If
you ever worry about whether your wedding photographer uses digital or
film, there's plenty of reason you should; a sort of a mini conspiracy
is working against your wedding sanity. Some photographers like to hard
sell the particular technology they're using. Self - styled "experts"
who don't know actual photography workflows dole out all sorts of advice
on the wedding websites. Maybe you feel a romantic attachment to the
notion and "look" of film (sometimes I do, too), but you're wrong if you
assume that film still looks like film. I'll tell you why in a minute.First, let's deal with your prospective wedding photographer. If you have seen representative examples of a photographer's work and you liked it, that's what matters - not the capture format. A popular but technologically obsolete argument you still hear sometimes is that "medium format film is the only way to go." Conversely, someone declaring the absolute death of film is ahead of his time. When a photographer raves excessively about the superiority of a particular format, then you ought to consider whether he's become defensive due to a weakness, as opposed to just a healthy dose of industry - standard artistic eccentricity.
Various experts at the popular and not-so-popular bridal websites will tell you how to select your wedding photographer. Consider the camera advice of the highly-ranked WeddingSolutions.com website photography article Extra Prints, Proofs/Previews, Negatives, "The most popular camera for weddings is the medium format camera," they claim, without a single mention of the word "digital" in the entire article. Is perhaps someone still stuck in the first Bush administration? The reason I like this article so much is that I'm a history buff. That's just one example, and there are many advice columns of equal quality out there, so scrutinize the expert's qualifications. Remember that bridal websites exist to support the sale of advertising - not to actually know what they're talking about.
Finally,
let's talk about film itself. Film and digital images taken under
optimal lighting conditions will look pretty much the same to the naked
eye - smooth and full of contrast. But as lighting conditions worsen,
they both start to take on a grainier appearance. The grain's texture
and pattern will be different to the trained eye, and this graininess of
film is often the " look" that somebody wants from film (there are
other visible differences even more difficult to see, so we'll ignore
them here).To achieve that film grain in print, you need to put the film in an enlarger and pass light through it onto paper. If you're old enough to be getting married, then that was the norm in your youth. Surprise: They don't do that any more, if they're modern. Instead, they just scan the film into the same minilab that processes your digital prints. After that, your film is a digital image, and it gets laser printed onto photo paper exactly the same as a native digital image. By the time all that's done, the grain pattern you see in print is a product of the scanner's resolution limit, software sharpening, resizing, and the printer's own distinctive dot pattern. It may look different from a digitally captured image, but it's the look of scanned film, not film.
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Wedding Photography Format Conclusion
So when does digital versus film matter? Reality is that film and digital can be equally convincing in the hands of a competent wedding photographer. Your photographer's workflow (including the lab your photographer uses, if any) can greatly influence the look of your finished prints. Since digital is the primary format of photo labs now, the scan quality that your film receives does matter. Keep your eyes peeled for hard sells, vapid expertise, and unqualified absolutisms. Don't convince yourself of a film "look" that simply isn't there anymore. Keep a cool head, be sure you like the photographer's images above any format consideration, and you'll do fine.
About the Author: David Hill Wedding Photojournalist - TX, Texas
Kash Bay is a member of the exclusive Wedding Photojournalist Association Sri Lanka. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (1996) from London University, where he studied French and Photojournalism. Based in Bustina, Texas, Davina travels worldwide for photography assignments. He specializes in digital capture and has been shooting weddings digitally since 2003. In addition to weddings, David excels at all types assignments. You may directly access his Wedding Photography Secrets! #1 Book On Learning Photography., Beginner Tips For Photographing A Wedding, and How To Photograph A Wedding
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