAN WEDDING VENUE AURORA CELLARS

Aurora Cellars is certainly a standout in the Northern Michigan wedd venue market, but definitively a favorite in the Traverse City / Leelanau County area.

Click here for more information about Aurora Cellars Weddings

FOUNTAIN POINT RESORT

Fountain Point is unique as a Michigan Wedding Venue in that it serves as a family vacation resort. Nestled along Lake Leelanau, this venue has a very communal feel, and an inviting atmosphere for wedding couples and out of town guests. Guests can even stay on the property and it is highly encouraged to rent out the entire venue and stay in one of the main house's vintage styled guest rooms or one of the cottages on the property's grounds. Fountain Point feels like Northern Michigan feels to me. It feels like my lake house that I grew up spending my summer's at. It feels like family, and for this reason it makes the list of best Northern Michigan wedding venues.

The exterior is reminiscent of a summer cottage and vintage Inn that Northern Michigan's lakesides are known for.

The inn features a spacious wrap around porch where guests can enjoy the beautiful Northern Michigan sunsets on your wedding day, or you can sip coffee with your significant other or bridal party on your destination wedding weekend.

The famous fountain that provides the resort with its historic name.

FOUNTAIN POINT RESORT INN

The inn has plenty of space for guests to hang out and relax on your wedding weekend and guest bedrooms upstairs so that your close friends and family can stay on the property.

GUEST COTTAGES FOR DESTINATION WEDDING WEEKEND

The guest cottages located on the wedding venue grounds offer your close friends and family the opportunity to partake in the traditional Northern Michigan lake cottage experience.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FOUNTAIN POINT RESORT - NORTHERN MICHIGAN WEDDING VENUE

Fountain Point Resort offers one of Northern Michigan's few, truly waterfront wedding venue experiences and the communal atmosphere is certainly unlike any other I have visited on my tour of best Michigan wedding venues. All I can say is that it feels like the best of the Northern Michigan experience.

Click here for more information about Fountain Point Resort Weddings

NATURE - A MICHIGAN RETREAT

"Unique and Thoughtfully Intentioned" - This is my overall impression of Nature Michigan as a place, as a wedding venue, as a destination and as an experience. From the onset, my experience touring this Northern Michigan Wedding venue was unlike any other, largely because the venue is unlike any other, but mostly because of the owner's hospitality. Bryan purchased the blank slate property alongside his wife Emma where they built a venue, an experience, and a home from the ground up. Bryan spent hours showing us around the property and I am grateful for the time he took (on his birthday!) to show us around the property and communicate every inch of intention that he placed into the design and conceptualization of this Michigan wedding venue. His beliefs, passion for nature, love of danish design, and care for the journey of human life come through in his speech, but equally so in the venue itself. This is something that made the venue so special to me. He had a vision for his own life and expressed that, passionately, in a place to begin yours.

You can't help but notice a vintage Volkswagen camper van when you show up anywhere...little did I know, this would be our tour guide for the day. As a lover of old automobiles, I was thrilled.

Bryan toured us around the vast property, pointing out every meaningful detail of the wedding venue. Exploring the grounds, you truly do feel like you are in nature, and I found it to be such a unique experience in a wedding venue.

Guests can stay on the property at one of the 'glamping' tent locations or at one of the blank tent plots for a truly unique, destination wedding weekend experience.

CEREMONY LOCATIONS

Nature features several ceremony locations, all of them outdoors, all of them connected to the beauty of nature in Northern Michigan. 3 of the wedding ceremony locations are breaks in the trees atop hills on the property. What I found inspiring about these locations, some of them dark sky certified, was their feeling of peace. I couldn't hear a thing aside from the rustling of the trees or the singing of birds. If you love nature, as a couple planning to get married, I think this is should definitely be considered as a ceremony location for your summer or winter michigan wedding. Older guests will have to be shuttled up, but Bryan has options for transportation services.

The lower ceremony location is situated at the rear of the reception building, and features an equally beautiful and peaceful backdrop. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the locations and I'm certain Bryan would be happy to talk you through the decision.

WEDDING RECEPTION LOCATION

Wedding receptions are held in the building that sits at the main entrance to the property. It features a prep kitchen space, bathrooms for getting ready and guests, a yoga room, and plenty of beautiful natural light. Bryan spoke to Emily and I about the intention that went into the direction of the building and the angles of the windows relative to the sun to provide optimal light and view of the surrounding nature. Its these thoughtfulm details that make this venue so special. Plus, a wedding planner can't go wrong with a beaufitul blank slate wedding reception venue with plenty of natural light.

The thoughful touches continue into every corner of this Northern Michigan wedding venue including a cocktail hour bar installation and one of the worlds most efficient wood stoves.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NORTHERN MICHIGAN WEDDING VENUE - NATURE A MICHIGAN RETREAT

Nature was the perfect venue to cap my tour of Michigan's best wedding venues, and will certainly sit at or near the top as one of my favorites of the tour. I'm certain that future brides and grooms will love Bryan's enthusiasm and intent just as much as Emily and I did, and connect with the overall experience that Nature offers as a wedding ceremony location, reception space, and destination wedding weekend getaway in Northern Michigan. Plus, it was the only wedding venue on the trip that I left with homework, a renowned must read book on storytelling in cinematography, and I think that's hella cool.

Click here for more information about Nature - A Michigan Retreat

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FROM BRIAN D SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

If you are inspired by what you read, I'd love to invite you to reach out about the wedding photography services I offer. My guarantee is that you won't find a photographer that cares more about you and your story than I. I'm endlessly passionate about telling stories on film and pushing the boundaries of art in wedding photography. I'd be thrilled to work for you and document your wedding and tell your unique story with an artful eye. I celebrate all couples, LGBTQ and straight. I celebrate all races and backgrounds, and there isn't a soul in this world that doesn't have an inspiring story to be told.

If you'd like more info about this post, would just like to chat, or are ready to book, reach out to me by visiting my contact page here!

Contact Brian D Smith Photography

FROM CONNOLLY HOUSE EVENTS

Contact Emily from Connolly House Events
Fashion Photography Editorial on a Single Roll of Black and White Film2020-06-14T18:01:40+00:002020-08-06T17:29:36+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/fashion-photography-editorial-on-a-single-roll-of-black-and-white-film/
About the Charleston SC Fashion Editorial

This fashion editorial was shot with my good friend, Glennon in bright high noon sun in Charleston South Carolina. Glennon paired a light blush blazer with some linen slacks for a formal, yet summer casual outfit. I shot most of the shoot on digital but ran through 1 roll of Kodak Trix 400 film with my Hasselblad. It's pretty rare that I get 12 successful images out of a roll of medium format film but every single one of these fashion portraits came out great, and really fit the vibe of the editorial well.

