Super 8 + Polaroids

April 21, 2023

With a little bit of a wedding backlog, this one is from before the world went crazy. It’s Tori and Eric’s Hudson Valley wedding on Super 8 and Polaroids! They had a lovely little ceremony upstate in the Hudson Valley literally overlooking the Hudson River. It was stunning! Take a look below!

I also was shooting a bit of instant film that day and got some truly wonderful moments on the custom Instax camera I was using. The black and white instant film really just fits so well with weddings. So classic and chic!

I’ve got a bunch of weddings to post and really want the world to see them so promise to start posting in the blog more often!

Congrats to Tori and Eric and hope they’re doing well!

H Collective - Hub Day NYC // Super 8 + Polaroids + 35mm

March 15, 2019

Recently I stumbled upon a creative collaboration network of sorts called H Collective or The Hub. So I went to their Hub Day meetup last summer at Mona Liza Studios in Bushwick, Brooklyn with a half roll of expired Kodak Super 8 film, a Polaroid camera and some 35mm film in a point and shoot. Figured why not. Check the chopped up Super 8 film I shot at the event below.

Basically, they connect artists with brands; so photographers models, hair and make up artists and videography and lots of other creative types can meet and then connect to brands that want them to shoot. I wanted to check it out. See what was up and get some cool shots in the process.

Met some cool people and despite the on and off torrential downpour that day, managed to get some cool shots at the various shooting set ups they had through the warehouse/studio space. Was definitely a cool vibe.

Cameras I used:

Super 8 - Canon 814XL-S // 35mm - Olympus Stylus Infinity // Polaroid - Polaroid SLR680

Nick Christian MacDonald "Man on the Moon" // Super 8 + 16mm

February 15, 2019

Last year I was given an old Russian 16mm camera called the Krasnogorsk-3 (or K-3 if you don’t want to say that mouthful) from Steve Cossman of the Brooklyn cinema arts non-profit, Mono No Aware. And what better way to test a new camera than to create a music video with your folk-singing neighbor?

My neighbor and friend, Nick Christian MacDonald, is an Americana-Folk musician with a hint of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. Check out his music on Spotify and catch him this Saturday at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg! He’s a great dude and I figured it’d be fun to create some art together. So our wives did some quick concepting and ended up tossing Nick in a custom suit I got during my honeymoon in Vietnam which fit him like it was his and we shot in a little set inside my apartment and around our neighborhood in Brooklyn. The images are from a previous photoshoot with Nick.

The actual music video is a mixture of 16mm FomaPan 100R and some expired Kodak Tri-X Super 8 film I got from an old NYC photographer that I shot in my Canon 814XL-S. Steve of Mono No Aware helped me hand-process both rolls at the Gowanus Community Darkroom in Brooklyn and they came out great. Lots of texture and grain but I love that. It’s film!

So I mentioned that earlier last year, my wife and I did a photoshoot with Nick around our neighborhood on Polaroids and 35mm film. The cameras I used were my Polaroid 110B with modded CB-70 back, a Canon AE-1P and a Nikon S2. Nick’s a good lookin dude so it was easy enough to catch his good side.

Also I recently released a music video I shot with the K-3 and Pekky Savan so check that one out as well! Definitely going to be creating more music videos in the future!

Leaving you with some of my favorite stills from the raw scans from the 16mm and Super 8 rolls.

Crew

Music: Nick Christian MacDonald

Cinematographer: Nick Collingwood

Design/Direction: Halla Creative & Tyler MacDonald

Processing: Mono No Aware

2K Scans: Gamma Ray Digital

Aileen & Philip Wedding // Super 8 + Polaroids

February 13, 2018

This is a wedding I had long been looking forward to shooting, Aileen and Philip! Aileen had contacted me over a year before her wedding raving about instant film and loving the Super 8 look for weddings so it was easy to be excited to shoot a wedding when the bride is so excited as well. You can watch their Super 8 wedding film below.

This wedding was a bit unique as well in that there were actually to be two weddings: a smaller family and bridal party wedding on Saturday (which is what I shot) and then a larger more traditional wedding on Sunday (shot by a friend and awesome photographer, Sophie Kwalek and featured on Style Me Pretty. Sophie and I both worked together on Patrick and Rachel's gorgeous Prospect Park Boathouse wedding). This was also unique in that I'd be the only photographer or cinematographer for the day, shooting everything on Instax and Super 8 film.

So we started the day at a beautiful cathedral in New Brunswick where the ceremony was held. A few guests and the families were the attendees for this more intimate ceremony. Aileen was wearing a stunning, fitted white dress and Philip was in a fantastic blue suit with red velvet accents. Very stylin’.

After the ceremony we strolled around the Rutgers campus where the couple met to take a few photos before headed over to the lunch held at one of their parent’s homes. There, they changed into outfits for a traditional tea ceremony held after weddings with close family. Then another quick outfit change into more comfy clothes for a veritable feast that awaited everyone in the backyard, cooked by the parents and included endless lobster, corn, meats, and veggies.

A really lovely and laid back wedding day for two really great people. I had a lot of fun shooting with them and really love how their wedding film came out.

Szewai & Chris Wedding // Super 8 + Polaroids

December 14, 2017

This summer I had the chance to head back to the Midwest to film a Chicago wedding and I could not have been more excited. Not to mention a Chicago wedding on a farm! So I packed my bags and cameras and headed out to capture Szewai and Chris' wedding on Super 8 and Polaroids!

Szewai is a dance instructor in Chicago and wanted to uniquely capture her wedding day as well as their special first dance they planned for the day. I got to the picturesque, Elawa Farms and had a blast getting to know them and their awesome friends throughout the day. The location itself was amazing with a large main brick farmhouse overlooking their fields where the wedding would be held. For their first look, we found a cute little trail in some flowery fields and knew it'd be a perfect spot for a quiet moment before strolling around the grounds to the numerous vine covered walls and pathways for more time together before the ceremony. Check out their full highlight film below and more Polaroids and Super 8 below that!

Szewai & Chris - Highlight

During the ceremony, a couple of Szewai's close friends played as the family and friends poured in. The ceremony was really sweet and the skies held out just long enough for it to finish before giving everyone a slight sprinkle. Not phased by it at all, things transitioned indoors for a cocktail hour with bubbling "Game of Thrones" inspired drinks and the wedding party literally danced their way into the dinner. It was really awesome!

And of course once the reception started getting going, so many good dancers in one place makes for a killer dance floor, accompanied by a live band "Gussied" who were killing it. Chris and Szewai then had their big moment for their first dance and they absolutely nailed it. A unique request from Szewai was to capture the entire dance in its entirety on Super 8. A thrilling experience to shoot a whole roll in one pull of the trigger but I think the final result is a really lovely memory of their dance. Catch Szewai saying "100 per-cent" at the very end! Ha!

Szewai & Chris - First Dance

After the night wound down, a sparkler exit sent the two off after a spectacular day! You can also see their little teaser film I edited to their friends playing during the ceremony. All in all a wonderful wedding for a wonderful couple. So happy to have been there to shoot it all on film.

Szewai & Chris - Teaser

Crew

Super 8mm and Polaroid work featured on

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