A Trip to Crown City – 35 mm film

Before each trip, I make sure to have a few spare rolls of 35 mm film to shoot “for fun.” While I absolutely love being a traveling wedding photographer, I like to use film as a way to get back to creative shooting with zero pressure and zero expectations. I think it’s so important for photographers to make time to create something just for the sake of creating, which is why I love toting my camera around on vacation. I’m lucky to have been given my grandpa’s trusty Canon AE1, which is where I shoot the majority of my film. On this particular trip, my dad brought our Hassleblad 500C (which we used to shoot the first image below in 120mm film) which is always a treat for anyone that’s a fan of old, cool looking cameras!

Now lets get into the images. One of my absolute favorite places in the whole world is Coronado Island in San Diego. There’s something so magical and nostalgic about the historical Hotel Del and its surroundings! We’ve been visiting the hotel since I was a little girl, and I have been mesmerized by its beauty truly for as long as I can remember. The hotel was founded in 1888 and I really love how these film photos bring us back to a time where we can almost imagine they were taken many years ago, when celebrities like Marylin Monroe, Babe Ruth and Charlie Chaplain were guests at the hotel. (Click here to read more about the celebrities who have visited the hotel!) It’s honestly unreal to me how film still has the ability to transport us back in time!

A selection of these images are hanging in my living room and it makes me so happy to know that even on the most bitter of winter days in Nebraska, I can have a little piece of San Diego with me! Here’s manifesting shooting a wedding in the historic Crown Room one day because that would just be my traveling wedding photographer dream!!

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