35mm wedding at Ivy Lodge

Ivy Lodge wedding on 35mm

Katie & Harry got in touch from their home in Dubai asking for 100% film wedding photography, after meeting the couple on Zoom they told me how much they love grainy black and white film photography which I have to admit is my true love! And so it was that back in August I travelled to Cirencester for this wedding at the very lovely Ivy Lodge.

Ivy Lodge is a castellated lodge and barn in the grounds of Cirencester Park and is licensed for wedding ceremonies. It feels a million miles from anywhere in the tranquil park but is close to Cirencester.

100% film wedding photography

I photographed this wedding totally on film, mostly 35mm but with a roll of 120 as well. I used a Leica M4-P which is a mechanical rangefinder camera from 1983 and a Leica iii that dates back 92 years to 1934! It might sound risky using such old cameras but like a Swiss watch they are very reliable and do not have any electronic components, not even a light meter, with regular servicing both cameras will outlive me. Film was Kodak Portra for colour and Ilford HP5 for black and white, a roll of 120 Kentmere was also used. I hand processed the film myself in my darkroom.

Katie & Harry had a preference for black and white film with a smaller amount of colour.

My approach to film wedding photography is to create images with a strong film look rather than striving for perfection, movement, blur and occasional out of focus images are part of that look, if you are looking for perfection I can use my digital cameras. Part of my style is using lenses that add character rather than being clinically sharp and it was for this reason I used the 1934 Leica iii with a 5cm Elmar F3.5 lens for some of these photographs, this camera was originally shipped to a customer in Berlin back in November 1934, I often wonder what it photographed over the years.