My girls have fallen head-over-heels in love with film photography. They all took film classes in high school, learned the darkroom, learned the ins and outs of how it all works, the depth of the beauty it can create, and they LOVE it.

This should be gratifying to me because I, too, fell in love with film years ago. That’s what started my whole love of photography. My old Nikon film camera, my permanent attachment when I started shooting pictures of baby Max all those years ago will always be a prize possession. I never thought digital could take it’s place…film was too deep, too beautiful.

But gradually I got with the digital bandwagon. Dave bought me a digital camera for Christmas when Claire was a baby, and although I was hesitant to make the jump, I did it. Oh so much easier…so much less hassle. No film and darkrooms to worry about. No more dropping film off and waiting for it to be developed. I got so taken by digital photography that I couldn’t seem to understand the girls’ obsession. Isn’t that funny?

So when Elle insisted we needed at least a few disposable film cameras for the wedding I chuckled and agreed. Sure, I’m all for as much documentation as possible, especially at a time like this when we didn’t have a photographer. Really, though, a disposable camera? Can’t be that awesome.

But when Elle sent us the recently developed photos a couple weeks ago I fell so in love with them. That grain, the casual imperfections. Maybe it just brought me back to my film roots. Maybe it’s just because I love the people in them so much. Maybe it’s because I love the photographers so much (Grace, Claire & Abby all had one), and that they caught such good, candid moments.

Whatever it was, my heart spilled over when I looked through them, so I just wanted to share some of my favorites.

(vows)
Carson’s mom brought these masks for them and had Grace write “just married” on them…
such great reminder of these crazy days we were deeply enveloped in when they got married!
out of order, but I guess they were testing out the cameras en route to the wedding site…

The black and white ones were a little more grainy (probably a higher ISO, but I didn’t even get a look at the cameras), which perhaps made me love them even more.

There you go. Just a little film love for a Tuesday afternoon.

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16 Comments

  1. I do love what you point out about the grain of the film. I haven’t made a switch to a good digital camera. Can you or have you previously linked some good digital cameras to invest in for a first timer with digital? I went from film to the camera on my phone – which does not have good quality. I have been in search for a good digital camera for a year now.

    1. I wish I had a good recommendation for you…I haven’t been in the camera market for so long and it changes so fast. I know there are lots of sites that rank cameras and their different pros and cons. Good luck finding something you love!

  2. I LOVE these photos, and I love the wedding… just everything about it! We are living in weird times, no doubt, but the love is SO strong and evident in these photos. Sometimes Plan B (or C, D, E, etc) can be just as awesome, if not more. I’ve learned that in my own life. PS: You don’t have to say specific location, but was the ceremony in the Moab area? We did a road trip through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming & Utah this past September – Moab was BEAUTIFUL! The terrain in these photos remind me of Moab.

    1. I want to spend some good time in Moab…it IS so beautiful! I haven’t been since I was in high school. This place was right next to the Glen Canyon overlook in Page, Arizona. It is a pretty gorgeous spot and will always hold a special spot in our hearts!

  3. I saw the request above for first time digital camera recommendations but would you have a good rec for an almost 11 year old who would love a camera for her upcoming birthday? Thank you!

  4. Love these pictures! I still have our old film camera, a very nice one I bought just months before digital ones came out! HA!

  5. Oh my goodness! Do those black and white ones remind you of the film we would develop in Romania??? I love this ❤️❤️❤️

  6. i love these! i’d love to know – were these just basic kodiak/fujifilm/etc? did you send them in somewhere to get digital prints? congratulations!

    1. hi shawni! still wondering about how you/elle prefer to get these printed or scanned or what. i was inspired to get some disposable cameras but am having a hard time finding somewhere to get them developed that isnt on a CD! thank you!!

      1. Sorry this took me a while to get back to, I was trying to get a hold of Elle to ask her. I haven’t had film developed in years but I’m totally going to try some this summer. She says you can look up places that will develop online and they usually send the digital files through dropbox to your email. They also give the negatives back. She has a place in Hawaii she likes but that doesn’t help much! I’d recommend googling good places near you and you should get some good information that way. If I figure out more when I get some ready to develop I’ll be sure to let you know!

        1. Oh that’s okay – thank you so much! I will definitely look into places with Dropbox, that seems to be the fastest of what I’ve found. It’s truly been so fun having disposables around the last few weeks – being more intentional with every picture (vs. ending up with 3-10 versions of the same photo on my phone!), and I am so looking forward to re-living the memories at the end of the summer. Thank you again!!

  7. Nice photos! It’s true, film photography does have its charm. But if you think about it, maybe the imperfections make it so special? There are plenty plugins and software out there emulating different types of film (like DXO filmpack), so it’s fairly easy to make a digital photo look like it was shot on film, but the other way around seems so much harder.

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