35mm film wedding photography

Analogue wedding photography

15 years ago I never thought a time would come when analogue would become so popular again, but as I write this in 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 FM film cameras in my loft along with an enlarger and some processing equipment, they sat gathering dust for many years before I once again became interested in shooting some film. During those dust gathering years I did actually shoot a couple of rolls of film at one wedding for a photographer who wanted some negatives from his wedding to play around with, but otherwise fully embraced the digital world.

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 film wedding photography 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.

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.

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 photography style

I’m a wedding photojournalist and my style is best described as documentary, I photograph the events of the wedding as they happen without interference. I am often asked if this is the same as editorial wedding photography and the answer is no, 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 editorial photography is posed. A lot of editorial wedding photography also uses direct flash which gives a stark contrasty look that can work well in certain situations but equally loses the soft look that film shot by available light can have.  The other issue with direct flash is that it immediately alerts everyone to the fact you are taking photographs and you lose the spontaneous look that you will see in my work, flash is ok for some posed portraits or the dance floor but in my opinion has no place during the wedding ceremony or other quieter parts of the day when it would be very obtrusive.

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!  You can also see my digital portfolio by clicking here.

Black and white film wedding photography

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!

Film wedding photographer service

As an additional add on to my usual digital photography I will shoot colour or 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 (36exp.) which includes film, processing, high resolution scans and the original negatives posted to a UK address.

I am also 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. 100% film coverage is better suited to spring and summer weddings as I tend to work by available light but is also available for autumn and winter weddings.

You can also hire me as a film photographer to work alongside your existing digital photographer, I will then capture 100% documentary images on film. This is subject to my availability and can’t be booked more than three months before your wedding.

You can view a complete autumn film wedding by clicking here.