16 Best Film Wedding Photographers of 2024

More and more shooters are attracted by the charm of film wedding photography and experiment with it looking for new ideas and inspiration. This article provides info about famed film wedding photographers who will inspire you with their creative and fresh works.

Some of these professionals have shot many world-famous celebrity weddings, others are more into fashion and editorial sets. Some of these shooters prefer taking romantic photos, and a lot of photographers use the documentarian approach to their work.

Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Jose Villa is the founder of Fine Art style in wedding photography. In 2011, he published his book "Fine art weddings photography. How to capture images with style for the modern bride?". Jose Villa started his career as a photographer twenty years ago and nowadays he is considered as one of the world’s most popular shooters.

Martha Stewart Weddings, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue awarded him with the title of the top Wedding Photographer. PDN named him as one of the most prominent shooters of our time.

Jose Villa became famous for his wedding portraits. He is also praised for his harmonious and classic wedding film photography works. Villa worked as a main photographer at the weddings of such famous couples as Justin Bieber & Hailey Baldwin, Nick Jonas & Priyanka Chopra.

Location: New York, NY

Elizabeth is one of the top 10 wedding photographers by Pop Photo and American PHOTO, and one of the 25 trendsetters by Modern Bride. Now her photos appear in such magazines as Us Weekly, Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, and Professional Photographer, and she has been featured in Rangefinder and Professional Photographer.

Elizabeth Messina is famous for specializing in intimate and aesthetic film wedding photography. But she received even more popularity as a photographer, who is fond of shooting women.

The couples often recruit this talented specialist for newborn, maternity, engagement, or boudoir photography. Messina believes that understanding subjects, location, shooting with natural light, and exposing are the key elements of success.

Location: Miami, FL

With many years of experience working in the fields of fashion and fine art portrait photography, KT Merry takes well-balanced images of special life moments capturing real emotions and conveying a romantic atmosphere to tell the love story of a couple.

KT Merry`s main rule of shooting a wedding is arriving a day in advance at the location. She carefully explores all the corners, lightning and looks for the best angles. She mainly uses medium format film for her photos, paying huge attention to shapes, textures, and colors.

Location: Portland, OR

Erich McVey is widely regarded as one of the most prominent wedding, editorial, and portrait photographers who prefer shooting with medium format cameras, capturing natural light and stunning views. Using a documentarian approach and following fine art wedding photography styles, Erich McVey can produce appealing images that are bound to evoke sincere emotions.

Erich McVey is a talented shooter with remarkable results in film wedding photography. Since the beginning of his ten-year career, he has traveled to various parts of the world shooting a great variety of celebrations and taking stunning photos in different settings. Whether he works on the top of the snowy mountains or shoots a beautiful sunset in a dark forest, the result is always amazing.

Some leading wedding magazines awarded him with the title of one of the most prominent wedding photographers. Moreover, Belle Lumiere Magazine nominated Erich McVey as a film photographer of the year two times. His beautiful shots have appeared in elite bridal journals like Martha Stewart Weddings or Brides Magazine.

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Caroline Tran is a talented photographer, who lives in Los Angeles. She shoots weddings, specializes in portrait and lifestyle photography. Her intimate maternity photography enchanted many people. When working in the field of wedding film photography, she tries to preserve the unique atmosphere of this memorable celebration in the images.

Caroline has tried photography in college as an art minor but after earning her Master`s degree in Education and working as a high school physics teacher, she started shooting full time. She became popular due to positive reviews published on the net by her clients. After six months of successful work, Caroline became popular and began to receive many orders.

Location: Charleston, CA

Corbin Gurkin is fond of romantic photography that is always in trend. Her professional shots feature a soft color scheme similar to Italian Renaissance pictures. She produces images with rich textures that characterize her aesthetic style.

Corbin practices film wedding photography in various places and countries including Thailand, Ireland, etc. She chooses various settings from beautiful beaches to stunning mountainous villages.

She regularly sells her shots to some of the most fashionable and famous bridal journals like Martha Stewart Weddings, Harper’s Bazaar, and more. Corbin also provided photographing services to world-famous celebrity couples like Sophie Turner & Joe Jonas.

Location: Atlanta, GA

Aaron Delesie is a popular photographer, who shoots various events while traveling to different destinations. There are many celebrities among his clients including Chrissy Teigen & John Legend, The Bachelor for ABC, etc. Film wedding photography is one of his most favorite genres.

Aaron Delesie is famous for his classic, clean and candid photography. However, he is also active as a portrait shooter.

This talented professional publishes his photos in foreign journals, as well as various media outlets in the USA. He also sells his works to some famous and trendy magazines including Oprah, Harper’s Bazaar, Time, Martha Stewart, and others.

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Heather Waraksa began her career as a photographer in 1998. Since 2003 she has been engaged in wedding film photography achieving great success in this field. Her elegant works convey a genuine atmosphere of the event and attract the viewers’ attention with a unique style.

