Film Photography For Weddings
Last year I was approached by a bride that was interested in replicating photos of her mother’s wedding day. Not only in terms of location and poses, but she also wanted the image to have a similar vintage look as well. I found this request to be interesting and while I could’ve easily taken these photos digitally and edit them to have a vintage look, I decided to get out a film camera and re-learn the art of film photography.
Mind you, I had past experience with film cameras growing up as a kid. Film cameras were still the primary way to take pictures back in the mid 1990’s and early 2000’s. I even remember when 1 roll of film only cost around $3-$4 and Walmart could have your pictures developed within an hour. Boy how those times are long gone!
But why is it film cameras are becoming popular again? To me personally, there is something about taking photos with a film camera that makes photography even more exciting, and as a photographer, it adds a level of professionalism to your craft because now you have to truly understand the camera, the film you use, as well as how to expose the image correctly since you don’t have a live view of how the image will look. The results from this style of photography however are always exciting and couples I’ve photographed previously have always loved the film photos!
As a photographer, the idea of offering vintage photos for weddings really didn’t cross my mind until I was asked about film photos by one bride. Since then, it has become part of my overall portfolio! If you or someone you know has been interested in the idea, let me explain film photography to you in a little more depth!
Why Consider Having Vintage Photos Of Your Wedding Day?
One of the biggest goals I try to offer couples on their wedding day is variety so that you are not looking at only one style of editing throughout the entire album. Capturing parts of the wedding day through film allows for there to be more variety in the overall wedding album and these types of photos stand out from your traditional black and white images and other standard photos from your wedding album and I always personally enjoy having multiple looks on certain images depending on the lighting and scenery.
Most of the various wedding themes couples choose work well for film photography! Most common themes that have worked well in my previous experience are rustic, woodland and beach weddings, but there are many more themes that film cameras mix well with! It all comes down to personal preference and a majority of the wedding industry has brought film photography back as a whole. While a roll of film may not be as affordable as it once was 30 years ago, if you are someone looking for variation in your wedding album, film photography is a plus!
The Pros And Cons
The Biggest pro to film photography is the final images themselves! If your wedding photographer is well experienced with a film camera, the end results can be very rewarding to have. What I really love about film photography is you can still be creative with a film camera like you can with a digital camera. If you look back at your old family photos that were all shot on film, one thing you’ll notice is the types of camera angles from those images are very standard. Most of my family photos are straight on shots of us and whatever it was we were standing in front of. With the way photography has evolved so much, photographers have found new creative ways to pose people and create images from various angles that are more appealing to everyone and if you combine that with film photography, you can create a more unique image.
There are however at least 2 cons I want to mention. The first is the fact that if you’re looking for instant results, this form of film photography I’m talking about is not going to give you that option. I explain to couples all the time that there are 2 common forms of vintage cameras many are familiar with. The one I’m talking about in this blog relates to 35mm film that has to be sent off to a film lab to be developed and can take up to 2 weeks to see the end results. The other is a polaroid camera which will develop the image for you on a small film sheet within a matter of minutes and is a great hit at wedding receptions!
The one thing I will say about polaroid cameras is that while you get instant results, the image you see is all you get. With 35mm film, I can take the roll of developed film and scan it onto a computer where I can enlarge the image even more for better viewing.
The second con about film photography is the fact that the images off of a film camera are not always guaranteed due to an error by the photographer or the film developer responsible for developing the film. If you are considering film photography in your wedding album, keep in mind that film photography is all a science and if it is not performed correctly, it can result in poorly exposed images or even no images at all. That is why I never shoot an entire wedding day on film because I do not want to take the risk of having no images to present to a couple at all.
Before I add film photography to a couple’s overall wedding day package, I explain to them that there is always a very slight chance that the photos taken on a film camera may not produce the anticipated results that they see from previous weddings I’ve captured using film. It all comes down to the the photographer and the film developer as a whole.
In Conclusion
Film photography on your wedding day is a very unique and one of a kind look that is hard to replicate digitally. If you are wanting anything vintage on your wedding day, I always recommend looking into having some vintage photos taken by your photographer! I would highly encourage you to also to ask for samples of your photographers previous work with film so that you can get a sense of how your images may turn out, as well as see that your photographer does have the experience to capture parts of your wedding day the old fashion way!