35mm Film Wedding Photographer

Analogue wedding photography on a Leica M6 and other old cameras, at every wedding

Bride and groom walking through rosepetal confetti at a wedding on a hill outside Bristol, shot on 35mm Kodak Portra 400 film

Private location near Bristol - Kodak Portra 400

I'm a Bristol-based documentary wedding photographer and I shoot 35mm analogue film on a Leica M6 and many other retro cameras at every wedding. Film is included in every booking at no extra cost, and I've been shooting it since 1996, which is long before it was fashionable and some time after it was sensible.

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Why I Shoot Weddings on Film

I spent years trying to make my digital photographs look like film. Then my first child came along, and I wanted photographs that were permanent: printed, held, kept in a box not a cloud server. So I grabbed an old film camera.

It had a rather profound effect on me. If film was right for the photographs I cared about most, it was right for weddings too. So I stopped chasing the analogue look and went back to the real thing. Every frame is a small chemical reaction between light and film, fixed on a strip of negative. That light, that moment, those people. Not ones and zeros in a data centre.

Then there is how 35mm film looks. The way Portra renders greens. The grain of Tri-X. Nothing digital matches it, and once you've seen the difference you can't unsee it.

People say film slows them down, and it does. But my real reason is simpler. I learned on film in 1996, when it was the only game in town, and I never really got over it.

For your wedding, that means real photographs on real film, at the heart of your gallery.

Bride holding her bouquet at the top of a staircase, silhouetted against an arched window at Matara, on black and white analogue film
Bride and groom walking arm in arm down a quiet city street after their wedding in Bristol, on colour 35mm analogue film
Groom dipping his bride for a kiss in long grass in Bristol, photographed on black and white 35mm film
Black and white analogue film portrait of a bride in a puff-sleeved gown glancing over her shoulder on the lawn in the Cotswolds
Colour 35mm film photograph of a bride lifting her skirt and laughing as she walks with her groom through a busy street in Bristol
Bride and groom kissing in a doorway beneath an ornate plaster frieze at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, shot on black and white 35mm film with a Leica M6
Bride and groom in sunglasses sharing champagne on a garden bench at Court Farm Standerwick, photographed on Kodak Portra 400 35mm colour film
Wedding guests laughing during the speeches in a marquee wedding, a candid documentary photograph on black and white 35mm film

How I Shoot Film at a Wedding

I carry two or three analogue cameras throughout a wedding day. One is always my Leica M6, a fully manual rangefinder. Alongside it, usually a Canon EOS 3, with a different focal length. Two cameras means I’m never caught reloading at an important moment, and there is always a backup.

My film is almost all 35mm, not medium format, because it lets me be fast and responsive and work in an observational, documentary way. There’s a reason so many of the great documentary photographers used 35mm, and very often a Leica M: it’s small, quiet and never gets in the way.

At your wedding you’ll mostly find me among the guests, photographing how people react to each other. With the formal moments, the best pictures usually come just after. I photograph the speeches, but I take more frames once a speech ends, because that’s when people turn to each other.

35mm analogue film photo in black and white of a bride and groom hugging guests at a wedding in the cotswolds

Film is the heart of the gallery. Digital is there for the dark, the fast and the just-in-case.

Film camera Leica M6 with 35mm & 50mm Summicron lenses, plus Canon EOS 3 and many other wonderful old cameras
Film shot per wedding Usually between 5 and 10 rolls of 35mm at every wedding
Film stocks Kodak Portra 400 & 800 for colour, Kodak Tri-X 400 for black and white
Digital Mainly for family group photos, very dark venues and as a backup
When film comes out All day, I usually shoot family group photos on digital but film is ever present
In your gallery Film and digital delivered together, blended into a beautiful bespoke gallery. Plus you get all the 35mm film shots as 6x4" prints, delivered to your home
Extras Polaroids available as an optional extra
Leica M6 35mm rangefinder film camera used by Bristol Wedding Photographer Tom Brossard

The Leica M6, and why

My main film camera is a Leica M6, with 35mm and 50mm Summicron lenses. It has no autofocus, no screen and no opinions. I set the focus and exposure by hand. That isn’t a limitation, it’s the point. It keeps me aware of the light, and of exactly what I’m asking the camera to do.

