Lancashire Wedding Photographer: Portra 800

I've recently bought myself a 35mm SLR camera... that takes actual film! I've never really been too fussed about using film if I'm honest. When I started getting into photography at college we used film.. and the first year of my degree taught me a fair bit about developing, scanning and printing the old fashioned way. But then the darkrooms were ripped out and replaced with fancy schmanzy flat screen Macs... and since then it's been digital all the way.

Recently though, I've started to notice that the photographers who are really inspiring me have a different look about their work... and that look comes from using film. It really does do something a little special to an image... creamy, dreamy colours and a soft, pretty focus. I've been doing a little experimenting since my camera arrived and have been loving it! Really getting back to basics and thinking carefully about each shot I take.

A few of my lovely photographer friends are interested in film too... so we decided to get together for a little shoot so we could really get used to our cameras and have a good play. Nothing too official... just a fun afternoon and a little practise to see what we could come up with.

I got my scans back yesterday from the fab UK Film Lab and was so excited to download them and see what my images were like. I was pleasantly surprised too! My shots are far from perfect but I totally love the colours and dreamy light. I think I've caught the bug :)

Huge thanks to Laura and Ellie for volunteering to be models so we didn't have to pose for each other! And to Sam and Lucy for sharing tips and ideas....