After shooting film for about eight months and trying it out for my I Am Project, a studio newborn session and one outdoor session, I wanted to try a family session on film at their home. However, there are so many factors with film that made an at home session seem very risky.

Challenges with Film

First, film needs a ton of light. In reality, most houses may have only one or two spots that will really work with only natural light. Without going into too many technical details, I can’t make some of the simple changes to my settings that I can with my digital camera to compensate for a low light scenario. I have to be very strategic about where I place my subjects and how I meter for the correct exposure.

The second challenge is that kids move a ton. I know this and welcome it, but my film camera doesn’t keep up with the constant movement as well as my digital camera. Plus, I don’t have as many focus points to toggle around with. I still need a second more to lock focus and make sure my image is composed before I hit the shutter button. Sometimes these two seconds can cost me the shot because the kids have already moved on. And with film, I can’t look at the back of my camera to see if everyone’s eyes were open and if the image looked how I imagined.

Third, what if I got all the images back and there wasn’t anything usable. This terrified me. Literally, I may have had some semi restless nights waking up panicked that I’d get my scans back and nothing would be useable.

Going For It

Lucky for me, I had a family I thought would be great to test all of this out with. I knew their house has a lot of natural light and that if all went down the drain, they’d extended me grace. Thanks, McCord family for being so great. I reached out to their mom and she said they were in. I was nervous going in, but by the time I left, I was dreaming of my next one!

When I got home, my husband said, “How’d it go?” I said, “I have no idea, but I loved it.” I felt very present and loved the simplicity of capturing a family just being a family at home. Before I even had their scans back, I decided to a model call for more families interested in a session on film at home.

The Results

Part of the thing that terrifies me with not knowing the immediate results with film, is also the part that is really exciting. When I got my scans back and I saw that a majority of the images were usable, I felt relieved and happy with the results. I still have a lot to learn, but was proud of my first attempt.

Enjoy these images from my first family session on film at home and check out more family sessions.

Interested in a session?! Contact me today to schedule yours.