In a world of 50-megapixel sensors and lenses that cost more than a used car, spending $15 on a roll of film that only holds 36 exposures sounds irrational. I've been doing it for six years.
Film slows you down. When each frame costs money and can't be deleted, you look harder before you press the shutter. You wait for the moment to be right instead of shooting bursts and sorting later.
The colour rendition of film — Kodak Portra, specifically — does something that digital processing can approximate but never quite replicate. There's a warmth in the highlights and a grain in the shadows that feels organic in a way that algorithms don't.
I don't deliver film scans to clients. The digital photos are the product. Film is a practice — a way of keeping myself honest, of staying connected to the discipline of the medium.
Every wedding I photograph, I use one or two rolls of film on moments I'd normally photograph digitally anyway. The discipline of it seeps into how I shoot the rest of the day. I come home from film weddings feeling like a better photographer.
Inquire about your wedding
