Villa del Sol d'Oro Engagement Session | Eva + Johnny
One of my favorite parts about weddings is the people I get to work with, both clients and other vendors. Last year at Jinny & Adam’s wedding at Greystone Mansion, I had a pleasure of meeting and working alongside Lindsey Hirschler, who was the photographer while I was the videographer. Lindsey and I just instantly clicked and worked so well together, and she was a film photographer which absolutely fascinated me.
Even since before I starting shooting photography professionally, I’ve been drawn to the “fine art film” look, even without knowing what that was. Since starting my business, all my work has been inspired by that film look (bright, classic, timeless), so I knew I’d eventually want to start shooting film myself.
So when I hit it off with Lindsey, I just knew I wanted to learn from her, despite her living all the way across the country from me! So the next time she came to LA, I knew I had to do a mentorship with her.
Why do a mentorship?
Film photography is kind of a whole different ballgame from digital. You don’t have the immediate feedback of whether or not you got the shot, you have to meter the light and hope you got the exposure right in camera (whereas digital you can retake the photo if necessary and edit it heavily if the exposure wasn’t right), and it’s so. costly. While yes, a mentorship is a fairly big investment, I figured it’d be a better experience to learn from a seasoned pro rather than make expensive mistakes on my own. Getting film processed and scanned can turn into a 2-week process, and if I were entirely learning on my own, it would take such a long time to get to point I can actually start shooting film for my clients. By going the route of a mentorship, I can immediately start implementing film into my workflow, which I am SO excited for!
Why should a client care about whether something was shot on film vs. digital?
There are a few main reasons I wanted to start shooting actual film rather than rely on digital photos that are inspired by film.
1) Shooting film gives me a consistent look, meaning clients will know exactly what they’re going to get!
2) Shooting film makes me slow down, giving us a better experience connecting with each other, and in turn I can capture YOU more accurately.
3) Film photography has a special look to it that non-creatives might not understand on the surface but deep down know there’s something making it stand out. One is the bokeh (depth of field aka “blurry background”) being softer and dreamier, and another is the highlight retention, meaning I can make an image bright without losing the details in the highlights.
What difference does film make for the client?
Really there’s NO difference! You don’t have to deal with developing or anything, that’s all on me. You still receive JPGs of the photos in an online gallery, just as if I were doing all digital! The only thing you should be concerned about is whether you like the photographer’s style, and it doesn’t matter whether they achieve that with digital or with film.
Overall I am SO happy to have done this mentorship with Lindsey, and I can’t wait to shoot more film this year!!
Florals: Nancy Lobo Designs
Scanning done by Goodman Film Lab
