My first foray into photographing a wedding with 35mm film was a great success. I photographed two friends just outside Lakes Entrance, in Victoria, Australia. It was a scenic spot that backed onto the water, we were blessed with a nice sunset behind the sand dunes.
I took all the shots on a black Nikon FE. I’ve had an irrational liking for all things Nikon, but I constantly find myself gravitating back towards the Canon AE-1 Program with a 50mm f1.8 lens. The Canon has a much brighter viewfinder that makes it so much easier to photograph with. With a lesser importance is the ergonomics of the Canon AE-1 Program, it just feels good in your hands, the ergonomics are all right, I don’t have to grip it tightly to keep it in my hand. It can just hang there. The other difference is the fully Auto mode, whereas the Nikon FE has to have the aperture manually adjusted, I’m a bit of a lazy photographer at times and when the decisive moment counts, you don’t want to be missing a shot because you haven’t adjusted the aperture correctly.
I wanted to take a slightly different approach to photographing this wedding. Remember back in the old days how people would pose for photos? They wouldn’t smile, instead, they stared into the lens with a steady gaze and an almost expressionless face. I wanted to recreate that, and with the vintage aesthetic of the 35mm film, I think it worked.
I got the photos developed at Photo Continental in Mt. Gravatt, which recently has closed down. For future film developing, I’ll be getting it done at The Edge Photography in Melbourne.
The shots were taken on T-Max 400 shot at standard conditions with no pushing or pulling.
