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 FM2 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 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 use a Leica M4-P rangefinder camera and a Minolta CLE rangefinder camera, I like to work with Ilford HP5 plus for black and white photography and Kodak Portra (400 or 800) for colour. My Leica is a fully mechanical camera from 1983, these are highly reliable as they do not have any electronics (not even a light meter), mine is one of only 2500 limited edition cameras in the world. The Minolta CLE is a manual focus rangefinder (like my Leica M4-P) and uses Leica lenses.

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.

I am finding a lot of my couples are asking for film wedding photography as it is what their parents and grandparents had their weddings photographed on and they love the nostalgia, I also have a lot of couples who are using analogue film cameras themselves and love film.

My film wedding photography isn’t about perfection, its about feeling. I photograph how the wedding felt rather than how it looked, anyone can photograph how things look. I shoot film as an artistic choice as I love the imperfect look.

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 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 but is unposed and captures the day as it happens. 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. I do also photograph on colour film!

Negatives included!

I consider the negatives to be your certificate of authenticity, they reveal the image as shot by my camera and show that nothing has been altered from the original image. Negatives are also future proof and permanent, you can go back to them and have them rescanned in 20 years time with whatever technology is available in the future. Unlike digital formats like floppy discs and optical discs negatives are still useable from 30/40/50 years ago. You can also use the negatives for silver halide prints or perhaps you have access to a darkroom and would like to make your own prints from them. I also supply high quality scans of the images, these are approximately 20mp and are colour corrected, any minor imperfections like dust and scratches are removed. The scans are also ideal for making prints from and have all the convenience of digital images while keeping the unique look of 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 £55 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.

For those looking for more film I offer 50% film, 50% digital coverage. With this option you’d typically expect 250+ images on film and a similar amount on digital.

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 20+ rolls of film over a ten hour day and can supply a finished luxury album containing 150+ images along with all the original negatives and scans you can make prints from.

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. Including film, processing, scanning and the original negatives. A typical day would be 10 rolls of film over eight hours but this is flexible with anything from 4 hours to 12 hours.