You decide the wedding you want to have and who gets to partake. If you want to plaster “Just Married” on the rear window of your lowered Toyota Cressida then let’s do it! Elsa and Andrew had a very simple wedding day but I think you’ll agree that these photos make it look like a wild day. That is the power of photography, right place, right time.
We shot Elsa + Andrew’s Kitsap County courthouse wedding on a mix of digital and film but what I’m sharing is primarily analog film in 35mm and 120 format. I shot on these with a Nikon F100, Contax G1 and some portraits with the Pentax 67. Film stocks utilized were Kodak Tri-X 400, Cinestill 400D, Kodak Gold 200.
Small events can be incredibly fun, I love it when my couples are living in the moment and allow me to be there to catch it all.
Raquel and Tyler tied the knot during a intimate wedding ceremony shared with their close family members. This small wedding took place at the W.W Seymour Conservatory located in Wright Park in Tacoma, WA in the Spring of 2025. We opted to shoot this event with a hybrid setup, meaning a mix of digital photos and a mix of film photos. I brought along some of my favorite analog film cameras including the Contax G1 rangefinder and the Mamiya C220 TLR. I think we came away with some stunning images that really captured the vibe of the day. I love working on small events like this, very little agenda, just pure magic. Film exposes differently and reacts differently to light than digital, so even the same settings on the cameras can produce different results. I like the soft, rich and textured feel of film and love to shoot it when it makes sense for the event.
A long overdue post back from the 2020 COVID era – I certainly wasn’t the only photographer who came across this idea and had fun with it. To photograph people in our community from the CDC social distancing guidelines. Observe the boundary placed before us and make something with it.
Shot on a few formats – the bulk of what is shown is shot on a Pentax 6×7 medium format body with the 105/2.4 lens; there’s a couple shot on the Mamiya 645 1000s. All black and white images are shot on Kodak TriX 400 film. I hand processed the negatives at home and scanned these myself using the Epson V500 flatbed scanner. The color shots were shot on the long discontinued and Fuji Fp-100c peel-a-part film, shot using the Intrepid 4×5 Field Camera and Nikkor 180/5.6 and a Polaroid back.
I had quite a bit of difficulty with the instant peel-a-part film and the Intrepid Camera. For me it’s far too janky to be trust worthy in the field – the Polaroid back is bulky and the camera isn’t stable enough to support it all. The ground glass “locking” mechanism isn’t strong enough to lock things in effectively. Additionally lining up the shot was difficult as the peel-a-part film isn’t the same format as the 4×5 camera so the coverage is different.
Every now an again I shoot a wedding that is difficult to edit, not because of the content, but rather because the event produced so many quality images it makes it hard to choose favorite images. When you’re planning your wedding it’s hard to imagine the outcome sometimes, so what’s best in my opinion is to create an environment for good energy and vibe, pray for weather and then ensure that those who you love are there and everything should fall into place.
Another crucial factor in being able to create a lot of great images is the benefit of time. I cannot understate how critical it is to hire your photographer for the full length of your day and to stretch the day to allow for gaps of freedom and peace throughout the hectic affairs of the day. I could go on and on about all of things Nalina and Peter did right with their special day, so I’ll keep it limited to the details featured in the photos I’ve selected to share.
The fine details were well thought out in advance and Nalina is a great delegator. The wedding website was designed by Peter and he also designed all of the invitations and matchbooks. The venue is Peter’s parents property with excellent beachfront access on Case Inlet in Allyn, WA. An excellent site for hosting guests, Nalina and Peter would frequent the property with workers in tow to scour the beach for attractive driftwood and rocks, cleaning the ones that are to be displayed. Beach combing was ultimately necessary as the ceremony was to be held on the beach, with our intrepid groom Peter making his entrance via boat.
The family style dinner was very social and jovial. Guests recounting their last encounters over drinks, kids running around until being wrangled in for their dinner. Dinner made way to very moving toasts by those closest to Nalina and Peter. The stones which adorned the tables were taken by the guests out to the shore and tossed into Case Inlet with a wish of good fortune for the Bride and Groom.
Maggie initially came to me looking to ask a series of interview questions for her blog www.the-social-sister.com which features local businesses in and around Tacoma. I answered her questions and chatted for a bit and then offered her some portraits for her personal promotion. All said everything worked out and she even had her Uncle bring his vintage Sears moped scooter down for the shoot!
Hosting studio days is always fun. It can be a long day if I have it booked for a full 8hrs and have it packed with shoots, but it has it’s rewards.
Oneal got a hold of me to do a session with her then-new fiance Ryan (they’ve sinced eloped!). I told them coordinate wardrobe and show up camera ready and boy howdy did they deliver! We had a great time shooting their set and their outfits and expression are more than I could have asked for.
Natural light brings out the best in everyone I shoot!
