Melissa and Bernard’s Wedding with the Sony Alpha System

Over the many years I have been shooting weddings I have been blessed with being trusted by most of the larger camera manufacturers to test their cameras and lenses in actual wedding day situations. In the past I have tested out both of Nikon’s monster 200mm f2.0G and 200-400 F4G lenses, a full Canon5D Mk3 system, Fuji Films Xpro1, the Olympus E1, and for this wedding the Sony Alpha 900. One thing is for sure, it does not matter which system you settle on for your photography as they are all good. Each has its strengths and quirks. There is no best system.

As I was reviewing the photos of Melissa and Bernard’s wedding I realised the Sony Alpha system is very capable. This is largely due to the Alpha systems long and illustrious pedigree, as they were once known as Minolta. Minolta (later known as “Konica Minolta”) was once one of the giants in the Japanese camera industry. They had the first modern autofocus SLR in the market as well as one of the most advanced multi-flash systems. Sony aspired to enter the DSLR business and Minolta was ripe for a take over, so here we are. The A900 has a mostly intuitive control layout due in no small part to its older film camera legacy.  The lenses I used on the A900 for this wedding were the 24mm F2.0 ZA  and the 85mm F1.4 ZA. I usually shoot with two cameras so it was easy to stick with these two primes for the Sony A900, while my Nikon D3 was used with f2.8 zooms. Other cameras used were the 5Dmk2 and 1D Mk4. There was a certain something about how the Sony A900 images came out that I really liked. Can’t quite put my finger on what it was though.

Regarding the wedding: The couple, Melissa and Bernard, had planned the wedding ceremony to be held at St Johns Cathedral in central Kuala Lumpur. Bernard and his family are from Florida so it was a major trip for his family to come all the way out for the wedding, and typical Malaysian hospitality greeted them. Many of the weddings we cover are early in the morning (making for a very long day!) however the wedding ceremony was scheduled for the afternoon, starting at 4:00pm. This alters the lighting in the church as well and it gave quite a different look.

After the wedding ceremony we all went to the Royal Chulan Hotel which is situated in the centre of Kuala Lumpur. The wedding banquet was held in the main ballroom and was a relaxed and intimate dinner. The photos below speak volumes.

Melissa’s Bridal preparations at the Royal Chulan Hotel

Lovely gown detail (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

Melissa’s necklace complemented her wedding gown (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

Pretty flowers make a nice hood ornament on the wedding car as it waits outside St Johns Cathedral (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

The wedding car was a classic! (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

The grooms sister was one of the brides maids (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

Melissa’s final walk as a single woman (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

The boys anxiously wait

The very pretty flower girl

A close up of the wedding rings

St Johns Cathedral wedding ceremony (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

The grooms family coping with the heat prretty well

The wedding kiss. I like the assistants expression.

View of the St Johns Cathedral interior from the left side

View of the St Johns Cathedral interior from the right side

Bernard and Melissa prepare to leave the church (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

The happy bride and groom (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

We’re married! (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

Wedding Portraits were taken at the Royal Chulan Hotel (Sony Alpha 900 with 85mm F1.4 ZA)

Bernard and Melissa’s grand entrance to their wedding banquet at the Royal Chulan dinner

Bernard and Melissa were so happy that evening.

The loving look says it all.

A special daddy-daughter moment

Melissa and Bernard cut their wedding cake

Bernard delivers his speech.

The bride and grooms first dance