Film Photography Equipment Used

I used a single roll of Kodak Trix medium format film rated at 400 in my Hasselblad 202fa and 110mm F2 lens. This is my favorite portrait setup and works quite well for fashion, when shooting at slightly higher apertures. Most of these were shot at F5.6 or higher because of the high noon sun and bright reflections off the concrete. The camera has a top shutter speed of 1/1000s, so it can't quite keep up with the bright sun for shooting wide open. I also knew I didn't want to overexpose the film as I tend to prefer even exposure or underexposure in fashion photography.

Why Film For Fashion Editorial Photography

Black and white film handles bright sun so well and is so forgiving for over and under exposure, making it the perfect medium for shooting in high noon sun, where the slightest change in angle can have a great influence on the shadows or highlights of an image. If film is underexposed in camera or developing, it is brought up to even exposure in scanning and the result is a slightly flatter image, that is still really beautiful and even sometimes preferred. You can see this effect in the banner image where I was shooting into the sun and it washed out the exposure a little bit and crushed the blacks of the image. I prefer to shoot film for all of my work. I like the process of it and feel like I get a higher percetage of good images. It isn't always the best option, but when you want a standout, killer portrait you can't beat film - especially black and white for fashion photography.

Learn more about Brian D Smith Charleston Editorial Photography

Brian D Smith Photography Creative and Editorial Portrait Information

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If you are inspired by what you read, I'd love to invite you to reach out about the photography services I offer. My guarantee is that you won't find a photographer that cares more about you and your story than I. I'm endlessly passionate about telling stories on film and pushing the boundaries of art in editorial and portrait photography. I'd be thrilled to work for you and document your story, wedding or business in Charleston South Carolina, Northern Michigan, or any destination abroad.

If you'd like more info about this post, would just like to chat, or are ready to book, reach out to me by visiting my contact page here!

Contact Charleston Editorial Photographer Brian D Smith Photography
Portraits with One Roll of Kodak Tmax 400 and a Hasselblad 202FA2020-06-12T12:34:20+00:002020-08-07T03:00:29+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/portraits-with-one-roll-of-kodak-tmax-400-and-a-hasselblad-202fa/
About the Film Portrait Photography Shoot

I shot most of this backyar portrait shoot on digital and in color, but I wanted to practice my black and white film developing so I shot two rolls of black and white film. This is actually the lab develope roll, and I am waiting to develop the other roll to compare! These 12 images are all from a single roll of film. I would be hard pressed to say I have ever had a more successful roll of film. All 12 portraits came out beautifully, some amazingly so, I think. Exposure is spot on and with the exception of 1 focus was nailed on every shot...which is pretty rare for me when using the Hasselblad if I am being honest.

Equipment Used for the Film Portraits

I used my favorite portrait camera and lens for this shoot - Hasselblad 202FA and 110mm F2. Honestly, the camera is pretty new to me, and while I have liked the results in the past, these are the images that made me fall in love with the camera. Each film portrait was shot at F2. The film was Kodak Tmax 400 medium format film and developed/scanned by Photovision Prints

Why Kodak Tmax 400?

I have always been pretty loyal to Kodak Trix 400 but recently saw a Tmax 400 medium format portrait that left me in awe. I decided to try the film stock out for myself. Until this point, I haven't really developed a strong preference for it over trusty old Trix. I love everything about the way the film stock rendered in these images. The contrast is beautiful, but Tmax seems to have this softer quality about the way shadows transtition to midtones. It gives the film more of a "quintessentially" large format look, in my oppinion...which, let's be honest, is the real reason to shoot at F2. The images are almost creamy, the contrast transitions are so smooth. I think I just fell in love with Tmax.

Bokeh and Rendering of the Hasselblad 110mm F2 Lens

This lens is so smooth and still plenty sharp at F2. Honestly, its breathtaking and is by far my favorite lens that I have used to date...maybe besides my Leica 50mm Summilux.

Learn more about Brian D Smith Portrait Photography

Brian D Smith Photography Portrait Portfolio and Information

~~ ~~

If you are inspired by what you read, I'd love to invite you to reach out about the photography services I offer. My guarantee is that you won't find a photographer that cares more about you and your story than I. I'm endlessly passionate about telling stories on film and pushing the boundaries of art in editorial and portrait photography. I'd be thrilled to work for you and document your story, wedding or business in Charleston South Carolina, Northern Michigan, or any destination abroad.

If you'd like more info about this post, would just like to chat, or are ready to book, reach out to me by visiting my contact page here!

Contact Portrait Photographer Brian D Smith Photography
Photographing The Ring Road on Iceland with 35mm and Medium Format Film2020-05-12T21:14:21+00:002020-08-07T00:30:37+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/photographing-the-ring-road-on-iceland-with-35mm-and-medium-format-film/
About My Travels Through Iceland - The Earth's Other Planet

My trip to Iceland was scheduled as a result of a clever layover on the way back from a trip through continental Scandanavia. As a professional photographer, and an avid user of instagram, I'd clearly seen a my fare share of Iceland images. It almost seemed like a foregone conclusion that it was a place I'd soon visit. Iceland was the last leg of a 4 week solo trip, and what was the third travel adventure I'd took part in since I left my engineering career behind and dedicated my life to photography.

I rented the smallest rental car I could find, which turns out was a bit sketchy at times, and drove around the entirety of the ring road in search of amazing views and all of Iceland's must sees. The car was a Hyundai i10, and to be honest...I loved it. Iceland is the windiest country in the world (no trees!) and there were times where I was driving around and a gust of wind would nearly knock the car across the road. I drove through 6 inches of snow on some lightly studded tires and climbed and descended icy hills and roads. I white knuckled the entire trip. Honestly, I was genuinely scared at times. I think that's what makes travel experiences so beautiful, though. - the discomfort to reach the reward. All that being said, if you plan to drive around the country rent a bigger car!

What time of year is best to visit iceland?

I traveled to Iceland during the early part of Novemeber 2017. Although, it was beautiful and there is just something magical about that low horizon light, I probably wouldn't recommend November as my top month to travel to Iceland. The southern part of the country was beautiful...I mean beautiful! The light was golden and the snow was at a pleasing level, leaving some of Iceland's beautiful colors exposed. Novemeber, however, drenched the north in snow and most of the roads were shut down or too snowed in to traverse. The other downside of Iceland in November was that the sunlight was only available from 10am to 4pm. When you plan on driving around the entire country in a week, that doesn't lead to a lot of time to plan your destinations around otpimal light. Luckily, november light in Iceland is always beautiful, any time of the day.

The above image of Kirkjufell was shot at around noon and the light was managable reflecting off the snow.

What film gear did I bring to photograph Iceland?

Iceland was my last ever trip that I brought along a digital camera. You might notice that all the images, save for 1 or 2 are film shots. I just prefer the look of film, the process of film and I don't particularly enjoy editing travel photos the second I get home. It's such a thrill to relive the moments when you get film scans back a few weeks later. For this trip I brought along my Fujifilm gf670 medium format, folding film rangefinder, my canon F1n (my first ever 35mm camera) with canon FD 50mm F1.4 lens and my Fuji XT2 with the 16mm F1.4. The XT2 is a lovely travel camera, but I just couldn't fall in love with it and sold it not too long after the trip.

