FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
WHY DO YOU SHOOT ONLY FILM?
I could talk for days about my choice to work exclusively on film, but the short answer is that I believe film to be the better tool for the job. There's nothing digital camera can do on a wedding day that film won’t do better except shooting high quantities of images at a short time, which is not my approach anyways. So I prefer to put all my focus on the cameras that will actually produce the best work I can give my clients.
Film is versatile, consistent, and can be used to turn almost any scene into a beautiful image. On top of that, film is at the core of my photographic approach, my commitment to create work that prioritises quality over quantity, and my promise to deliver a highly curated and unique body of work to my clients. While shooting only on film requires more attention, more expertise and (much) higher costs, it is also true that, for me, it's the best way to express my creative voice and keep pushing myself to produce work I am proud of.
WHAT IS YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLE?
I call my approach documentary (or photojournalistic), but I use the term loosely. What that means is that I try to work with as much creative freedom as I can, but the ground on which I stand is life itself. I don't believe there's such a thing as the "real" photographic representation of a moment - once a moment comes and goes, it opens itself to infinite possible interpretations or narratives, and many of these can be called true. So I think it matters to know that I'll bring my very own pair of eyes to any wedding day, along with a lot of empathy, energy, and a deep and ever-growing understanding of my craft, as well as a genuine willingness to dive into the story that is to unfold in front. With that said, I don't pose my couples and I don't try to manufacture moments or emotions that are not already there.
WILL WE RECEIVE DIGITAL FILES OF MY PHOTOS?
Yes, of course! I'm counter-current but I am reasonable :) While I think it’s extremely important to have your photos in physical, touchable form, I also understand how important it is to have them online and as digital files. Your negatives will be scanned and turned into high-res jpg files, and these will be delivered to you through an online gallery that you can also share with friends and family. Your files will be ready to download and your gallery stays online for a year.
IS FILM RISKY?
It depends on who is shooting it :)
Film is not inherently riskier than digital. Neither medium is failure-free, what changes is the type of things that can go wrong with each. Knowing each of these risks and working hard to minimise the chance of them happening is your photographer’s job. I work with a zero-risk policy - I don’t like things going wrong and I do all I can to avoid even the tiniest little mistake. This means knowing my cameras, knowing my film stock, measuring light, having backups, working with a trusted professional film lab and many other decisions both big and small that I make on every wedding to ensure that the work will be good and will come out as expected. In other words, just knowing what I’m doing.
IS FILM GOOD ONLY IN NATURAL LIGHT?
Not at all. While film doesn’t have the extremely high light sensitivity of modern digital cameras, it’s still sensitive enough to handle most situations, and it works very well with flash, so flash can be used for all situations where there’s not enough available light (think some candle-lit dinners, pitch black hotel corridors, dance floors).
DO WE RECEIVE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS?
Yes, of course! By default, I shoot 30-35% of the wedding using BW film, but this will be thoroughly discussed with you during our pre-wedding talks so that the final proportion meets your expectations and personal preferences - I can either increase the BW portion or decrease it if it suits your preferences.
CAN WE BOOK YOU BEFORE WE SECURE THE VENUE?
If you plan to use a wedding venue for your wedding, I strongly recommend securing the date with them first before booking me. Even if you are already in the process of booking the venue, things can very quickly change before the contract is signed. All my bookings are based on dates and can’t be changed later on, so it’s very important to make sure you’ll be able to have your wedding on that date before we finalise everything. With that being said, if you'd like to get in touch to check which dates I still have available before closing with the venue, please feel free to do so.
CAN YOU STILL SHOOT FILM IF IT RAINS?
Yes, absolutely! While I do think I’m pretty lucky and most of my weddings end up being sunny even when the forecast says otherwise, I have documented the occasional wedding where it rained from start to finish and it was equally special - just wet. All my weddings are documented 100% on film without any issues, regardless of the weather. If it rains a lot, I'll just need an umbrella like everyone else.
WHERE ARE YOU BASED?
I am based in Europe and split my time between Portugal, France and The Netherlands, but you can find me all over the place during wedding seaso. Most of my weddings happen in France, Italy, Amsterdam, Portugal and London. I also spend part of the winter months in Brazil.
WHAT DOES THE FILM PROCESS LOOK LIKE?
Once the wedding is done, I'll take all film rolls to my trusted lab in Lisbon or Paris for developing and scanning. Once the images are scanned and sent back to me, I’ll go over all of them and make the final selection and edits. Around 5 weeks after the wedding, you then receive your final gallery. I also offer darkroom prints and contact sheets of your images as an add-on - as artisanal as it can possibly get.