Analogue film wedding photographer, 35mm and 120 film.

Film wedding photography

I never thought a time would come when analogue would become so popular again, but as I write this in January 2024 I am sat listening to Jessie Ware on a vinyl record and writing about photographing weddings on film. I guess film photography never totally went away although I did store my old Nikon film cameras in my loft along with an enlarger and some processing equipment, they sat gathering dust for many years. During those dust gathering years I did actually shoot a few rolls of film at one wedding for a photographer who wanted some negatives from his wedding, but otherwise fully embraced the digital world until film became in demand again.

A couple of years ago I dug out my JOBO processor and put a few rolls of HP5 and Kentmere 400 film through my cameras, perhaps call it nostalgia but I thoroughly enjoyed the process and decided I would offer 35mm film photography at weddings.

For weddings on film I shoot on a Leica rangefinder camera or Canon Eos1N SLR cameras with L series lenses and sometimes a Nikon FE. I like to work with Ilford HP5 plus film for black and white photography and Kodak Portra (400 or 800) or Cinestill 800T for colour. I also have a couple of different medium format 120 cameras, a Mamiya 645 which gives high quality images and a Holga 120N which is a cheap plastic camera with a very unique look which I really love for a few images at weddings.

I’m very passionate about film photography and now use it for the majority of my personal work and projects.

Why would I want film for my wedding photographs?

Why film? Because in an increasingly digital world there is something honest and authentic about film photography, it is about embracing the grain and imperfections that come with film which result in beautiful photographs. Film isn’t about firing off hundreds of images, it is a slower process that goes back to finding the definitive moment and usually just shooting one single frame rather than a burst of images. With modern technology photographs can be created by a computer using AI, film is the complete opposite, it is as far away from fakery as it can be.

Film is very flattering compared to digital due to the softness and grain, more than anything film just has a unique look compared to digital photography and although it is possible to get some of that look with digital I find nothing really compares to the real thing. The look of photographs taken on film varies with the film stock used, the ISO sensitivity of the film and the developer used. Different types of colour film have very different looks and black and white films can have different contrast and grain.

You get to keep the original negatives from which you can have silver gelatin prints made. Film can also be scanned for digital images giving the best of both worlds and the scans are included in my prices.

My film photography background

I shot totally on film for many years before switching to digital photography, my entire press career was shot on film, my first two or three years of wedding photography was totally on film. This is important because I understand film and its limitations. I still hand process all my films rather than trusting them to a lab, nowadays I tend to scan the negatives as I find it easier to fit them in my workflow but I do not manipulate the files in anyway other than what I would do in a darkroom.

My background in film photography gives you the assurance your film wedding photography is in safe hands.

Photojournalism/documentary style

My style is best described as wedding photojournalism/documentary, I photograph the events of the wedding as they happen without interference other than some relaxed portraits. I am often asked if this is the same as editorial wedding photography and the answer is it has similarities. Editorial wedding photography is very popular at the moment and came about after fashion magazines started using photography in a style that looked unposed when in fact the vast majority of magazine editorial photography is totally posed.

There is some cross over between editorial and documentary and I often find couples actually want documentary rather than editorial as they tell me they want unposed storytelling photography combined with a few relaxed portraits which is exactly what I do! Have a look through the photographs below and if you like them the chances are I am the right film wedding photographer for you regardless of editorial/documentary labels!

Black and white wedding photographer on film

My first job was working in the black and white darkroom at the Peterborough Evening Telegraph newspaper and there I learnt the craft of black and white photography. I still have a real passion for black and and white photography and really love using black and white film for wedding photography, the grain and timeless look really works with weddings. Of course I do also photograph on colour film!

Analogue film wedding photography service

Film added to digital coverage

As an add on to my usual digital photography I will shoot colour and black and white film, I can also supply a boxed set of gorgeous prints in mounts or you can include film images along with digital in a wedding album. Film in addition to digital coverage is priced at £50 per roll of 36exp. film which includes processing, high resolution professional scans and the original negatives posted to a UK address. Choose anything from one roll to several rolls, either colour or black and white.

As a second photographer alongside your digital photographer

You can also hire me as a film photographer to work alongside your existing digital photographer, much like how you might hire a videographer, I will then capture 100% documentary images on film. From £1600 including film, processing, scanning and the original negatives (price based on eight hours coverage).

100% film wedding photography as your only photographer

I am available for 100% film coverage, generally a mix of about 65% black and white and 35% colour but this can be changed to suit your requirements. Typically I shoot around 15 t0 20 rolls of 35mm film plus a couple of rolls of 120 and can supply a finished 12″x12″ luxury album containing 150+ images along with all the original negatives and scans you can make prints from. Prices from £3000 without an album and £3600 with an album (based on ten hours coverage).