The Fuji GF670 is an amazing camera. It was a grail camera for me - a dream. I bought it as a gift to myself when I left my engineering career to pursue photography. I think it is the best medium format film camera for travel. It's not light, but it's so compact, versatile in that it can shoot 6x6 and 6x7 and it has the brightest and best rangefinder I have ever used. If you pack light like I do, you won't ever find a better medium format camera for travel. I'm writing a review of the camera and will post it hear when I do.

My canon F1N was my first 35mm film camera and something essential in my journey as a film photographer. It's beautiful, built like a tank, and I still have it to this day. It has been replaced in my daily lineup for various reasons, but the camera just never let me down and the canon FD lenses are cheap and excellent. It's also a heavy beast and maybe not the best 35mm film camera for travel. There are certainly lighter options. Today, I opt for a Leica M-A and Contax T3 duo to travel with.

What film stocks did I shoot

I brought along a few different types of film for this trip - moreso than I usually do because this trip ws at the beginning of my film photography journey and I was still experimenting. For medium format film, I brought along Kodak Portra 400, Kodak Tri-x 400 and Ilford Pan F 50 120 film. I shot all medium format film at box speed except for 1 roll that I pushed 1 stop. This actually turned out to be my 2nd favorite roll of the trip.

For 35mm film, I brought along Kodak Portra 800, Kodak Portra 400 and Tri-x 400. Kodak portra 400 was shot at 200, Portra 800 at 800 and the roll of tri-x was shot at 1600, pushed 2 stops - and it was freaking brilliant. My favorite roll of the trip ended up being a roll of portra 800 35mm film. At the time I got scans back, I didn't really fall in love with it, but years later they are my favorite travel photographs ever. Something about the grain and deep contrast just gave the country some grit and soul.

Where did I stay when I backpacked through Iceland?

I stayed in Hostels and a few airbnbs the entire time I was in Iceland. Lodging was limited in the colder months, so do try and book everything in advance. This is typically opposed to the way i normall travel, as I don't like to plan, but it all ended up working out quite well.

Learn more about Brian D Smith Photography

Brian D Smith Photography Portfolio and Information

~~ ~~

If you are inspired by what you read, I'd love to invite you to reach out about the photography services I offer. My guarantee is that you won't find a photographer that cares more about you and your story than I. I'm endlessly passionate about telling stories on film and pushing the boundaries of art in editorial and portrait photography. I'd be thrilled to work for you and document your story, wedding or business in Charleston South Carolina, Northern Michigan, or any destination abroad.

If you'd like more info about this post, would just like to chat, or are ready to book, reach out to me by visiting my contact page here!

Contact Film Photographer Brian D Smith Photography

My Iceland trip on 35mm film and medium format film

Leica 50mm Summilux vs Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.4 ZF.2 - 50mm Lens Fashion Shootout2020-04-12T22:14:11+00:002020-08-07T05:30:03+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/leica-50mm-summilux-vs-nikon-zeiss-planar-50mm-zf2/

I have two primary 35mm film cameras that I use for my personal and professional work as a wedding and portrait photographer. Like many others, I always struggle with deciding which camera to bring along for a photo shoot. So, I figured I would put both lenses to the test on a portrait fashion photography shoot on 35mm film to see what the strengths and weaknesses of each 50mm lens was. I chose an old jail building in downtown Charleston South Carolina as my backdrop for the 50mm lens shootout.

35mm Camera Gear Used

The first camera was a Nikon FM3a 35mm film camera with the Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.4 Planar ZF.2 lens, paired with Kodak Gold 200 film and one roll of Portra 800 film. The second camera was a Leica m-a 35mm film camera with the Leica Summilux F1.4 asph lens (version with the telescoping lens hood) paired with Kodak Gold 200. The film was developed by Photovision Prints

NOTE: Both lenses in this shoot were always shot at F2 to give a more equal comparison.

Why Do I Shoot the Leica M-A and Nikon FM3a

Before I dive into the review, I just wanted to make a quick note about why I photograph fashion, portraits and weddings with the Nikon FM3a and Leica M-A.

Nikon FM3a 35mm Film Camera

I started out shooting 35mm film on a Canon F1N. I actually ended up buying the FM3a largely to pair it with the Zeiss 50mm Planar in this review. The other reason I wanted the Nikon FM3a was because of it's 1/4000th second max shutter speed and because, as a former engineer, I marveled at it's mechanical perfection. Which leads me to the m-a...

Leica M-A 35mm Film Camera

I purchased the Leica m-a about a year before writing this review. I had a Contax G2 kit that I never thought I would sell. You can read about the camera I sold, here: Brian D Smith Photography Reviews the Contax G2. I decided to sell the G2 because I was always curious to try a leica camera and I could adapt the lenses to my digital camera, thus enabling me to travel light with both digital and film. I purchased the 50mm Summilux F1.4 because I shoot nearly all of my portrait and wedding photographs on a 50mm lens, so I wanted to make sure I got the best 50mm lens for the leica camera. The 50mm Summilux asph would give me the perfect balance between sharpness and soft, contrasty character shot wide open. Let's move on to the lenses and why I decided to purchase each. I'll talk about their strengths, weaknesses, and why I decided to keep both 35mm kits.

Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar ZF.2 Nikon Mount

I purchased this lens after reading a review about how it rendered very similar to the Zeiss Planar 80mm F2 for the Contax 645. I didn't own a Contax 645 yet but as a wedding photographer, I already knew of it's legendary status as the ultimate wedding lens due to it's dreamy, almost surreal rendering. I prefer to shoot 35mm film because of the size and I love the grain and deep shadows, so I decided to purchase the Zeiss 50mm planar for my FM3a. This is the only 50mm lens I own for that kit. I'll keep the summary brief and just let the images do the talking.

Where the Zeiss Planar 50mm lens shines

The zeiss lens is surprisingly sharp when shooting objects in shade or front lighting. It still isn't as sharp as the leica lens, but with it's modern coatings it renders relatively sharp without being clinicly so. Where the zeiss lens really shines on the Nikon FM3a is in angled backlit or diffused backlit situations. This is when you get the images with that characteristically dreamy, soft zeiss planar lens rendering. The below image is the Zeiss planar 50mm F1.4 front lit, with Kodak Portra 800 film. You can see that it is sharp but there is still a certain softness to the way it renders.

Here is the Nikon Zeiss Planar 50 shot backlit. THIS is where this lens shines and why I purchased it. Look how dreamy the skin tones are and that absolutely perfect Bokeh. It's truly an amazing lens and if you are looking for dreamy, backlit portraits, you really can't beat it. Whether you are a wedding photographer, a portrait photographer, or just for personal projects, this lens has a unique character that every photographer should at least try once.

