Lucy Struve, owner of Lucille Photo, started her wedding photography business in September of 2015. She serves the Austin and Texas Hill Country area, shooting both film and digital photography.

A little background

Lucy started her photography business while pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance. “Photography had always been a peripheral interest (I assisted a wedding photographer in high school) but I never considered it as a career. Junior year arrived and I realized I wasn’t excited about any of my career options in music, and I needed to pivot. I started shooting weddings at a very low price for some of my college friends and fell in love with it. I decided to go full time when I graduated. I joke that I’ve never had a real job!”

How did you come to discover film photography?

Lucy says “from the very beginning of my business, I was always drawn to film photography. I loved the work of Jose Villa, Erich McVey, and KT Merry.” After about 2 and a half years in business, Lucy started experimenting with film photography at the beginning of 2018. “I realized how much I loved the experience of loading the film, creating the perfect shot, and then receiving the scans a few weeks later.”

“My style gradually evolved to include film – it was never something I offered as an optional add-on. I would say the beginning of 2019 was when almost everything I was putting on my website and social media was film.”

What does it mean to be a hybrid photographer?

“It means that both film and digital are a part of your workflow on the wedding day. Film is amazing, but it’s not suitable for all situations. Film is ideal when you’re able to slow down and control the situation. But sometimes, a moment is happening and you just need to capture it real quick. Having a digital camera on hand is ideal in that case. I also photograph most receptions digitally because they happen at night and I need to use flash. After I get my film back, I edit my digital photos to match my film and my clients usually can’t tell the difference.”

What are some common questions about film photography?

“I get asked a lot about which camera I recommend for beginners. To that, I say the Canon AE-1, which is a manual focus 35mm camera that’s great. I also love the Canon EOS3, which is also for 35mm film, but you can use your digital Canon lenses on it and enjoy autofocus.”

What is something you wish people knew or understood about film photography?

“I wish people understood why film photographers are typically more expensive than digital photographers. It costs me about $2 every time I click the button of my film camera – whether I end up using that shot or not. The cost adds up between the film itself, and then getting it professionally developed and scanned by my lab in California. So we have to build that into our pricing. But there’s a special depth and lumosity to film photos that you just can’t replicate with digital, so it’s worth the investment. It really makes everybody glow and just look incredible.

I’ve done a little bit of education on this on my Instagram – showing film and digital from the same situation side by side and almost everyone prefers the film shot. Check out the “Film” highlight on my Instagram to see what I’m talking about.”

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Bianca Nichole Events is an Austin based wedding planner, and will travel to San Antonio, Fredericksburg and the surrounding Texas Hill Country area.