Weddings on 35mm film

Analogue coverage of your wedding day

Film photography is back – except it never really went away, just stock became a bit scarce and then it became reaaaally expensive. I actually learnt to shoot using film way back when I was doing my art foundation and have always used it for my personal work, mainly travel photography; working with mostly digital for weddings; but 35mm film photography is really having a moment so what better time to actually start offering it as an add-on to the wonderful couples I work with for weddings.

I love the grain, the distinctive looks you get from certain film stocks, the way it always looks slightly different in different lights, the colour shifts in the shadows and all that other goodness.

So here’s the deal for weddings on 35mm film. Included in all day coverage I’ll shoot a couple of rolls of film throughout the day and deliver scans that you can print up to A4 size with your digital wedding images. I’ll guarantee that you’ll receive at least 72 images if your wedding is from March – October – that’s two full rolls of analogue wedding goodness. I’ll choose the film stocks depending on the kind of wedding day you’re having – you can let me know if you prefer colour, black and white or a mix (unlike your digital images; this choice is dictated by the film you choose). For winter weddings, film is such a light hungry medium, that means many film stocks won’t get great results, but let’s talk about what we can do for you.

35MM FILM GALLERY

What works well on film

As you can probably tell from the gallery below, it works really well when there’s a little more time to create. So that’s getting ready in the morning, your wedding details and incidental shots and couple shots especially; ceremonies can be a good time too. The more fast paced stuff – moving between venues, bouncing round on routemaster buses and candid, natural photography – is often better suited to digital because it’s more flexible (and doesn’t cost £££ per shot) and so that’s why the two are a nice complement to one another.

What kind of conditions do I need?

Film can be a bit light thirsty – especially colour film which rarely comes in speeds of more than 800. Black and white film tends to be available in more film suited to low light. So if you were to be having a candlelit winter wedding after sunset, you’d pretty much be tied into just black and white films OR using flash, which has a slightly different vibe. But if it’s a summer wedding then there’s lots more opportunity. If you want to integrate film into your wedding, let’s chat and I can tell you all about it.

What are your favourite film stocks?

Is it too much of a cliche to say Kodak Portra – it’s a great all rounder and the 800 is good when you need a bit of extra exposure latitude indoors. I do love experimenting with a bit of expired film – it’s surprisingly hardy if treated well and the subtle colour shifts really make it feel genuinely filmy and there are a number of films that try and mimic this look despite being brand new – the new Lomochrome Colour 92 is summy yummy. For B&W, I am head over heels in love with Ilford HP5, and use it for most B&W images.