My best friend Claire (and son’s godmother) is getting married this November and I couldn’t be more excited for her. My favorite memories from college include her and Kelsey, and I am so incredibly blessed to have both of them in my lifetime. Claire is the type of friend to drop everything and help you, to text you to make sure you made it home safely, to call for every special occasion, and listen to you without judging. She has been with me through so many ups and downs from extremely hard basketball workouts, my two knee injuries, living together in college, moving to DC, my wedding, my son’s baptism, and now I get to return the favor and be there for her. I know she is incredibly happy and in love with Matt and she deserves nothing less.
Not only was this a fun engagement session because I got to work with them, but because I got to start a new adventure with my photography, shooting film. Over the past year, I have been trying to find the editing and shooting style I want my images to have. Every image I love from other photographers is light, airy, and shot on film. One of the best things you can do as a photographer is having a consistent shooting style, and I spent this past year trying to make my digital images look like film. This year I decided to invest in a medium format film camera (the amazing Contax 645 with Carl Zeiss 80mm) and start something for me. Shooting film is for me. It makes my heart happy. I am in love with the dreamy backgrounds and stunning colors, and this is what I want my images to look like. I would like to say I am going to become a hybrid shooter, but shooting film is hard! It is challenging, it makes me think, and it makes me breathe and slow down. This is exactly what I need in my life. To get back to what it is I love about taking pictures and really make the most of every image. When I first started my business and shot my first wedding, I remember taking 386793 million pictures because I was afraid the light was going to be wrong or they were going to be out of focus, or I was going to mess up someone’s memories. As I have gotten more experienced, I have trusted myself in knowing that I do know what I am doing and don’t need to take more than 1 or 2 pictures. Now, each roll of film has 16 memories. 16 chances to take a picture, and no room for mistake (ok maybe one). It is a thrilling challenge to take a picture and see nothing. Just the back of my camera. It will be a tough habit to break, but I am in love with film already.
After shooting one roll of film during Matt and Claire’s session (Fuji 400), I waited not so patiently for a week for my film scans to come back from the FIND lab. If you know me, like really know me, you will know that I am a driven woman who when she wants something, finds a way to get it now. I have always been like this. I get an idea, I jump in feet first and don’t look back. Waiting for my film to develop was and incredibly humbling experience. There was nothing I could do to make my images come back faster. But you know what? I survived! And when they arrived, it was like Christmas morning. And the best part? Zero editing. That is right, zero editing. So now I got that much more time with my family, with my children and spent that much less time editing pictures.
It would be so amazing to eventually shoot film all the time, but is it my expectation? Not at all. I hope to in the future, shoot a roll or two every session. For now I started with one. One roll for fun with Claire who again is with me for another adventure. These scans are certainly not perfect, but they are mine. I created each image, carefully planned, pressed the shutter button and squealed with excitement. Can you pick out the film scans below? I am hoping not, so that my digital and film work are truly seamless and blend together. I have become very passionate about shooting film and cannot wait to share my passion with more brides this year and hopefully they fall in love with film too <3
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