Where the Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.4 ZF.2 falls a bit short

While the lens truly does shine in backlit scnarios, the zeiss planar zf.2 can tend to get washed out if you are too squared up to the sun on a backlit portrait. I know this is a problem with all lenses, but the zeiss planar is particularly prone to getting washed out. The lens can experience this a similar washout when photographing subjects against highly reflective white walls or white boards (think a white linen styling board for wedding photography flat lays and detail styling). This is a flaw of planar lenses in general. It's hard to describe, but all I can describe it as is a highlight bleed. The highlights tend to disolve into the surrounding midtones and create this weird haze affect that I have never seen on any other camera lens. The Zeiss planar 80mm for the contax 645 doesn't suffer from this problem as much because of medium format film's significant dynamic range advantages.

More Examples from the Nikon FM3a and Zeiss Planar 50mm ZF.2 Lens

Leica 50mm Summilux-m F.14 asph Lens

I thought about getting the leica 50mm summicron at first but I decided on the summilux asph instead because I prefer lens character over sharpness and the leica summilux to me has the perfect balance of that. It is sharp wide open, but with a touch of softness and it has this contrast to it's rendering that is nothing short of indescribable. I purchased my copy of the Summilux for my Leica m-a 35mm film camera on a facebook forum for used film photography equipment.

Where the Leica Summilux-m 50mm F1.4 lens shines

The lens shines in nearly every single scenario, whether it be for fashion portraits, wedding photography, studio portraits, front lit, back lit, whatever. It's just an amazing all around lens. My favorite thing about the lens is the contrast and the incredibly flat plane of focus. I've never shot a lens that rendered so much fine contrast incremements, whether on digital or 35mm film. I've never shot a lens that rendered so closely on a 35mm film or digital body to medium format in my life, until I shot the Leica Summilux 50mm mounted to my sony a7iii. Shot at F1.4, wide open, back lit, it renders incredibly similar to the legendary Pentax 67 105mm F2.4 medium format lens. The separation from the flat focal plane and wide contrast tonal range gives it that medium format quality look.

Look how sharp the lens is and how much detail it renders on 35mm film. It's truly remarkable. It's so sharp but the lens has so much character from the contrast rendering that it still has an interesting, and not overly technical look to it like modern lenses.

Where the Leica 50mm Summilux-m F1.4 lens falls short

The lens doesn't really have any significant weaknesses. The only complaint I have, and sometimes I actually like the look, is that it has the strangest flare. The lens flare has a lot of radial lines to it that give it this "fine tooth comb" look. It's strange, and at times gives an image a surreal character, but when you don't want it it's kind of annoying and isn't pleasant for portrait photography. I didn't manage to produce the effect on this shoot as it's a little harder to predict flare on a rangefinder camera like the Leica m-a. You can see in the backlit photo, below, the leica lens retains a bit more sharpness than the Zeiss planar ZF.2.

The only other complaint I have about the lens is that I wish the lens aperture had more diaphram blades. The Leica Summilux 50mm has 9 blades whereas the Zeiss 50mm Planar ZF.2 has 11. This makes the bokeh slightly more pleasing and rounded on the zeiss lens. Notice the Octagonal shaped bokeh to the left of the model's face on the leica lens in the 35mm portrait, below.

More examples of the Leica Summilux-m 50mm F1.4 Lens on 35mm film and Leica m-a

Stuuuuuupid sharp and crisp

so sharp and such good contrast.

Lens Comparison - Leica 50mm Summilux-m F1.4 vs Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar ZF.2 lens

Now onto the part you all want to see. Here is where I share some comparison images of the two lenses, both on 35mm film, photographing the same fashion portrait subject. This should give you a good comparison of the lens character for similar poses and lighting scenarios. If you have any questions about the two lenses and where they differ, feel free to contact me! I love to chat about film camera equipment and my work as a film portrait photographer.

NOTE: ALL LEICA IMAGES ARE ON THE LEFT FOR THE COMPARISONS. NIKON IMAGES ARE ON RIGHT

Front lit, notice the difference in contrast between the two lenses. Keep in mind that these are two separate films in this image. Nikon is kodak portra 800 and leica is kodak gold 200. Still, just notice the contrast difference in the hair...

Notice how well the leica summilux lens handles the bright light reflecting off of the wall behind the subject. The nikon zeiss 50mm planar gets a little washed out in the highlights on the models skin from the strong light reflecting behind her.

Best portrait comparison between the Leica 50m summilux-m vs Nikon Zeiss 50mm Planar ZF.2

This is probably the best and most direct comparison between the two lenses. Remember, the leica summilux lens is on the left. Look how much more contrast is rendered in this backlit scenario. There is more color in the model's skin, more detail and tonal range in the greens and better overall color.

Leica 50mm Summilux-m F1.4 vs Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.4 ZF.2 - Where they both are at their best

Here is an example image showing where both lenses truly shine and are at their best, and the reason I still own both. The leica film image on the left has loads of contrast and sharpness. You could fool me that it wasn't even shot on 35mm film if I didn't look close enough. The zeiss planar lens image on the right shows the beautiful, almost surreal and soft glow that it renders for backlit film portraits. This 50mm lens is incomperable for that dreamy portrait look and is the reason so many wedding photographers have it in their kit. That all being said, it is still a relatively unknown lens in comparison to the leica 50mm summilux-m.

Again...notice the greater micro contrast and detail from the leica lens, but the zeiss 50mm planar has that characteristic warm glow to it.

Conclusion: Which is best - Leica 50mm Summilux or Zeiss Planar F1.4?

If I had to pick one to have as my only lens for the rest of my life, I would pick the leica. The zeiss lens can really render poorly in certain intense backlit scenarios (that I'll review later and update this blog post with) so it makes it a trickier lens to shoot and less versatile. I've never been greatly disappointed getting 35mm film scans back from weddings or portraits with the leica but there have been a few times when I didn't like the results from the Zeiss Planar...on both 35mm film and digital for that matter. For this reason, the leica lens is my trustworthy daily lens. It is remarkably beautiful in it's own right, but moreso it just doesn't let me down.

I will say, however, that if I had to pick one lens to render a surreal, backlit portrait or if I was photographing bridal portraits on film, I would probably reach for the zeiss lens and my nikon fm3a 35mm film camera. If you are careful with your backlighting, you can achieve the most beautiful and soft portraits on film that you have ever seen. I think you should shoot both at some point in your life.

The Nikon/Zeiss lens also wins out on price. You can pick up a used copy of the zeiss planar 50mm in nikon mount for around $450, whereas the Leica 50 Summilux-m goes for about $2500 used.

Which 50mm Lens am I going to keep for 35mm film portraits?

Both. I will likely hold onto both as they are both good at different things. The zeiss planar lens will probably stay permanently mounted to my nikon fm3a, but that camera will be more of a specialty camera on my days as a Charleston Wedding Photographer for when I want dreamy portraits or double exposures - since the leica m-a doesn't allow for this.

