35mm Film
Feeling nostalgic and wanting some gorgeous vintage-style wedding photos? Using 35mm film, I can bring all the old and good stuff to the record-keeping on your wedding day. At Frankly Faye New Zealand, I photograph weddings across the country, so let's have a chat!
35mm film photography
Some of you might be wondering what is so special about 35mm film? It is an analogue photography format that is still popular among enthusiasts today. Your childhood photographs were probably taken on 35mm.
When people talk about 35mm photography, they are almost always referring to film photography, that is, taking photos with beat up old analogue cameras and different film stocks, rather than digital. So, 35mm is a particular format used in analogue photography.
The practice of lomography refers to deliberately experimenting with analogue cameras instead of digital products. While digital cameras are made to produce crisp images with high sharpness through lots of one’s and zero’s, 35mm is a negative that soaks in all the light, fixing an image onto the emulsion - quite literally persevering the moment it was taken in.
35mm wedding photography
One of my favourite things about using 35mm and super 8 when photographing and filming weddings is the fact that the photos come out looking visibly older, naturally bringing a nostalgic, reminiscing feel to the result. Call me sentimental (you would be totally right), but I think that makes a superb fit for wedding photos. Your wedding day will always be an important, wonderful, nostalgic, magical memory, so why not embrace that in your photographs?
Using 35mm, your pictures will have vivid color saturation and beautiful, beautiful grain. But because these cameras don't use memory cards, all your photos will go through chemical development, cooking the images onto the negative.
While it is a fairly standard process, I personally love the fact that I have to wait a little while before I see the photos. There’s a limited number of shots to a roll depending on the format and camera I'm using - sometimes only 10 images! - and they get safely kept in the film roll until the lab receives them for development. There's something special about that extra level of surprise.
When you take a photo or a video with a film camera, light enters the lens and reacts with the chemicals in the film, leaving an impression of what the camera was pointing at. The light on you literally touched that negative and embedded itself. How magical is that!
Let me take you through some of the reasons why 35mm and other kinds of film still hold up against digital photography.
Why is film still so popular?
Comparing analogue and digital cameras is a bit like comparing manual and automatic cars. Using film tends to require more experience and gives the user more control over what they are doing. And while you can take 1000 pictures on automatic cameras and pick out the best 20, the same cannot be said for using film. There’s so much beauty in the limitations.
35mm film has a wide exposure latitude ideal for capturing images in mixed lighting conditions. Digital cameras can still struggle with getting a dynamic range of light and dark - although with the technology these days it’s not so bad. With film though, basically the more light you throw at it, the more it loves ya.
I am always saying that some of my favorite things to photograph at weddings are those perfectly imperfect candid moments. Bursts of laughter, dabbing at tears, secret hand-holding.
While digital photography gives a crisp and vivid look to photos, film gives a richness and warmth that can't be matched. I find it has a much more personal connection.
Authentic, unique images
More depth to your photos
Perfect imperfections and beautiful grain
35mm photos
The potential of 35mm at your wedding
There are lots of types of analogue cameras out there. I have around eight that I like to mix and match with while shooting weddings. My little 35mm point and shoot is so much fun for whipping out on the dance floor or just roaming around while everyones hanging out.
If you want to know more about how 35mm, 120 or super 8 works or are curious about how incorporating some of the analogue ways into your wedding day could look like, I'd love to chat with you! Fill out my contact form or fire me though an email and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
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