My Story of the Imperfect Perfection of Film in Wedding Photography

I was always looking for a way to earn money on the side with something I love and escape the suffering of nursing. When Corona pushed things to the limit in 2020, I started taking selfies with my phone and playing around with photos. Instagram wasn’t new anymore, and people just posted whatever came to mind. So I started taking photos with my Sony Alpha 5000, which I used for vlogging back then. Here a traffic light, there a tree, and here an old car. But I couldn’t get away from the question of “how can I make money with it,” so I started calling for couples to photograph for my portfolio.

After 2-3 couples, I had my first portfolio wedding, 10 hours for €100. The main thing was that I could show the pictures. Being a wedding photographer seemed to bring me so much satisfaction that I reduced my main job and had 10 weddings under my belt by 2021.

My brother (@felixroediger) has been involved in photography for a long time and has been my inspiration for film photography. Since I always put 100% into things I like, I bought my first analogue camera, the first development kit, and the first Kodak Tri-x 400 at the beginning of 2021 and photographed my first model. As a safety net, I always had my digital camera with me to have a preview.

The great love which brings problems

In short, this was the beginning of a great love. One problem was that it led me to no longer be able to see my digital images. They were too sharp, too perfect, didn’t have the colors I wanted, and black and white was always somehow different than the previous photo. I took an unspeakably long time for a wedding because I didn’t like the editing at all. Apart from being a preset pusher who had no idea what a curve really does. I started to incorporate black and white film at weddings and occasionally shot a color film, and to my dismay, it made everything even worse; I wanted more. I wanted to photograph weddings on film.

Discovering the right Inspiration

So I looked for photographers who shoot weddings on film and came across Jen-huang or “the wedding photographers,” who had the typical American pastel look! At first, I thought this was great but couldn’t imagine exposing Fuji400H at 200 and in the shadows at weddings, where everything has to go quickly. This made me depressed! How should I deal with the fact that photography is important to me, my digital images don’t appeal to me, and analogue wedding photos simply seemed too complex and impossible?
Until I was able to speak with a photographer who shoots weddings on film in London and beyond and whose images are simply amazing and have already been featured on Vogue weddings. Naomi Goggin (Link). I asked her how she measures exposure in her assignments,
and she just said, “I either use the internal exposure meter of my camera or none at all.”

The First Wedding without a Safety net

In September 2022, I was able to shoot my first wedding only on film without any digital backup. I brought 7 cameras and 40 packs of film, and stayed for 3 days.What should I say? It was awesome! My motivation rose immeasurably, so I decided that starting from 2023, I will only shoot weddings on film. Klemens Wichmann should stand for THE film wedding photographer. Think big was the motto, so I deleted all my Instagram accounts and left one, revamped my website, and placed ads to be able to show off my portfolio weddings in 2023. Additionally, I will fly to Mallorca at the end of March and to Paris at the beginning of October to further position myself. I just love spreading the good news about analogue photography.

The Why

My reason for doing this is multifaceted. Primarily, I love the idea that each image is unique, as each photo costs money and should be used well. In a world full of filters and the
fast pace of things, analog wedding photography brought me back to the really important things. How important the right memories really are, how important it is to live mindfully, and how beautiful it can be to not let everything pass you by. We are not perfect! We are just right the way we are. And so are my pictures, perfectly imperfect and just right. Each image or Super8 video feels like a rediscovered memory that becomes timeless and can be relived over and over again. And that fits soooo well into the wedding industry. The day is so important that you shouldn’t let it pass you by, but rather enjoy it. I try to let calm and coziness flow into the day wherever possible. And let’s be honest, what doesn’t look awesome when shot on film? While others show up with their digital cameras, I show up with a €50 Holga 120 and play around with double exposures or experiment with flash and bulb release. I love it when each image holds a surprise. A light leak, a color shift, or a special light. And then turn the whole thing into a beautiful print in my darkroom, it’s like meditating. The process fills me with joy and trust in a beautiful image. And if I’m honest, my self-confidence grows much bigger and insecurity disappears!

My way of working

But how does all of this work at weddings? After the inquiry, there is a detailed pre-talk, because I think it’s super important that we fit together and understand each other and the couple is informed exactly how I work and what they will get in the end. I plan the whole day in my head so that I can pull out the right film at the right moments, but often I have two or three cameras with me, one with color film, one with black and white film, and if video is booked, a Super8 with KodakVision50D, 200T or 500T.

But the most important thing is that I don’t follow the typical standard. I deliberately and subconsciously underexpose, take intentionally blurry pictures, or only photograph in black and white when necessary. I plan for about 20 films. 10 color and 10 black and white, but I would like to move more towards black and white due to the cost of film. We’ll see how I develop in that regard. With color film, I try to use all of them, as each film deserves attention, and with black and white, I stick to Fomapan 400. I also bring Polaroids so that I can give a small preview the next day. After the wedding, my color films go to my trusted lab, Urban Film Lab. Tobi is simply the best, he does everything to get “my” look, if I even have one. I develop all the black and white films myself. At this point, it would say that the couple gets 400 pictures, but I want to move away from this “How many pictures will we get?” Because whether it’s more or less, the most important and unnoticed moments are captured and the day can be relived with the help of the pictures.

In the end, film just makes everything better and we should do everything we can to preserve the possibility of shooting on film.

My FilmLab: urbanfilmlab.com
Naomi Goggin: naomigogginphoto.com
Website: klemenswichmann.com
Instagram: instagram.com/klemenswichmann
Youtube (German): @klemenswichmann

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