-Traditional Wedding photographer.

-Hello to all friends.
-I am now a retired wedding photographer for almost 6-7 years and i keep analog photography only for my self, and make video and video editing for job.
-I have my own color & b&w darkroom and develop and print frequently. I have stop to make wedding because i don't like the result of digital progress, and if i didn't like something i don't want to make! life is not only money!
-But now i realize is what i make is something deferent and maybe some people prefer than digital, as this traditional photography give better quality in DR, color, skin tones and is a proof progress of something is really existence than the digital manipulations, which you are not sure if the image is real or manipulate..
-I want to ask if other photographer have the same approach, and keep shooting weddings with traditional photography, and if this is success, please give advice or some link from other traditional photographer.
-Thanks to all.

I don't shoot weddings entirely on film but I use it for a majority of the process. All my images get scanned and go through the same workflow as my digital images in Lightroom.
I usually prefer the film images to be honest but nice that we have access to all technologies these days.

Alex, I believe that you could market yourself as a film only wedding photographer and charge a premium for it. There will be clients who would prefer film over digital, perhaps for the look, perhaps for the archival quality, perhaps just to be different, perhaps for nostalgia. It doesn't matter what their motivation is, I believe that those type of clients are out there. Good luck, and do what you love to do.

Yes, I just stumbled on a wedding or festivity photographer in Germany, who made film her marketing niche. Her name is Katja Scherle. Visit http://www.festtagsfotografien.com very nice approach these days


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If you like to work with film, stick with it. I may get back into it and can't stand working on computers so digital is out. My job keeps me tethered to a PC from 8-34 hours (or more) straight so I sure ain't gonna do anything I consider to be fun or enjoyable on one. I do have digital cameras though just in case I need a photo very quickly, but other than that I stick with film. I do my own B&W but it looks like the lab I used in the past is a digital only lab so now I have to find a good reliable lab for my c-41 stuff for my younger sons wedding this fall. After I shoot that one is when I'll decide if maybe I want to do weddings again. Other than one freebie for a college friend whose mother screwed up the post ceremony shots at the church, I always had fun doing them. Sad part was though, and I am sure others are like this, I could tell which ones wouldn't last........

I'm not a wedding photographer, but I have shot weddings before. I use only digital both to keep the costs down, and to satisfy the clients desires for tons of photos and a quick turnaround.

However, I do know a few wedding photographers who specializes in film. Most suppliment that with digital. They usually take formal shots and a few of the ceremony and reception with film, and then take lots of candid shots with the digital.

There are many young people who want their wedding photographed in film. I think they enjoy the connection it has with how their parents' and grandparents' wedding photos look. The issue is, this usually greatly increases the price and slows down the turnaround time. Some couples are okay with this and will happily pay more for this service. Many can't afford it and will ask you to give your digital photos a film look, or just go with a normal digital look.

So there is a market for film wedding photography, and depending on your area, it might be large or small. It is definitely trendy. But I'd be willing to bet most couples wind up choosing digital for various reasons.

I believe there is probably a market for film only wedding photography but probably presented as a hybrid product. ( I too am a retired wedding photographer)

On a slightly different note, here is a site that advertises Super 8 weddings https://www.super8productions.ie/

foc said:

On a slightly different note, here is a site that advertises Super 8 weddings https://www.super8productions.ie/

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I've just watched a film on the site and it's absolutely lovely and so different to the absolutely perfect look found with digital filming today.

I wish them lots of luck with their business.

Terry S

Now that I'm recently retired from my technology career and have relocated to a scenic mountain community where there are tons of destination weddings I'm considering going back into wedding work, but not at the three-dozen-plus jobs per year I did back in the day - all film (grueling); I'm seriously thinking of going the film route as well and charging a hefty premium. However, I would never shoot weddings solo. I did that many times and it's not advisable - especially not with film. I avoided disaster, but there were a few incidents that made me shake with fear with variables I couldn't control - even taking all precautions. Instead, I'll hire a second shooter that is shooting digital as a backup.

MFL

Michael Firstlight said:

Now that I'm recently retired from my technology career and have relocated to a scenic mountain community where there are tons of destination weddings I'm considering going back into wedding work, but not at the three-dozen-plus jobs per year I did back in the day - all film (grueling); I'm seriously thinking of going the film route as well and charging a hefty premium. However, I would never shoot weddings solo. I did that many times and it's not advisable - especially not with film. I avoided disaster, but there were a few incidents that made me shake with fear with variables I couldn't control - even taking all precautions. Instead, I'll hire a second shooter that is shooting digital as a backup.

MFL

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I was shooting a wedding a few years ago, before I retired, the bride asked why I wasn't checking the shots on the back of the camera to see that I had got the shot. ( I would of course check shots but not in front of the couple as I thought it unprofessional and rude)
I told the bride that for 20 years I had shot weddings on film and NEVER missed a shot. If I could do it on film then I definitely could do it on digital.
Whether it is film or digital, always check equipment 3 times before a shoot.

I fear that those who can truly appreciate any difference between film vs. digital photos are a shrinking group. And honestly, with proper postprocessing of digital images, particularly with 'film mimicing' presets, there is little difference even a tried and true film traditionalist like myself can find. About the only thing that I know I can tell is digital vs. film s a very large enlargement of Black & White film vs. digital...it is so easy to tell for a traditionalist with over 50 years in silver-based photography like me. But could a 20-something person recognize a genuine silver-based print? I don't really think so. So market differentiation of a film-based photographer vs. a digital photographer isn't based upon easy visual differentiation of photos, IMHO.

And the attitude of the modern bride, with expectations of a thousand photos or more (my stepdaughter got 3000 photos from her phototgrapher!) and getting all of them as digital files, is so very different from how traditional film photographers handled their clients. As a traditional film photographer who covered weddings over 30 years ago, frankly I have zero desire to be in that rat race now. Add the further problem that shooting on film is harder to do well these days, simply because the greatly reduced volume of film shot makes it so much harder for labs to correctly keep there processes in specification....you add the variability of the lab being good (or NOT!).

So I think that really you have to differentiate YOURSELF via your style of photography, rather than based on 'I shoot film' vs. 'I shoot digital'. And when you have an approach which is distinctive, then the modern customer who appreciates that style is how you get selected over 10000 digital wedding shooters.