What I love is the viewfinder. A rangefinder shows you a little more than the frame, so I can see what’s about to walk into the picture before it does. For observational work, that half-second is everything.

It is also a purely mechanical thing, built to be repaired, not replaced. Mine went away for a service this year and came back six months later. I’ve forgiven it.

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What Happens to the Film?

All my film is developed by Photographique in Bristol. Their lab is a short walk from my front door, so your film never goes in the post, and it’s dropped off for processing on the Monday morning after your wedding. With every roll, I also order 6“×4” prints, which I send to you once your gallery is ready.

I scan the negatives myself at home, using a Sony A7 IV with a macro lens on a beautiful old Leitz copy stand that sits by my desk. This is the time-consuming part. I’m fussy, and I want every frame to be right, and consistent with the rest, before you see it.

Once the film is developed and scanned, it’s woven in with the digital images, so your gallery runs in the order the day happened.

Bride standing behind her seated groom on the gravel drive in front of the blue door at Matara, on colour analogue film
Outdoor wedding ceremony aisle at Drovers Rest with wooden chairs, bright seasonal flowers and a red patterned rug, on colour 35mm film
Wedding guests crowding into a selfie around a garden table of champagne glasses at Priston Mill, a candid documentary photograph on 35mm film
Three wedding guests in bright summer dresses holding cocktails outside the stone barn at Court Farm, photographed on colour 35mm film
Bride and groom squeezed into a photo booth at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, her lace dress spilling out, on black and white 35mm film with flash
Bride hiding behind her bouquet as rose-petal confetti falls on her and her groom after their outdoor ceremony near Bristol, on Portra 400 35mm film
Black and white 35mm film photograph of a bride and groom kissing in a meadow at dusk at Folly Farm, Bristol, her lace train spread across the grass
Wedding guest laughing beneath the chandeliers during the reception at Randolph Hotel in Oxford, a candid moment on colour 35mm film
Two brides in off-the-shoulder satin dresses holding bright dahlia bouquets at Drovers Rest, photographed on colour 35mm film
Bride leaning on her groom’s arm in a sunlit field at golden hour at Priston Mill, a relaxed couple portrait on colour analogue film

In Their Words

“We ended up with loads of great film shots, which added something really special, and it was such a nice touch to receive them once they had been developed.”
— Nicola and Greg - Coombe Lodge
“Being able to have film and Polaroid pictures as well as the digital ones is also a great touch.”
— Ally and Liam - Bristol
A bride and groom at golden hour with sunlight coming through the trees, they hold hands and walk, the groom is holding flowers. Shot on Kodak Portra 400 analogue film in Bristol

Film Wedding Photography across the UK, Italy and Spain

I live in Bristol (Southville to be exact, if you happen to be nearby) and photograph weddings on analogue film across the South West, London and the Cotswolds. From city weddings at Goldney Hall, The Mount Without or Beeses in Bristol to Brunswick House in London, the Randolph Hotel in Oxford or the lovely Matara in the Cotswolds, travel in the UK is included.

I also take a small number of destination weddings each year, and I’m keen to shoot more film in Spain and Italy, particularly Madrid, Barcelona, Tuscany and Lake Como. The film travels in my hand luggage and comes home to Bristol to be developed.

Film Wedding Photography: Questions

  • No. Film is part of every booking, not an add-on.

  • It varies with the day, but film makes up a substantial part of every gallery.

  • Less than you would think. Digital runs alongside all day, I carry backup cameras, and the film goes by hand to a local lab and is never posted.

  • Yes, absolutely. You would simply need to cover the purchase price and processing for the additional rolls of film and we can discuss it.

  • I love both and generally shoot both at every wedding. However if you have a strong preference we can definitely decide on one format. I try to plan the film stock around the lighting and what is happening at the time.

  • For ceremonies in some particularly dark venues (such as churches), I sometimes lean toward digital as the low light performance is better. However at the party, I love shooting film with flash and it has an awesome look.

  • With the full gallery, in around eight weeks.

  • Yes. It goes in hand luggage and is developed back in Bristol, unless I am in Spain and can drop it at Carmencita lab.

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