Check out my blog tags for more posts where I use each lens and, as always, please email me if you want to chat more. I'm always open to talk film photography, especially when it comes to camera gear and 35mm.

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If you are inspired by what you read, I'd love to invite you to reach out about the photography services I offer. My guarantee is that you won't find a photographer that cares more about you and your story than I. I'm endlessly passionate about telling stories on film and pushing the boundaries of art in wedding and portrait photography. I'd be thrilled to work for you and document your story, wedding or business in Charleston South Carolina, Northern Michigan, or any destination abroad.

If you'd like more info about this post, would just like to chat, or are ready to book, reach out to me by visiting my contact page here!

Contact Brian D Smith Photography

All 50mm Lens Shootout Comparison Images - Leica vs Zeiss
How To - Tips and Tricks for Double Exposures on Film2020-03-19T18:36:27+00:002020-08-07T09:10:32+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/how-to-tips-and-tricks-for-double-exposures-on-film/

This is a how to post with tips and tricks for creating breathtaking double exposures. This blog post is tailored to double exposures on film, but the same ideas apply to digital! The image above was created using a Contax 645 and 80mm F2 and Kodak Portra 160 film rated at ISO 320.

How to rate the film

I almost always rate the film at twice the box iso speed. This means that I rate Portra 400 at 800, because you are exposing the film twice. Therefore exposing the film stock twice rated at ISO 800 gives the same effective exposure as once at ISO 400. 2 underexposed images yield one perfectly exposed image! If you are someone who likes film a bit more overexposed, you may consider rating at ISO 640 or 400. Medium format film has greater lattitude so you can easily overexpose it by 2-3 stops. I tend to prefer my film at box speed when doing single exposures, so rating at twice box speed for double exposures works best for me.

How to compose your double exposure image

The most important thing in composing a double exposure image, besides your subject matter, is the consideration of negative and positive space. For simplicity sake, I break it down into a primary and secondary subject. The primary subject is my portrait, and the secondary subject is my overlaying image.

Considerations for the primary subject

What I am looking for in the primary subject is separation between the backdground and the subject. The easiest way to think about this, to start, is to consider a backlit subject. The strong backlighting creates a blown out highlight around the subject. The secondary, overlay, image thus only appears over the primary subject because the background is blown out highlights. This creates a clearly defined subject, a silhouette, and keeps the double exposure from becoming too distracting.

Considerations for the secondary subject

For my secondary subject, the second exposure, I like to choose something with a lot of texture or a lot of color/contrast. Flowers are perfect for this! They have tons of texture and tons of variation in tonality and color to give you a really dynamic overlay on your subject.

More advanced double exposure techniques

Once you get the hang of the backlit double exposure, you can move on to more advanced techniques. The same principles still apply. The image, below, is a double exposure of a bride in front of a floral backdrop. The primary subject was the bride, and the secondary subject was an exposure of just the backdrop itself. When I composedthis image, I still wanted separation between the subject and the backdrop, but I wanted the secondary image to blend off into the background. This means that I still wanted a difference in light between the subject and background to create separation, but not so much as to create a silhouette. This works in the opposite direction as well. If subject was lit, and the backdrop was nearly black this would mean that the secondary subject would appear significantly clearer on the backdrop than on the subject and could be distracting. For this image, I metered about 1 stop difference between the light hitting the subject and the backdrop. This proved perfect!

The above image won Belle Lumiere Magazine's 2019 Summer Image Contest in the Double Exposure Category

Belle Lumiere Magazine Image Contest Winners

Which image do i shoot first?

I typically shoot the portrait image first because this is most critical in my composition. The composition of the secondary image is often less critical, so I like to get the portrait out of the way, knowing the framing I used for it, then choose the best framing for the secondary image.

How to compose double exposures

For most of my portrait double exposures, I employ the rule of thirds. For example, if I am shooting a portrait, I will place the subjects eyes through the top-third image line. This helps me keep a consistent framing and remember how to best compose the secondary image if it has been a while since I photographed the primary image.

How to expose for double exposures

This all totally depends on your lighting scenario. If you are shooting a heavily backlit subject like in the close up, floral image with the white surrounding above, I like to meter like I would a normal silhouette image. This means that I take a meter reading for the shadows, just like you would for a normal portrait, then I underexpose that by 2-3 stops. This keeps the highlights from being too blown out and means that the subject is darker and more of your secondary image will be able to overlay on top of the dark subject. Keep in mind that all of this is still being done with your meter or camera set to twice the box speed (i.e. ISO 800 for 400 speed film).

I DO NOT recommend doing two heavily backlit exposures as the primary and secondary subject. It usually works to do a backlit portrait subject and something more frontlit for the secondary subject to give it more texture and tonality.

When you are exposing for a frontlit primary subject or a primary subject in diffuse light, just exposure as you normally would for a portrait.

I wrote an article for my trusted film lab, Photovision, on the technique. Check it out for a more detailed depiction of composition in double exposure imagery.

Photovision Prints - Double Exposure Article

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If you are inspired by what you read, I'd love to invite you to reach out about the photography services I offer. My guarantee is that you won't find a photographer that cares more about you and your story than I. I'm endlessly passionate about telling stories on film and pushing the boundaries of art in wedding and portrait photography. I'd be thrilled to work for you and document your story, wedding or business in Charleston South Carolina or any destination abroad.

If you'd like more info about this post, would just like to chat, or are ready to book, reach out to me by visiting my contact page here!

Contact Brian D Smith Photography

Film Double Exposure Examples

How To - Twice Exposed Roll of 35mm Film2020-03-19T16:36:50+00:002020-08-07T04:52:26+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/how-to-twice-exposed-roll-of-35mm-film/

This is a how to guide on shooting an entire roll of 35mm film double exposures by shooting over the entire roll, start to finish, on two separate occasions. It's super unpredictable, but easy to do and a ton of fun. Every image isn't going to be a keeper, but the ones that are will excite you to shoot more. Most of the images in this post, all the black and whites, were from my first ever experiment with this method - shot on Kodak Tri-X 400 35mm film.

All images were made on either Kodak Tri-X 400 35mm film or Kodak Portra 400 35mm film. I recommend having two 35mm cameras for this process, that way there is no rush to finish off a roll. I have a Nikon FM2n that is dedicated to double exposure rolls, allowing me to take my time and still have another 35mm camera to use for daily fork. If you have general questions about double exposures on film and best practices, check out my other blog post on double exposure basics.

Double Exposure How To - Tips and Tricks

Equipment Needed

I recommend having a dedicated 35mm film camera just for double exposures. This allows you to take your time, exposing the roll and carefully selecting the subject matter over a long period of time. This also keeps you from needing to use this camera for other work, and won't cause you to rush through a roll. You'll need a roll of 35mm film - I recommend one of Kodak's 400 speed films like Portra 400 or Tri-X 400 for their flexibility in latitude. You'll get the most consistent results with a high latitude film. The only other thing you'll need is a permanent marker that is visible on the film lead.

