Let’s start with the #1 reason to add film coverage to your wedding photography…film is pure magic in the right hands.

As a fine art film photographer, my love for film started sometime in the mid-80s. After my obsession with the Kodak® Disc camera faded, I leveled up and spent 4 years in art school honing my obscure craft of fine art film photography and master printmaking.

When I started my career as a professional photographer, film was the only medium available to use. As a fine art wedding photographer, I’ve always celebrated film for it’s wonder and magic that you truly can’t replicate digitally. At the same time, I also understood the disadvantages of 100% film-based weddings.

As digital photography emerged and evolved to what it is today, I have fully embraced using both mediums for what they are: tools in my gear bag.

They each serve a different purpose. Film and digital are entirely different mediums with similar goals.

All artists and creators use many tools and materials, not just one, to bring their vision to life. We love film at Artisan Events and prefer to work with both tools in our Hybrid Gear Bag when both project budget and timelines allow.

Film advantages:

• Higher dynamic range which means you get more detail in whites and blacks that can’t be replicated in digital cameras

• Film can capture subtle details lost in digital

• Film records light, shadows and color entirely differently than digital. Think of the following adjectives and they apply to film: Soft. Buttery. Dreamy. Shining skin tones. Straight up magic.

• Shooting film requires serious skill and years of experience which we have decades of under our belts

Film disadvantages:

• Film is expensive—there is no way around the hard cost of film, processing and scanning that must happen with each precious roll

• Film requires more time to manage throughout the day and can be cumbersome in fast-paced sections of weddings

• While we love high-speed black & white film in low light situations, digital has advantages over film in very low light receptions

Why our Hybrid method is the best:

Using both film & digital throughout the day is how we love to work—it allows us to get the best of both worlds. We can use all the tools when we need them, keep the cost of film in check, use digital when it is the preferred tool and still make film magic happen. Win. Win.

Here are some gorgeous film-based images for your viewing pleasure…