First wedding on film

I am not an event photographer, not in the least. However, being invited at such event by a relative, I thought it would be fun to take a film camera with me and see what I can get. So, a Nikon F3 and a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 came with me. Of course, I was only a guest, all the photo-video stuff was handled by a professional team hired for the day.

Shooting at a wedding is no walk in a park, I can tell you that; you need to be everywhere at once, so without an assistant, I am afraid you cannot accomplish professional things. As the key moments happen in various places but at the same time, the work seem like a fight where you face 10 foes by yourself alone. No deliverables will be complete if the bride’s aunt or groom’s bestie are not in the gallery they paid for. And as often as not, these people are miles apart in the crowd. Fat chance to shoot all of them by yourself in the same time. Anyways, this is how I see it; told you I am not an event photographer.

When shooting for fun at a wedding, you rarely have the opportunity to shoot the bride and groom in the most favourable positions, i.e  face to face, certain stances or places, closeups and such. These positions are already filled by the guys hired to shoot the wedding, so what you’re left with is the awkward angle, side shoot, shooting from between shoulders of onlookers, and so forth. You cannot barge in front of everyone, and certainly you cannot hinder the photographers who do their job.

Generally speaking, I believe I have caught a couple of interesting shots. The lighting was ok-ish, not great indoor lighting but something I could work with. Me not using flash at all, the low light is always a challenge, so rating the film at 800 was a good estimation. It gave me enough shutter speed to shoot the moving scenes without much distortion, and let me have a decent aperture to work with. Most of the shots were taken manual, anywhere between f2.8 to f5.6 with most of the shutter at 1/60-1/125. Not ideal, but something to work with and have fun in the process, which I had plenty.

All in all, pretty interesting evening. Oh, and the wedding was a blast, good folks, beautiful bride, fabulous crowd, and a bubbly atmosphere all over. Most of the shots I took went to the bride, she was very happy to have some analogue images taken at this very important moment of her life. A refreshing reminder that in a digital fast moving world, she has some film-made images to show for. I, for one, I am glad she found these likeable. means a lot both as a friend and photographer.