The First Exposure - Shoot the Entire Roll of 35mm Film Once Through

Load the 35mm film roll in the camera as you normally would. Set the lead in the takeup spool and advance it one wind lever ONLY. I highly recommend pulling more of the lead out than you normally would because the key is the single advance of the film lever. There will be a bit of excess, but you just wind it back in. Use the rewind crank to pull the film slack back into the canister.

Now mark the film lead, where it leaves the 35mm canister with your permanent marker. Make sure the marking is visible and is not likely to rub off.

Now close the film back as you normally would and advance to the first frame. IMPORTANT: set the camera ISO and/or your light meter's ISO to twice the film's stock speed. For example// with Kodak Portra 400, you rate it at an exposure index of ISO 800. This is because you will be exposing the roll twice. Exposing twice at an ISO of 800 is the same equivalent exposure as exposing once at an ISO of 400.

Tips for the first entire roll exposure

There is no right or wrong way to do this! You can be very calculated about your exposure and subject matter or completely careless and spontaneous. I recommend the first time doing this that you lean more toward being calculated that way you can get a good feel for what worked and didn't work and how exposure, subject matter, and thought process affect the end results.

1. Shoot your secondary subject first. I call this the 'texture' subject. I typically shoot once over to give texture and positive/negative space to the subject, and then the second time over I shoot entirely portraits. Focus on shooting subjects, objects, etc. that have a lot of tonality and texture. Lots of differentiation in highlights and shadows means areas where the film will either show more of the primary subject or less of the primary subject. This results in a much more interesting image.

1a. Let me break it down for you quick. Say you take a photograph of an intense storm cloud at sunset. That cloud is likely to have very dark patches and intense highlights (near whites). When you shoot over that cloud image the second time with, say a portrait, the portrait will show strongly on the dark part of the cloud, but little on the bright part of the cloud. This will be because the highlights of the cloud were already eating up most of the film's dynamic range.

2. Pick a theme! The black and white images, below, were all shot with a theme of 'water'. I shot the entire roll through the first time focusing on water: rain clouds, water droplets, lakes, etc. This gives a consistent theme to the image set and helps you figure out what you do and don't like in a double exposure.

3. Be careful with exposure. Remember that you are wanting the primary subject to show in parts of the image (secondary subject). It won't be a very interesting image if you photograph a very tiny secondary subject in dull light with an entirely black background, because the primary image is going to expose pretty evenly over that image. Look for intense variation in highlights and shadows, and texture in midtones.

Rewinding the film after the entire first roll exposure - IMPORTANT

This is very important. Rewind the film slowly. Most 35mm film cameras have a tendency to rewind the film all the way into the canister when you rewind the film after completion. You'll feel a resitance as you are rewinding and then all of a sudden there will be less resistence and you'll hear a 'slap'. This is the sound of the film leader slapping the inside of the camera backplate. As soon as you hear this, STOP REWINDING. This will ensure the film lead is still visible that way you can load it up again! Don't panic if you screw this up. Head to the troubleshooting section to figure out what to do.

The Second Exposure - Shoot the Entire Roll of 35mm Film Again

Now is time to pick your primary subject for the second go around. I like people, so my primary subject is typically portraiture. Nothing says you have to do primary subject second, but this is just the way I like to operate. It works equally well both ways. Here is why I like to do it this way: I can stockpile rolls of labeled once exposed 35mm films and decide which secondary subject I might want to mix with my portraiture, ex// leaves, weather, architecture, flowers, caligraphy, etc.

Time to load the film again. Insert the film as you did the first time. The goal is to get the sharpie marking on the lead to match up with the edge of the canister as before. It's not the end of the world if it isn't perfect and you can see what happens when it's not in the troubleshooting section. The best way to do it is to pull a little extra out of the canister, get the advance lever set, and then rewind in the extra. If you can't get it to match up close, pull the lead out of the advance real and try again. Keep trying with the takeup spool rotated to different positions until you get it close.

Crank in the excess until the film is taught and the marking matches up with the felt edge of the canister. If it doesn't, try again!

Now close the back and advance to the first frame and you are ready to go! Again, set the camera ISO to 800 (or twice the film stock ISO rating) and/or the same with your external light meter.

Tips for the second entire roll exposure

Same tips, essentially, apply for the second go around!

1. Pick consistent primary subjects. I mentioned before that I like to shoot portraits, so my primary subject is often people. However, mix it up! Shoot as many people as possible as primary subjects in different lighting situations to give you variety. T

2. Vary the lighting. A backlit primary subject means that the secondary subject will overlay only on top of your primary subject. A more evenly lit, front lit, primary subject will result in the secondary subject exposing over your primary subject and the background relatively evenly - think a studio portrait where there is light on the backdrop as well as the subject.

3. Separation is key with portraiture. It works best, and is more interesting if there is a clear separation between your subject and the background. Otherwise the overlapping images will make your subject get lost and sort of bleed into the secondary subject/background.

Troubleshooting - Entire Roll of 35mm Double Exposures

1. You accidentally rewind the entire film lead back into the canister.

You can retrieve it. It takes a few tries, but persist and you'll get it! All you need is a bad roll of 35mm film where the lead is out of the canister. I have an old roll of film dedicated to 'lead retrieval'

Wet about 2 inches of the exposed, bad roll, lead heavily with saliva or water. I find saliva works best as it is a bit stickier. Next you want to insert that lead as far into, at least 2 inches, into the felt opening of the canister with the retracted lead. There will be a lot of resistance. Be gentle and keep your fingers close to the felt opening as to not bend the lead you are trying to insert.

Once you feel it is inserted sufficiently, get ready to pull. Pick up both canisters, one in each hand. Holding the lead of the bad roll, pull on it swiftly away from the good canister. If all works well, the lead will pull out with the lead from the bad canister. Sometimes the lead from the good canister folds over on itself and may get stuck in the felt opening. Just gently use your teeth to grip it and pull it out, being careful not to tear the film. Then unfold the film lead.

2. What does a misaligned 35mm double exposure roll look like?

Don't worry if you can't perfectly align your sharpie mark the second go around. The process will still work. You will just end up with a small black bar, where the scanned negative area was only exposed once because the first and second go-around frames didn't perfectly overlap.

3. What does a perfectly aligned 35mm film double exposure roll look like?

If you were able to align the image perfectly, you'll get even overlap of both the primary and secondary images and you won't have the black bar across your negatives or scans.

4. Tips for scanning twice exposed 35mm film roll of double exposures

Tell your film lab that it is a double exposed roll. When I send mine off, I mention to the lab that my primary subject was a portrait subject and I want them to use their best judgement in aligning the scan so that the subject takes up most of the frame. This isn't an issue if the frames overlap perfectly as in example 3, but if they dont as in example 2, then the lab will have to use judgement on what to scan for.

