Welcome to LENSEL this week!
Just like that moment you snag a hors d'oeuvre or two during cocktail hour. Needed. Delicious. And leaves you wanting more. Here’s what we are serving up today:

• Hybrid Film Life + Long Film Exposures

• What’s new for wedding photogs in the new Canon R5 mkii

• Insta Inspo of the week

 Alright, let’s jump right in 👇
PS. We are sooo excited to launch Lensel PRO, along with our brand spanking new website, in the coming weeks. A home to celebrate and build the world of wedding photography. Intentionally vague for now, yes. 👀

NEWS

Happening this Week

• 17 Cakes. You read that right. This wedding has 17 wedding cakes. We love the photos too.

• Have you seen Cara? A new social portfolio app that might interest photographers blew up on the internet this week. Check it out here. 

• Lake Como but different. We love a Lake Como wedding, but it’s starting to all look a little…the same. The Ferros however, knocked it out of the park with this fresh view on an iconic place. This is a need to view shoot.

• Football Players and 1.5 Million Likes. Arsenal and German National Team football player, Kai Havertz, married this week and when announced on Instagram, the wedding photos nabbed a whopping 1.5 Million likes in just two days.

• Flash Mount Discussions. As many are keen on shooting flash in portrait mode, here’s a reddit discussion on the perfect vertical flash mount.

• The new Canon R5 mkii is out! Read on below for a breakdown.

FILM

🎞️ Hybrid Techniques

Film is back. Even more back.

And no we know, film never quite went anywhere… Many photographers never gave up the magic of shooting on film. BUT, this 2024 wedding season we are seeing even more photographers start to incorporate film into their wedding days.

Yes, it’s expensive, slow, inconsistent (it actually doesn’t have to be), unknown and did we say expensive?! But when it comes together, there’s nothing like it.

While there are a few who shoot weddings exclusively on film, the majority are shooting HYBRID. Both digital and film.

So what does that look like? ⬇️

The best way to start shooting film with your digital work.
Long time legendary Toronto wedding photographer Jennifer Moher ⬆️ posted this week asking for tips and advice as she begins to start shooting film. There’s a lot of gold in the comments so click on through. And here’s a little summary sprinkled in with some of our own thoughts:

• When you are new to it, shoot film only in slow moments. Don’t bite off too much and try to nab the walk back down the isle on the film at your first hybrid wedding. Stay on the safe side and treat the film shots like a BONUS!

• It’s easy to forget to shoot film at first. Set a timer on your watch or phone to remind you to shoot your film shots.

• Don’t forget spare batteries. In our age of re-chargeables it’s easy to forget that old film cameras need spares too. And sometimes plenty of them.

• Watch your light meter carefully and try to keep your exposures as consistently as you can. If you have part of a roll super over exposed and part under exposed you will make it hard for your lab to develop the roll well.

• Start simple, use a little point and shoot camera like the Olympus Mju ii or similar to get into the film groove before moving onto other slower cameras.

• We are fans of autofocus film cameras for weddings so you can eventually catch quicker moments happening!

• Sometimes if you shoot the same photo on digital, it might be less exciting when you get the scans back. Trust your film shots - eventually.

• 2-3 film rolls on a day doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s actually is when you are only shooting 1-3 frames at a time. Don’t feel pressure to shoot any more rolls than that at the start.

• Stick to one film lab so you can start develop a film style together with your lab, otherwise your film will always be random.

• Once you go start the film journey, there’s no going back!

THIS WILD FILM VIBE
One type of film shot we have noticed a lot of photographers posting recently is a hand held long exposure or slow shutter film shot. Done right, it creates a kind of dreamy, water colour effect. Like ABOVE ⬆️.

There’s a fine and beautiful line between mistake and something amazing here, but we are liking it in the context of a wider gallery. Love madi.pere’s explanation of her thought process here:

“Similar to how I remember important days… the details eventually become blurry but the feeling always remains. “

NEW GEAR

What’s new with the Canon R5 mkii?

The Canon R5 mkii is here!
An update to a camera many wedding photographers have grown to love and swear by: the Canon R5! The R5 is already a hugely capable wedding photography camera and many won’t feel the need to upgrade, however, there are a few key new features that will temp a few of us across the line:

• Better Autofocus: If there is one complaint many had of the the R5, it was sometimes the autofocus. The new ‘stacked’ chip inside allows for newer better autofocus algorithms. Better subject detection. And quicker, more reliable tracking. Even noticing when a subject leaves the frame and re-enters it. Here’s a informative, all -be-it cringy review of Canon’s new autofocus system.

• Eye Tracking Autofocus: Canon have also included eye tracking autofocus that tracks YOUR eye and focuses where you look! Once calibrated properly, this might work for many of you.

• New Battery and Improved Battery Life: The R5 chewed through batteries faster than we are used to from Canon. However, a new high capacity battery has been released to match with the Mkii version. Big plus!! It will also eventually work with older models too with a coming firmware update.

• Better Low-Light Performance: Enhanced low-light performance with nicer ISO handling, reducing noise for those darker receptions.

• Refined Ergonomics: Slight design tweaks for a better hand feel and comfort during long wedding days.

For a full run down of all the new specs that relate to wedding photographers, see this Youtube vid here.

INSPO THIS WEEK

⬇️ These black and whites from Bottega 53 this week are everything.

⬇️ Sticking to the film vibe, this series is stunning. We also LOVE this first double exposure. ART.

⬇️ The minimal compositions here are 👌🏼

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