A few years ago, we decided to get back into shooting film. Here’s the thing. Film is terrifying as a photographer who has been shooting just digital for years and years! Not being able to see the picture right after it is taken and then sending the film somewhere to be developed is a big step in the trust department! We started off by bringing it along with us to engagement sessions. We snuck in one film picture for every couple of dozen digital pictures we took, sometimes not finishing a roll until the next session days later. Once we developed that first roll though, we were in love.
Since then, we have experimented with and perfected our film pictures and now offer film as an add-on to any package (wedding, engagement, boudoir, etc). When our couples see this option, the first question they have for us is “What is the difference between digital and film?”, which I think is a really good question. The worded answer is this: Despite all of the progress and technological advancements, digital has never been able to capture the feeling of film. Film images have a texture and tone that no amount of digital manipulation can touch, creating a timeless look. Often there is a romantic feeling to them that is very hard to describe.
Even with that description, it doesn’t demonstrate why we love film so much and why we highly recommend adding this to your engagement session or wedding day. Below are some comparisons between film and digital. While we always try to edit our digitals to match film as close as possible, we can’t 100% recreate that look. You will see that there are differences in colors, where film captures the golden glow of the sun better, the variations of greens and yellows in the trees and grass, beautiful skin tones and even certain colors better than digital.
Film is on the left/top and digital is on the right/bottom.