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If you are inspired by what you read, I'd love to invite you to reach out about the photography services I offer. My guarantee is that you won't find a photographer that cares more about you and your story than I. I'm endlessly passionate about telling stories on film and pushing the boundaries of art in wedding and portrait photography. I'd be thrilled to work for you and document your story, wedding or business in Charleston South Carolina or any destination abroad.

If you'd like more info about this post, would just like to chat, or are ready to book, reach out to me by visiting my contact page here!

Contact Brian D Smith Photography

I hope this helps! Happy shooting.

Studio Model Portraits on Polaroid SX-70 and One Step Plus2019-08-01T15:24:07+00:002020-08-07T09:41:50+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/studio-model-portraits-on-polaroid-sx70-and-one-step-plus/
Studio portraits shot on Polaroid SX-70 and One Step Plus with Polaroid Originals black and white and color film.
Dramatic Hollywood Style Strobe Lighting in Studio2019-08-01T15:19:22+00:002020-08-07T03:51:54+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/dramatic-hollywood-style-strobe-lighting-in-studio/
Dramatic hollywood style studio lighting setups created with a Godox AD600 and AD200 strobes with Wescott 48" octabox and a 26" octabox. Multiple lighting scenarios, all focusing on slimming the face and creating drama with shadows.
Studio Beauty Portraits Using Two Strobes and Grey Seamless2019-08-01T15:13:26+00:002020-08-07T01:51:09+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/studio-beauty-portraits-using-two-strobes-and-grey-seamless/
Studio beauty portraits using two strobes. The key light strobe was used as a large light source to softly define highlights and shadows, then a second fill light with a smaller softbox was used as a highlight fill to add light to specific areas, such as the face
Split Toned Portraiture Using LED and Natural Light in Studio2019-08-01T15:05:11+00:002020-08-07T06:47:59+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/split-toned-portraiture-using-led-and-natural-light-in-studio/
Split toned orange and blue portraits were created using a constant LED light with an orange gel, and natural light coming in from a window to fill the shadows with a blue hue. White balance was set to slightly cooler than the temp of the LED light.
35mm Film Style Natural Light Portraits in Studio2019-08-01T14:49:42+00:002020-08-06T16:09:24+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/35mm-film-style-natural-light-portraits-in-studio/
Emulating the style of 35mm film with a sony A7iii and adapted Canon 50mm 1.2L using natural window light against a grey savage seamless paper backdrop
Creative Motion Portraits in Studio with Riley2019-07-28T20:58:40+00:002020-08-07T04:43:21+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/creative-motion-portraits-in-studio-with-riley/
Motion portraits with Riley Barnett by Bear Lake Michigan studio photographer, Brian D Smith Photography
Variation in Expired Film - Kodak Ektachrome E100SW2019-07-16T16:55:58+00:002020-08-07T01:28:19+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/variation-in-expired-film-kodak-ektachrome-e100sw/
I never had much interest in expired film as I was learning. I didn't want the unpredicatbility of it, but as I began to hone my film photography skills I became intrigued by the grain and grit of expired film. I love grain in photos. I love a bit of crushed contrast and color shifts. 35mm film is my favorite medium for some of these reasons. In the perfect light, 35mm is beautiful. In less controlled conditions, 35mm is a bit unpredicatble and gritty.

I received 2 rolls of 15 year expired Kodak Ektachrome E100SW in an ebay auction for a contax T3 that I purchased. I did a little research on the film and brought a roll along for a bridal shoot I did in a golden grass field. I thought the warmth would bring extra life to the golden ladnscape. This was also only the second time I had ever shot color positive film. The first time was through an old TLR when I was just starting out shooting film. Let's just say the results were terrible. Fast forward to this roll of 15 year expired Kodak E100SW shot through my Canon EOS IV and I was blown away by the results.

The colors were perfect and til this day remain my favorite color palette that I have ever experienced from a roll of film. The tall grass was a beautiful shade of yellow gold, while the greens remained a true to life color. The warmer tone colors, like the red in her hair, seemed to glow with this magnificent shade of orange. Honestly, If I could buy 100 rolls and have them guaranteed to look like this, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Color positive film is a sensitive beast. The colors change slightly depending on the direction of lighting that you are shooting in. Shot side lit and the tones were a bit less vibrant and slightly cooler. Purple/blueish tones could be seen in the highights. All of this is pretty standard for ektachrome film, as I have come to experience.

Again, here we are slightly more side lit and the colors are less vibrant, but still pleasing and beautiful.

Now we take a look at the other side of the expired film coin. What happens when it is less well cared for, when it isn't stored cold or frozen. After getting my 35mm results back, I immediately purchased 20 rolls of medium format 120 E100SW off ebay with unknown storage conditions. I brought 1 roll with me on a trip to the canary islands. This time I wasn't quite so lucky with the end result, but I actually ended up liking the rendering. It had this surreal pink and blue split toning, likely from a fogged base layer of the film. A tiny bit of color correction, mostly reduction in magenta, and the images were beautiful. The below two images were shot on my Fujifilm GF 670 folding rangefinder.

All of these medium medium format, canary islands images were shot metering for highlights -1 stop

See how beautifully surreal the results were! Now, fast forward a few months and I had the idea that the film stock would make a cool portrait series. I loaded up a roll in my Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex TLR and and shot a few portraits of friends, indoors and out. The results this go around were far from pleasing.

The base layer of the film appears to be heavily fogged here. This roll was from the exact same pro-pack as the ladscape shots. In the shot above there is only about 1.5 stops difference between the highlights and shadows. I metered highlights -1 again.

Here is an outdoor shot in late morning sun, front lit.

I hadn't gotten any of the above shots back from the lab before an idea struck me for a shoot that blue and pink tones would be perfect for. I wanted to do a portrait shoot, mimicking the mind of a child and I thought this to be the perfect color pallet for the job. I wanted a slightly surreal result, but was still expecting something closer to the landscape shots than the above two portraits. Here are the results, straight scan and corrected. All metered highlights with 1 stop difference between shadow and highlights.

A bunch of split toning later, and I was able to salvage something closer to what I had originally intended.

I will be hestiant to use this batch of film again, as the magenta tones were just so overpowering to really salvage any decent color rendering. Next time I shoot it, I will do it through one of my more modern cameras. My Zeiss Ikoflex Favorit TLR has never given me indication that the shutter speeds aren't timed perfectly, so I don't want to blame it, but it's possible it was off by a stop. Looking at the negatives and checking with Photovision Prints techs, the images appeared to be overexposed, exacerbating the fogging of the pink base layer. I was quite surprised at how dense black the negatives were, indicating overexposure on color positive film, given that there was only 1 stop difference between shadows and highlights in the studio.

