In June of 2021, a friend and I stopped at random store on our way to catch a flight to Maui. While grabbing something from the electronics department, we saw some waterproof disposable film cameras and thought “hey, those would probably be fun for our trip!” so we picked a couple up, and thought nothing more of it. I shot those 27 images all over the island, sent the camera off, and when the film scans came back, I fell IN LOVE with the results. It had been maybe 9 years since I shot any film back in college, but the whole process and the satisfaction of getting to finally see the photos you took long after you took them was a whole different kind of excitement than digital photography has ever been able to provide. Film just has this certain look to it that is filled with nostalgia, like looking through your parents old photo albums. It’s imperfect, it’s gritty, and it’s unapologetically exactly what is captured; nothing more and nothing less. No editing, no presets, no photoshop.
Shortly after getting that first roll back, a little lightbulb hit me: I should be including this in my wedding packages!
So over the rest of the 2021 wedding season, I took disposable cameras to a majority of my weddings to capture all the highlights of the day alongside my digital cameras, and now I can confidently tell you that YOU NEED FILM PHOTOS ON YOUR WEDDING DAY. Since June of 2021, I have become so totally obsessed with film that I’ve upgraded to a really quality point and shoot film camera, hoarded all different kinds of film stock, and am so excited to put what I’ve learned about shooting analog to practice on future weddings, travels, and so much more!
Here’s all of my most favorite images I’ve captured on film, so far. I’ve also created an Instagram account to share my adventures in film, so if you’d like to join me in that journey, follow @jessicashootsfilm!
WEDDINGS ON DISPOSABLE FILM
TRAVELS + LANDSCAPES ON DISPOSABLE FILM
