Never in a million years did I think I'd be making this announcement: I'm switching to film.
I shot film back in high school and college -- but only black and white 35mm film that I developed in the dark room myself. I loved the process, but when I started my business in 2003, digital seemed like the way to go. It made more sense practically speaking, and it looked like that was where the future of photography was headed. But since then a few things have changed -- namely the application of a specific medium format camera to weddings (pictured above), and the advancement of professional film labs -- that have changed the game. The film photography that is being produced by professional photographers in recent years is GORGEOUS. I've been trying to replicate the look of film in my editing, but I've found that no amount of editing or tweaking of a digital image can produce the creamy skin tones I love in the film images I see. So I've decided to make a change.
The two things I love most about film are the color it produces and the way it handles light. The color in film images is sublime. SO beautiful. And film handles harsh light so much better than digital cameras do. It's nearly impossible to blow out a sky (causing it to lose color and turn white) when you're shooting film -- something that is often unavoidable with digital photography. The reason I'm making this switch is purely for the look of what I can produce as an artist with this medium and because it has caused me to feel inspired. I love it and can't wait to shoot more of it.
There are two main drawbacks I'm faced with in making the switch to film. Thankfully, only one will impact my clients. The two negatives are the cost, and the slower turn-around times. Film costs more money to shoot. At this time, because I so want to shoot film, I am going to absorb those additional costs and keep my pricing the same for my clients. The only thing they will be impacted by is slightly longer turn-around times. Instead of posting a full gallery of wedding images online within a week, I will be turning around weddings and engagement shoots in 3 - 4 weeks. The reason for this is that professional labs typically take a number of weeks to develop film and send me scans. Which brings up another point of clarification. Clients might be concerned that because I'm shooting film, they won't have the option to purchase the high res digital images (.jpgs). But that isn't the case. I will still have high res images available for purchase since I will have my lab send me the .jpg scans of the negatives.
I'm still working out all of the details on what it will look like for me to shoot film going forward, but I am loving the journey so far! I will likely shoot a hybrid of film and digital at upcoming weddings -- at least for a little while -- and my associates and second shooters will continue to shoot digital. I'm so excited to continue on this path and can't wait to see what the future holds!
On Monday I will be sharing images from my very first film shoot with models. It was a dream to collaborate with such an amazing group of vendors on something we all love and can be proud of. I can't wait to share it with you! Here is a sneak peek:
I shot film back in high school and college -- but only black and white 35mm film that I developed in the dark room myself. I loved the process, but when I started my business in 2003, digital seemed like the way to go. It made more sense practically speaking, and it looked like that was where the future of photography was headed. But since then a few things have changed -- namely the application of a specific medium format camera to weddings (pictured above), and the advancement of professional film labs -- that have changed the game. The film photography that is being produced by professional photographers in recent years is GORGEOUS. I've been trying to replicate the look of film in my editing, but I've found that no amount of editing or tweaking of a digital image can produce the creamy skin tones I love in the film images I see. So I've decided to make a change.
The two things I love most about film are the color it produces and the way it handles light. The color in film images is sublime. SO beautiful. And film handles harsh light so much better than digital cameras do. It's nearly impossible to blow out a sky (causing it to lose color and turn white) when you're shooting film -- something that is often unavoidable with digital photography. The reason I'm making this switch is purely for the look of what I can produce as an artist with this medium and because it has caused me to feel inspired. I love it and can't wait to shoot more of it.
There are two main drawbacks I'm faced with in making the switch to film. Thankfully, only one will impact my clients. The two negatives are the cost, and the slower turn-around times. Film costs more money to shoot. At this time, because I so want to shoot film, I am going to absorb those additional costs and keep my pricing the same for my clients. The only thing they will be impacted by is slightly longer turn-around times. Instead of posting a full gallery of wedding images online within a week, I will be turning around weddings and engagement shoots in 3 - 4 weeks. The reason for this is that professional labs typically take a number of weeks to develop film and send me scans. Which brings up another point of clarification. Clients might be concerned that because I'm shooting film, they won't have the option to purchase the high res digital images (.jpgs). But that isn't the case. I will still have high res images available for purchase since I will have my lab send me the .jpg scans of the negatives.
I'm still working out all of the details on what it will look like for me to shoot film going forward, but I am loving the journey so far! I will likely shoot a hybrid of film and digital at upcoming weddings -- at least for a little while -- and my associates and second shooters will continue to shoot digital. I'm so excited to continue on this path and can't wait to see what the future holds!
On Monday I will be sharing images from my very first film shoot with models. It was a dream to collaborate with such an amazing group of vendors on something we all love and can be proud of. I can't wait to share it with you! Here is a sneak peek:
Stay tuned for more on Monday!
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