I've got a lot of rolls of this stuff left, so I want to find a use for it. Next time I will expose it slightly less and see what I get. I also have another pro pack, from a different purchase, of E100SW medium format that I am anxious to try. That's the thing with expired film, I suppose...it can be so rewarding and unpredictably beautiful. However, if you are spending so much hard work and time to put together a shoot or capture the right light over a landscape, do you really want to risk it?

This article was also featured on the Shoot It With Film Blog. They've got tons of great film content. Check them out!

Shoot It With Film - Experiments In Shooting Expired Film

Contax T3 First Roll2019-07-16T16:47:10+00:002020-08-07T04:44:26+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/contax-t3-first-roll/
*FIRST ROLL*

My first roll put through a camera that I dreamed about for some time. I have to admit, when I first got my hands on it, I didn't get it. I didn't like the autonomy of it. I didn't like the sloppy framing of it. The more I shoot the camera, the more I appreciate it for what it is best used for. It's a party camera. It's a quick candid camera. Stay tuned for an extended review on the camera, but for now here are the images from my first roll of film through the Contax T3. Shot on Kodak Portra 400 film.

First Roll Hasselblad H12019-07-16T16:39:58+00:002020-08-06T05:15:27+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/first-roll-hasselblad-h1/
*FIRST ROLL*

My first roll of film shot through my Hasselblad H1. All images shot on Kodak Portra 400 film with the 80mm F2.8 lens. I boguht this camera to be my primary wedding film camera.

First Roll Leica M-A2019-07-16T16:29:06+00:002020-08-07T06:34:00+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/first-roll-leica-m-a/
*FIRST ROLL*

Images from the first roll I put through my newly acquired Leica M-A. These images were taken quickly over the course of a day, as I needed to test the camera quickly before I left on a europe trip. Stay tuned for my first impressions blog post on the M-A. All images shot with a Leica Summilux 50mm F1.4

Capturing Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands on Film2019-06-12T16:30:28+00:002020-08-07T06:59:57+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/capturing-gran-canaria-of-the-canary-islands-on-film/
I traveled to Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands as part of a two week Europe trip with a photographer friend and his cousin. We found cheap flights into Amsterdam, then prioritized finding warm destinations with unbelievable hikes and views. Gran Canaria was our first stop of the trip and it did not dissapoint. We hit up four major areas of the island: Las Palmas, Aegete, Tejeda and Maspalomas. I was quite amazed at the intense variety of terrain we encountered on the 3 day excursion.

These images were recently featured on the fabulous film blog: Trendy Bride

Trendy Bride - Gran Canaria On Film

Las Palmas was a surprisginly developed city and far more populated than I had imagined:

Our next stop was the northwest corner of the island and the mountains surrounding the city of Aegete. We stayed more central to the island, for two nights, in a mountaintop hostel. The hostel rooms were built into the rock face, and it proved to be a wonderful escape from the heat.

By far the best view I had of the whole trip was found outside of Tejeda at Roque Nublo

Trip Advisor - Roque Nublo

We were greeted with a surreal mountaintop sunset, high above the clouds, with 360 degree views. We enjoyed summit beers and jammed out to some radiohead that a European couple was so casually listening to over a few glasses of wine and some charcuterie.

We drove south, following the best driving road I have ever been on my life, to the beach town of Maspolomas. Maspolomas is quite touristy, with an abundace of beach resorts, but the sand dunes are worth the trek. In a matter of hours we transitioned from mountaintop views to something fit for a star wars movie.

Trip Advisor - Dunas de Maspalomas

I always travel with film, as I feel that it keeps me more in the moment. I'm not constantly reviewing the last picture I took. I trigger the shutter, and move onto the next scene. I don't spend my nights in the hostel editing photos, but instead enjoy the company of those around me and the nightime views bathed in moonlight glow. Film allows me to relive my memories in slightly unpredicatble glory, weeks later, and is the most amazing gift each and every time I get an email from my lab. My travel kit of choice is the following:

CAMERAS:

Leica M-A + 50mm Summilux F1.4 - Well built, small form factor, and a genuine pleasure to shoot.

Contax T3 - My dedicated black and white 35mm camera. Honestly, why not bring it everywhere. It is small enough to fit in my jeans pocket and it takes unbelievable images

Fuji GF670 Medium Format folding rangefinder - The most portable medium format camera you can buy. It isn't necessarily light, but it folds up and can fit in my jacket pocket. I pull this camera out for the show stopping landscapes

FILMS

Kodak Portra 400 - the do it all, always nails exposure, always produces beautiful colors with just a touch of grain

Kodak Ektar 100 - my favorite landscape film, fine grain, brilliant earth tone colors and blue skies

Kodak Tri X 400 - I rarely see a Tri X image I don't love. It's grainy, it's contrasty, and it has such a timeless and classic bnw rendering

Kodak Ektachrome E100sw - Expired 16 years, medium format E100SW. This was my wild card film. I'd shot it, expired, in 35mm before and it rendered everything with a beautiful warmth. I learned that this film was less properly stored, and it rendered everything various shades of pink and blue. I LOVED the result. It was surreal and otherworldy, and was such a fun surprise.

Contax G2 Black 35mm Rangefinder For Sale2019-03-27T11:24:51+00:002020-08-07T07:10:47+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/contax-g2-black-35mm-film-camera-for-sale/
I'm selling my dream 35mm camera. The Contax G2 in black was a camera I lusted after for years. I came across one by chance when visiting new york and I snatched it up. This camera has been with me on fashion shoots, travel to India, Thailand and New York and been to a few weddings. The autofocus is fast, accurate, and the lenses carry the zeiss name with pride. Alas, I have decided to sell the camera. I am mainly selling because I was intrigued to try a Leica setup and it's lenses adapt so well to my Sony digital body, Sony A7iii, using the Voigtlander VM-E Close Focus adapter. I also aquired a Contax T3, which filled my void for an autofocus, TTL flash 35mm camera. I will likely regret selling the G2, as it does so many things so well, but for now I am going to give the Leica/T3 combination a shot.

SAMPLE IMAGES TAKEN WITH THE G2 on Kodak Gold, Tri-X 400, and Kodak P800

CONTAX G2 KIT DETAIL IMAGES

First Roll - Contax G2 Black 35mm Film Rangefinder2019-02-28T21:11:56+00:002020-08-07T07:38:16+00:00adminhttps://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/author/admin/https://briandsmithphotography.com/blog/first-roll-contax-g2/
*FIRST ROLL*

Ever since I immersed myself in the world of film cameras, the Contax G2 35mm rangefinder in black was a grail camera. It's rare, it has the pedigree of Contax and the devoted love of street photographers everywhere. Some say it was a rich man's point and shoot, with a few more bells and whistles. For those that have used it extensively, it often occupies a permanent spot in their rotation. I had to try it.

I happened upon the camera by chance on a trip to New York - seemingly the only place of existence for these cameras anymore.

Here are the images from my first roll, shot on Kodak Tri X 400 film and developed by The FIND Lab. https://thefindlab.com/

Stay tuned for my full review...