When shooting weddings, Heather Waraksa does everything possible to satisfy her couples with stunning portrait photos, emotional shots, as well as with vibrant wedding party pictures. She is also fond of taking spontaneous shots and tries to pay attention to every detail of the event.

Heather approaches every photoshoot holistically, taking into consideration the style of each couple, their values or needs. Harper’s Bazaar named her as one of the leading Wedding Photographers.

Location: Charleston, SC

Olivia Rae James is a famous photographer who is fond of taking candid photos and is known for producing touching images. Such leading bridal journals as Harper’s Bazaar and Condé Nast Brides named her as one of the world’s greatest wedding photographers.

When working in the field of wedding film photography, she tries to catch the splendor of every moment. Besides, Olivia encourages people to feel relaxed while being photographed and does her best to capture the individual features of every guest.

She draws inspiration from every detail like the light, the bride’s veil that is flying in the wind, kind grandmother’s smile – all spontaneous moments that create an atmosphere of celebration.

Location: Los-Angeles, CA

With over twenty years of experience in the field of photography, Norman & Blake have already worked in various countries like France, Greece, Thailand, etc. Their professional shots attract the attention of viewers from around the world. Norman & Blake’ photos were published in such famous journals as Brides, Vogue, The Knot, Martha Stewart, as well as on many online recourses. Their favorite genre is film wedding photography.

After working together several times, Shannen and Emily concluded that together they can capture the whole picture of the event better as two pairs of eyes can cover more extensive space and catch each significant moment. In 2017 they decide to start working together permanently.

 Nowadays, their company is based in Los Angeles, but they don’t stick to one place and work in various cities, and even states. Their photography is elegant, sophisticated, sometimes funny, and filled with energy.

Location: Southern California

Troy and Aimee are a married couple who provide wedding film photography services in Southern California. Having many years of experience, this tandem of professionals has already worked at numerous beautiful wedding ceremonies capturing stunning sceneries and drawing inspiration from the couples they shoot.

Troy and Aimee are known for their fresh and original images with many tiny but essential details. Harper’s Bazaar included this creative couple into the list of the world’s Top Wedding Photographers. Besides, their photos were published in such leading magazines as People Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Flutter Magazine, US Weekly, amongst others.

Location: Los-Angeles, CA

Rebecca Yale is considered as one of the most popular wedding and travel shooters. She lives in Los Angeles. She studied the art of photography at New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study and got a B.A. degree.

After learning fashion and documentary photography, Rebecca developed her unique shooting style. Her shots are candid and underline the best features of a person. While doing film wedding photography, Rebecca pays attention to three main aspects – light, dynamic composition, and flattering angle.

Location: Tampa, FL

Jacqui Cole is a professional shooter fond of editorial photography, as well as film wedding photography. While shooting wedding ceremonies, Jacqui Cole captures the splendid of the scenery and people’s emotions producing candid images. She enhanced the composition of her photos by using natural light and finding favorable shooting locations.

When working on the weddings, Jacqui tries to bring the location and people in one harmonious unity. She aims at creating a romantic atmosphere for achieving relaxed and refined photos that will reflect every moment important for a couple. Her approach to work satisfies all clients’ expectations.

Location: London, Great Britain

Cinzia Bruschini combines documentary and fine art photography. The main focus in her images is on people’s emotions that allow achieving intimate photos. Cinzia has great experience in the genre of film wedding photography. During her career, she has managed to take photos of grand weddings, as well as more intimate and modest ceremonies.

On average, she has from 15 to 20 orders for wedding photography in various European countries. Cinzia is especially fond of such locations as Capri and the Amalfi Coast of Italy.

She has worked as a wedding photographer for numerous famous couples like Kate Foley & Max Osterweis, Matt Helders & Breana McDow, and others. Harper’s Bazaar and BRIDES Magazine named Cinzia as the world’s greatest photographer. Moreover, her photos were published in numerous influential magazines.

Location: London, Great Britain

Lucy Birkhead has twelve years of experience in wedding film photography. She is one of the world’s most famous photographers, who has worked on various book projects, developed the design of the exhibitions, and was actively involved in their preparation.

Usually, she uses up to eight cameras that allow her to capture every detail and each sincere moment of the wedding ceremony. The best thing about Lucy as a photographer is that she does not aim to take a perfect photo, but tries to capture genuine emotions and the splendor of each celebration.

Location: France

Joel Serrato is a talented wedding photographer who focuses on people’s feelings and the way a person expresses various emotions. Her specialty is film wedding photography and she often shoots huge weddings.

France is the main location of her professional activity. She has a delicate approach to every photoshoot producing intimate and beautiful images. Joel worked at the weddings of such famous couples as Nick Jonas & Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Justin & Hailey Bieber, etc.

Film Photography Editing Freebies

If you shoot digital but want to get that film effect, without spending money on film and its development, using photo editing freebies is a great life hack that you could use.