Next month I will be attending the wedding of a close friend of mine. It's sure to be a blast and while they have hired a pro to cover the event, I really want to take some great pictures. Normally, I would probably cover a wedding using a pretty typical equipment kit. Two DSLR bodies, three or four lenses and a couple of TTL strobes would probably do the trick. But, for this event I have decided to try and do something a little different. First of all, I plan to shoot the entire event in black and white. Second, I plan to use only available light. That's right, no flash whatsoever.

I think I have a few options here. The ideal digital tool for the job would be something along the lines of a Canon 5D MKII, or some other small DSLR that does really great in low light and high ISO. This camera coupled with a fixed, fast lens like the 24 f/1.4 or 35 f/1.4 would be just about all I'd need.

Of course I don't currently have any of this equipment, so I would have to either borrow or rent.

Alternatively, I could try and shoot this event on film using Tmax p3200.  I have used this film plenty of times in the past, and it's really great stuff. The grain is HUGE, but smooth and pleasant, and you can even push it a stop or two if you really need to. Of course, I'd need to acquire a bunch of it ( please tell me Kodak still makes this stuff ) and, I'd need to set up a processing line to get at the images.

One of my all-time favorite films, Kodachrome is officially dead. Announced this morning, Kodak will cease to produce the legendary film, which has been around for some 74 years! I guess those “nice bright colors” just aren’t nice enough anymore.

Kodachrome was certainly one of the first films I really fell in love with. It had such a specific characteristic about it that made it really appealing to me as a budding photographer. At one point I remember reading about a new checmical process that was aimed at bringing Kodachrome back to the fore, but I guess it never panned out--too bad. I will really miss you, Kodachrome.

The gallery at right was created by searching the term “kodachrome” at flickr.com.