What does this diary cover?

Notes from behind the camera: Scottish venues, how light behaves at different times of year, the analogue process from exposure to scan, and full weddings written up properly.

Why write about film photography in detail?

Because most couples have never hired a film photographer and reasonably want to know what changes. Explaining the process is more useful than asking anybody to take it on trust.

Can I see a full wedding gallery rather than a highlights set?

Yes. Ask when you enquire and a complete gallery can be shared, which shows consistency across a whole day.

Where do I go if I want to book?

The enquiry page. Send your date and venue, and expect a reply within 24 to 48 hours.

Edinburgh Film Photography Workshop | A Night at the Opera — Steven William Weir: UK, Scotland Wedding Photographer and Film

A Night at the Opera was a chance to make pictures with no wedding timeline, no client brief and no need to be sensible. Canadian photographer (and amazing human) Jennifer Moher brought a small group of us together at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre for a conceptual shoot about two stage performers playing lovers who begin to fall in love for real. I spent part of the day helping behind the scenes, and when I did pick up a camera I kept it simple: a Leica M6, two rolls of film and the theatre in front of me.

Behind the scenes hair and make-up preparation at an Edinburgh theatre photography workshop

Black-and-white view from the Royal Lyceum Theatre auditorium in Edinburgh

Costumes arranged on stage during A Night at the Opera photography workshop

Royal Lyceum Theatre stage photographed in black and white on Ilford HP5 film

Photographers and performers preparing backstage at the Edinburgh creative workshop

Behind-the-scenes set preparation with red draping and theatre performers

Stage performer standing alone in a spotlight at the Royal Lyceum Theatre

Performer in a white gown on stage photographed with a Leica M6

Stage performer singing beneath theatre lights on black-and-white film

Two performers crossing the stage during the conceptual opera shoot

Performers rehearsing on stage during Jennifer Moher’s Edinburgh workshop

Male stage performer seated in a red-draped theatrical set on Portra 800 film

Two performers in costume on the A Night at the Opera set in Edinburgh

Male performer standing on a chair in a theatrical portrait setup

Female performer in a white gown seated within the red theatre set

Performer reclining in costume during the Edinburgh film photography workshop

Portrait of a stage performer in a white dress beside red draping

Warm Portra 800 portrait of a performer seated in the opera-inspired set

Window-lit portrait of a performer in an Edinburgh theatre rehearsal room

Behind-the-scenes photograph of a photographer directing a theatre portrait

Creative direction taking place within the red-draped A Night at the Opera set

Full-length portrait of a performer in an embroidered gown on Portra 800

Female performer standing against red theatre curtains in Edinburgh

Two stage performers holding hands in the opera-inspired love story

Close portrait of a performer in an embroidered gown against red draping

Portrait of a female performer in soft Edinburgh window light

Male stage performer seated in a red chair during the conceptual shoot

Male performer adjusting his collar in the theatre set on colour film

Costumed male performer seated in the red-draped Edinburgh set

Behind-the-scenes moment with performers and creative team on the theatre set

A cinematic photography workshop in Edinburgh

Jennifer's work is rooted in cinema, nostalgia and human connection. She has photographed weddings for more than seventeen years and is known for treating them as living, breathing stories rather than a run of set pieces. That way of seeing was at the centre of this workshop and the point was not simply to photograph attractive costumes worn by models in a beautiful room. It was to think about tone, pacing, gesture and what might have happened just before or just after each frame.

There were around ten photographers attending, all learning from Jennifer as the story moved through different sets and costume changes. She was as generous with her thinking as she was with the practical side of the shoot, explaining why a scene worked and leaving enough room for each person to find their own pictures and tell their own stories.

The creative world behind A Night at the Opera

The idea followed two performers who play lovers on stage, then discover that the feeling has followed them into real life. It gave the shoot a lovely tension between performance and something more private. Curtains, theatre seats, rehearsal rooms and costume changes all became part of the narrative.

The unbelievable Amanda at Coorie was instrumental in bringing that world together. Her role went far beyond styling or logistics. She curated and facilitated the entire creative process, helping Jennifer's concept become something the whole team could understand and build on. Amanda has spent years creating intimate weddings and elopements across Scotland, and that experience showed in the way she held the practical details and the visual idea together. Amanda - you are the best!

Two rolls of film through the Leica M6

I shot two rolls on my Leica M6: one roll of Ilford HP5 in black and white and one roll of Kodak Portra 800. HP5 suited the theatre immediately. It let the shadows stay dark, kept the stage light sharp and gave the backstage frames the rougher feeling of rehearsal photographs. Portra 800 picked up the reds, warm skin tones and changing light without making the set feel too clean.

Having only two rolls was part of the pleasure. Thirty-six frames disappear quickly, so every press of the shutter had to earn its place. Film makes me watch for longer, wait for a gesture to settle and accept that not every photograph needs to explain itself. The rolls were developed by Gulabi in Glasgow, then scanned by me at home.

Making work outside weddings

Most of the stories I photograph begin with a real wedding day, so it was refreshing to work inside a story that had been invented from scratch. A personal project like this flexes a different creative muscle. It asks me to respond to costume, set design and performance while still looking for the small, unforced things that make a frame feel alive.

That feeds directly back into my wedding photography. Weddings also move between performance and private feeling. There are entrances, clothes, music and rooms full of people, but the photographs that stay with me are usually the quieter ones between those obvious moments. Working on film in an Edinburgh theatre sharpened the same instincts I bring to weddings: reading light, anticipating movement and knowing when to leave a moment alone.

The creative team

A Night at the Opera came together through a generous group of artists and makers.

Concept and photography: Jennifer Moher
Creative curation, facilitation, planning and styling: Amanda at Coorie
Venue: Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh
Performers: Estelle and Younes
Film: Peak and Coast and Journal Wedding Films
Gowns: Julita London Bride
Make-up: Rae Mathieson Make-up
Hair: Meigan Alessandra Bridal Hair
Draping: Mae Dae Events
Stationery: Laura Elizabeth Patrick
Cake: Yishi Cake
Suit: Fallen Hero
Film development: Gulabi
Film scanning: Steven William Weir, scanned at home

Film wedding photography in Edinburgh and beyond

This was not a wedding, but it belongs in the same creative world as the wedding work I love making. If you are planning an Edinburgh wedding and want photographs with the texture, atmosphere and unpredictability of real analogue film, get in touch. I photograph weddings across Scotland and further afield using film and digital cameras, always looking for the story underneath the surface.