Wedding Photography on Film

The hits, the misses, and the downright magical

Aug 11, 2024

Two of my closest friends got married earlier this year and I offered to document their story on film. Now, they already had a professional photographer to shoot the wedding so this was about creating an alternative perspective. My goal was to build a unique collection of stories that genuinely felt different from most South Asian.

I went on to shoot over 30 rolls of film and currently working through the final edits. As I go through the motions of this project, I thought it’d be fun to share with you a few of the images, my process behind them, along with some key lessons that I learned.

The Shots and the Stories

With two ceremonies and a reception, this wedding was gonna be a busy one. I had four cameras with me and each one had a specific strength to help me get the shots I needed (Mamiya 7, Nikon F5, Leica M6, and a Canon Sure Shot). The film I’d be using was largely Portra 400 or 800. I also made an effort to experiment with some HP5, Velvia, and even Vision3 motion picture film.

If there’s anything specific you want to know about the cameras or film I used, let me know in the comments below. Now it’s time to talk about the images.

When you have light and time on your side, the Mamiya 7 really shines. I brought the groomsmen to a nearby field that would complement their green suits and introduced some props to elevate the story. Once I had the composition I liked, I metered for the shadows in the frame to create this photo.

Group photos can get stale pretty quickly so it was important to bring a little more creativity to these moments to make them feel considered.

Positive film (or slide film) like Velvia has less latitude than negative film. It also requires a different metering process if you want the best results. Unfortunately, I had a much lower hit rate with this film because I didn’t account for the wide dynamic range of some scenes. I had to convert some stills to black and white to salvage the composition.

If I had to do this again, I would’ve brought my strobe light outside to fill the shadow areas of the frame, lowering the overall contrast and preserving the colour information. Lesson learned.

I love this shot. And I wish you could see it in print. From the petals to the pleads, we made sure to consider every detail in this frame before taking the photo. We also had to open the blinds as much as possible to get enough light to get the shot. It took a steady hand (and maybe some divine intervention) but the result is something that feels like it deserves to be printed.

This might sound trivial but I’ll say it anyway: create images worth printing. It’s the harder road that demands more attention to detail but there’s just so much more fulfillment when you approach photography this way. Just carry that thought to your next opportunity. Create images worth printing.

I love the Nikon F5 for professional film work. You have a body that’s built like a tank and can focus on subjects very accurately. Paired with a 35mm 1.8 lens, this camera was instrumental in landing quick detail shots.

A good flash can make all the difference. Or in this case, a strobe. The Profoto A2 is an incredible piece of lighting that can be operated off-camera—on a stand or in your hand—and bring plenty of power for indoor environments. I’d pop this light above a large group with one hand while composing my shot with the other and it made for some incredible moments. Not to mention, it was just as fast as shooting digital.

Let me also take a minute to say that weddings should be fun. And if you’re asking me, it’s on the photographer to bring the fun.

The sun was beaming this week and that meant reflections could pop. For this image, we parked the car against the sun, seated the groom inside, and staggered the groomsmen across from him. With a 28mm lens on my M6, I metered for the shadows on the groom’s face, got up on a stool from his kitchen, and composed this photo.

Images like this take a bit more work which is why it’s so important to plan ahead. Even though my photography was a gift, I treated this like a job and put the work ahead of time to think of interesting compositions to execute. The proper planning allowed images like this to come together relatively quickly.

For special occasions, I’ll look to use some Kodak Vision3 film. It’s the same stock used for motion pictures and as a result, the scans have a lot of latitude to be colour graded in post.

For this photo, I dropped the shutter speed a touch and had some friends toss a stack of rose petals for this moment that feels like a scene in a movie. It’s an image that makes me smile because it marries the right ingredients with the solid techniques.

I love how groomsmen try to act all prim and proper on the day of a wedding. Like they aren’t all counting down the hours to let loose. Something I’ll tell groups often, I’m not a passport photographer. So let’s keep it real and have some fun.

Feel free to visit one of my earlier stories to see how crazy things got this night.

On the morning of the Catholic ceremony, I paired my phone to a nearby speaker and hosted a 15-minute dance party. I thought, why not just bring the energy early on and add some movement to the morning prep. It made for an incredible series of photos that just felt more authentic to this bridal party.

The Leica M6 with an off-camera flash feels like a cheat code at times. Once you dial in the settings, all you have to do is pre-focus with a narrow aperture to get this generous range to photograph in. It essentially becomes a point-and-shoot solution.

With this setup, I could put all of my attention on the couple and instruct them to celebrate the moment like no one was watching.

Tighter composition. Flash from above. Position the couple under the stained glass. These were the thoughts running through my head just before this shot was taken. The result is something that I really love.

If I can leave you with one more thing, it’s to be bold. Again, I wanted to do something different to commemorate this special day. So I planned this paparazzi-style shoot, where we’d bring the entire party to a local diner and juxtapose their tailored outfits against this classic diner aesthetic.

It was incredibly stressful to execute but—like I've mentioned in the past—great work demands an even greater effort. With the help of my assistant, the diner staff, and an incredibly patient limo driver, I was able to snag a series of photos that feel fun, sexy, and more true to the bride and groom.

It’s been some time since I stopped shooting weddings professionally. But I won’t lie, this moment started to give me the itch to revisit it again.

The biggest obstacle around analog photography is the developing. You could learn to do it yourself but it’s a lot of time, money, and resources. You could send it to a lab but then you’re relinquishing so much creative control to a random human you’ll never speak with. What if there was a film lab made for pros and valued the relationship with the photographer?
Enter All Things Film. The team at this lab are a group of experts that go out of their way to deliver the best film experience possible. Not only do they offer competitive pricing, mail-in orders, and print solutions, they look to work with customers to understand their specific style. Their goal is to create a unique profile for each customer so that when a roll of film comes in, it gets developed just as the photographer intended.
While most of my work is done on digital, I’ve been shooting a lot more film lately and that’s thanks to the team at All Things Films. Whether it’s for personal or professional, the team at All Things Film has genuinely earned my trust. If you’re looking for a great lab to handle your analog photography, reach out to All Things Film and tell them I sent you.

New August Contest!

Each month, I’ll be giving away a $200 gift card to the Moment Shop where the winner can save big on their next camera, lens, bag, or courses. Moment has so many creative products to choose from and $200 can absolutely make a difference.

How am I picking the winner? All you have to do is be a free member of this community and leave a comment on this post. As with every contest, I’ll be randomly picking one person, confirming they meet the requirements and contacting them directly before announcing the winner publicly.

Once again, this contest is void where prohibited by law. Good luck!

My thanks to the team at Moment! Not only for this contest but for being the longest supporter of my work online. They’re a lean team of passionate creators that truly believe in supporting other creatives on their journey. Whether it’s a new camera, lens, workshop, or just some great articles, visit ShopMoment.com today.

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What’s Next?

The film versus digital debate has been going on for years, and it’ll probably keep going long after we’re gone. For me, I just love how this chemical dance is taking place to deliver stories that feel different. And it doesn’t hurt that the experience of shooting film sharpens one’s fluency with photography the more you practice it.