It’s definitely been some time since there’s been a new blog post. To say the least, this past year wasn’t the greatest, but in a way it gave a way better and refreshing new perspective to the wedding photography industry. The micro weddings have definitely taken a bit hit and as much as it put a dent on a lot of vendors, it also shown that enjoying your special day can always be just as memorable and special with a low-key/intimate atmosphere.
The Story:
Well this wedding was definitely an unusual approach than anything I’ve ever done. Me, Juliette and Austin have always nerded out about film photography whenever we ran into each other. Film photography also has a special place in their relationship as they actually took photos of each other with film a lot while they were dating. So when they asked me to photograph their wedding entirely on film, I was beyond excited. Photographing a wedding entirely on film has been on my list for sometime and doing it the first time had to be right and with someone that definitely appreciated film just as much as I did. Film photography has definitely become a popular trend in the photography world and the common aspect of the approach was how you had to slow everything down. For a lot of us wedding photographers, we are so used to capturing many moments because we just don’t want to miss anything so we shoot away without thinking. Sometimes it’s just as important to slow things down and take it in before you capture it all, and that’s exactly what film photography challenges you to do. Even though I would’ve been just as excited to photograph their wedding with a digital camera, this was definitely a unique experience and given the circumstance and the crappy year we all went through, this was definitely a refreshing approach. Also, a tremendous win for shooting alongside Gagand on the wedding day. Highly recommend looking into his work and his look on the day of Austin and Juliette’s wedding day.
The Locations:
The ceremony took place at Austin’s and Juliette’s friends property. So, apologies if you’re looking for this venue for it’s not really a venue per se. But, the reception took place in no other greater coffee shop in the world than Fourscore Coffee in Roseville, CA. - - Fun fact, they actually worked together there and started dating while they were working there. - - Fast forward 1 month or so later, the 2nd day shoot location was in no other greater place Yosemite, CA. You can never pick a more perfect season to shoot in Yosemite and we just lucked out to be in Yosemite during Fall when everything just looked all in all amazing.
Gear that was used:
Well I guess this might be one of those first nerd talks I do about what I used and how I was able to do it all, so if you just wanna see some awesome film photos just scroll on down. Otherwise, feel free to read along.
So let’s start with cameras. After going through a fair amount of different 35mm film cameras I found the best one that fits the budget and workflow is a Canon Elan 7. Big reason to why I love this camera is because all my Canon lenses work with that camera. The layout is very straight forward, auto focus is alright, and taking film photos is the easiest thing ever. So Elan 7 is one of them, the 2nd would have to be my trusty Mamiya 645 120mm Medium Format film camera. There’s no particular reason to why I really like the 645 other than the fact that it just looks really cool. But it does do a great job and after owning a Pentax 645 that has an auto-wind, lets just say things didn’t end well with that guy (It broke, that’s happened). But after dealing with that, the Mamiya 645 has become my work horse with medium format film. So other than a couple Polaroids I took with the One Step 2, it was a very simple set up. The Films I used were Portra 400, Portra 800, Kodak Colorplus, Ilford XP2 Super 400, Delta 3200 and Cinestill 800. Now the most interesting part of all this was for the first time scanning my own film. Now I don’t entirely trust myself yet to develop everything and also it all just smells pretty bad since you’ll need an indoor lab to make that happen. But one thing I’ve always wanted to try was to scan everything on my own and Negative Lab Pro made it so possible. It was the first attempt at using it especially for a big shoot and let me just say, it did not disappoint. Ps, I’m in no way affiliated with them nor am I endorsed by them. Just an average photographer who heard of them, liked what they have to offer and wanted to give them a great shoutout.
The Team:
|Digital Photography:| @gagandhimanphotography
|Hair & make up:| @lucasandco_ (@analiselucas and @alexadiasmakeup)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
|Dress:| @beccarcouture and @graceandwhitebridal⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
|Florist:| @tayloranneco
|Shoes:| @lulusweddings⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
|Jewelry:| @bhldn and @untamedpetals⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
|Suit:| @asos_man ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
|Watch:| @michaelkors ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
|Shoes:| @menswearhouse
The Track:
Austin (the groom) created a few songs that they ended up using at their wedding ceremony. Some were meant to be played in the background in the beginning before the ceremony. And some were played during the ceremony. During the moment when Juliette walked down the aisle and Austin saw her for the first time that day, the first part of this track is exactly what was playing.
If I didn’t say it before then I’ll say it again. This wedding was absolutely like-no-other. Not just the fact that it was all shot on film, but that every detail, every moment to this wedding day was planned perfectly. To the songs that were created by the groom and played during the ceremony, to having a reception in a place their relationship was born, everything was just amazing.
Well enjoy looking through these and don’t forget to play the track while viewing these memories.
