Scanning Your Own Film at this Pride & Prejudice Inspired Wedding: By Valerie Thompson

THE HERO
This is perhaps my favorite image from the day. I wanted to shoot through the material of the veil, actually hoping for an interesting edge of the veil in the foreground. I got in as close as I reasonably could with my Fuji, low on the ground, and had them face me slightly. John’s sweet gesture with Fallon’s hand was, I believe, entirely organic.

“I have all my film processed at a local lab. Even when I travel I fly with the shot rolls and hand-deliver them to my lab because the idea of mailing film has always stressed me out. They do process-only and cut the negatives for me.

My setup. It’s quite minimal.

I scan the negatives in the film holders my V600 came with. It fits 2 strips of 6 35mm negatives or one strip of 4 120 negatives at a time.”

The Gear and Details

Camera & Lenses:
Canon 1V
Fuji GA645W
Contax G1 & TLA 140
Canon R6s
28-70, 24-70 and 50mm lenses

Coverage: 2 photographers, 12 hours of coverage, 2 days

Photographer: Valerie Thompson

PRIDE & PREJUDICE VIGNETTE
With the sweeping, cinematic vignettes and iconic locations from the film there were a couple of shots in mind from the jump. The stone bridge was one where I knew I wanted a wide, establishing portrait. Those ducks were in the frame entirely coincidentally. I love how they mirror Fallon and John just as the bridge mirrors itself in the water.

“I scan with Silverfast, rather than the Epson native software. It offers more control and I can get a good quality TIFF to work with that acts like a RAW file. I scan all the negatives as positives because I convert them later with Negative Lab Pro.”

Setting the Scene

“The location and season primarily set the tone, with the misty English countryside, rolling hills and turning leaves as the backdrop for the wedding. While cues were pulled from the film Pride & Prejudice, nothing in the design felt too on-the-nose.

Having read Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and seen the film, I did have those in the back of my mind going into the wedding. Ultimately, I suspected a sense of place would be the strongest source of inspiration for me, and I wanted to infuse that into the gallery so I took plenty of establishing shots and B-roll.”

“I import all the scanned negatives into LR and run Negative Lab Pro to convert each negative one at a time, making small adjustments as I go. This is where I see how much latitude my exposures have given each negative, so it’s an exciting step.

Once I’ve converted all my negatives I export them, then do a retouching pass in PS. This is where I do dust removal, clean up edges, etc. I don’t do this on every image, but I go through and flag the images in Bridge that need attention.”

Getting Ready

“Time is precious to me during the getting ready portion of the day. I like for things to unfold at an easy pace, when possible. I’m usually ducking in and out, capturing details and meaningful moments interchangeably. For this couple, also wedding photographers, giving themselves plenty of time to be unhurried was also a priority, so we actually had a fairly leisurely morning together.”

GETTING READY PORTRAIT
Fallon spent a good amount of time relaxing the morning of, and I had this vision of her in her robe and veil, sort of halfway through the preparations, trying to capture that relaxed state. I adore how serene she looks, completely at ease. Shot on my 1V, which combined with the soft backlighting, creates this overall dreaminess to the frame.

A FAVORITE
I love how John looks a little preoccupied in this, I think it aptly captures the mood of the morning and the anticipation of all there was to come. I was aiming for a good, clean shot of him in the window light, but his expression is what sells it most for me.

Ceremony

“The ceremony was planned for outside the Temple of Apollo, but rain came in right around that same time so the call was made to hold it inside the Temple instead. With this came some logistical challenges, and the only light came from an open doorway.

To remain unobtrusive, I decided to have us shoot with only ambient light, strategically positioning ourselves mostly so the couple was lit from the front by the doorway. As it was a tight space anyway, we remained fairly planted but covering opposing perspectives. My second shooter is a trusted friend and she always knows where to be.

The rain was actually perfect because it created this surreal atmosphere that pierced the veil of reality for a brief moment in time, transporting everyone to that famous rain scene in the film.”

ESTABLISHING SHOT
The Temple of Apollo, perched on a hill, overlooks everything. Being a key element, I wanted to really nail setting the scene here. I liked this perspective where it is up above us, a wide shot with layers, highlighted by the lowering light.

Guests ascended a fairly steep hill to get up to the Temple of Apollo, and the way up was flanked by a tunnel of trees and lush growth, leaving these guests silhouetted against the bright temple in the background. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to grab it. Shot on my R6 for a quick snap.

NAILING THE DETAILS
The florist had surrounded the door to the ceremony space with this lush, rambling installation. The obvious shot was from the opposite direction, looking towards the installation, but when I caught a glimpse of the lake like this, with the florals creeping into the edges of the frame as the mist descended it felt like a picture frame.

Portraits

“Stourhead is a fairly sprawling property, so I did scout ahead of time due to sheer logistics and timing needs. Some of the portraits were taken earlier in the day, as we made our way up to the Temple of Apollo for the ceremony. Fallon and John also carved out time after the ceremony for portraits at Stourhead house. The lighting was pretty much overcast all day. I had scouted on a sunnier day, so I knew that we would have flat lighting comparatively.”

UN-PORTRAIT
I love an un-portrait. I believe I just told John and Fallon to walk up the stairs with no other context. We were just starting portraits after they had been mingling with their guests, so they hadn’t fully switched into that headspace. I love how her veil and dress stretch past the lower left corner of the frame. Her looking back while he looks firmly ahead lends the shot a nonchalance I like to look for in portraits.

Reception

“The evening continued nearby, at The Bradley Hare. It was cold and windy outside so guests stayed warm between a candlelit tent in the courtyard, and the cozy interior of the inn’s pub. Stepping through the canvas door to the tent there was this warm, protected feel on the inside, so dinner and toasts were shot with ambient light to bring that feeling into the gallery. Even with 800 speed film, the light was low, so I focused on digital coverage for toasts and expressions, and for some more atmospheric candlelight images I bumped my shutter speed low and held my breath.” (IYKYK)

“We pulled out flashes for dancing and personality pics. I really like my Fuji for this, and it’s when I like to give it a bit of a Holga treatment. The built-in flash is fairly powerful and it makes for a fun, quick dancefloor camera. I also like the aspect ratio for the dance floor.”

Closing Thoughts

“Scanning your own film is a time-consumptive but incredibly rewarding process. I know it’s not for everyone, but I am a slow, methodical worker by nature and I’ve always enjoyed the act of losing an afternoon making something. It has allowed me to be so much more connected to the image-making process, from reading lighting, metering and making exposure choices through to how that shows up in the final image in measured ways.”

— Valerie Thompson