An isles of Scilly Elopement captured on 35mm Film |St Agnes island and Puffin Spotting boat trip

An isles of scilly Lighthouse elopement on the island of St Agnes captured on analogue

Emma & Rob’s wedding was my third wedding captured on the Scillies. These little islands nestled off the coast of Cornwall are possibly one of my favourite places on earth. I’ve always felt such an affinity to islands and there’s something about being so remote and isolated that makes me feel something profound. There are so many reasons why I adore living in Penzance and being at the main access port to the islands is definitely one of them. When Emma and Rob got in touch in 2022 to ask if I’d be available to capture their elopement on St Agnes island, and could I provide some coverage on film, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. At that time, their main plan was to have a personal, elopement ceremony in the gardens of the iconic Lighthouse at St Agnes. We all arrived on St Mary’s the day before where they had a short, simple and legal ceremony at the picturesque little registry office that overlooks Porthcressa beach which was witnessed by us and Lyra (She even took a few pictures of the event on a disposable film camera that we picked up for her at the island Chemist.) They had planned their vision perfect day to follow, designing their elopement around activities and events that were truly them. Emma had always wanted to see Puffins, so she and Rob had secured a private water taxi to take them to the smaller uninhabited islands where Puffins were often spotted in the spring time.

Isles of Scilly elopement photography

I was to document the day from start to finish on a mix of digital and analogue formats. Film photography really gives such a timeless feel - film stocks like Kodak Portra (which is what I used to capture their elopement) has been around for decades and so you know film photography is never going to go out of fashion. I shot their film on a Pentax K1000 for that gritty, manual focus vibe meaning that every shot is going to be somewhat of a surprise. There’s nothing clean or refined around shooting film on a manual focus film camera from several decades ago - instead it yields gritty, artful and in our opinion, beautiful lasting heirlooms that are a real expansion to your usual digital coverage.

For this blogpost, I’ve shared just the film photos as I wanted them to exist in their own little gallery. These images are gleaned from 3 rolls of Kodak Portra and I focused on celebrating the island textures and colours as this film really pops on a grey day. I don’t like to change the colours in post processing as I really enjoy the rich colour and contrast that comes from the chosen film. I might alter white balance if it’s being a bit strange but largely, these particularly scans are just as they looked, having been scanned on a fuji frontier scanner.

A white washed light house elopement on the island of st Anges, isles of Scilly, Cornwall

They did a little first look in front of the lighthouse before meeting with the celebrant who performed their ceremony in the gardens. They shared beautiful, heartfelt vows that they had written themselves along with their favourite poems and readings which they shared with each other. It was a really special ceremony with swallows and swifts swooping about the gardens above us all.

Post ceremony, we wandered to Troytown, one of their favourite spots. A range of coastline renowned for its rock formations. Each of the islands that makes up the archipelago of Scilly has a completely unique and different vibe and St Agnes is extremely rugged and wild, known as the last outpost as it’s the final British isle at the bottom facing a wide expanse of Atlantic Ocean.

A myriad of Sea thrift greeted us at Troytown and the sun emerged as the midday seamist burned off. Emma & Rob showed me around some of their favourite spots on the island.

In the late afternoon, we met the boatman to catch the water taxi in search of Puffins. I’ve also always dreamed of seeing Puffins and we weren’t disappointed! All of my Puffin coverage was on digital as I needed my 85mm lens to capture them (They are remarkably small birds) so sadly no film shots for this gallery but we really did have a fantastic time spotting guillemots and seals too. Lyra and Jon even joined us for this part before heading off to the white sands of st Martin’s where we all had dinner reservations at the Seven Stones, a gorgeously folky pub which some of the best pub food, vibes and views on the islands.

The Seven Stones inn is tucked away off the main path along St Martin’s. It was a spot I visited a few years back under recommendation from an islander for its reputation for folk music and great food and we’ve been coming back at every opportunity ever since. It’s exactly what you want from a historic, island pub with fairy lights strung up around the ceiling, beautiful views across the bay and handsomely furnished with that sort of cosy, dark wood you expect from a Cornish/Scillonian pub.

When we finished our dinners, we just caught the sunset down at the quay as we waited for the boat. It set behind the lighthouse and looked incredible. As we were getting the boat back, I realised I had a few spare shots left to clear on the Pentax and as the lighting conditions were so dusky at this point, I knew I’d have to shoot on a slow shutter. I didn’t expect much from the shots but I wanted to finish up the film - as is the way with film photography, these turned out to be some of my favourite exposures for their whimsical quality.

What a privilege it was to play at being an island wedding photographer for a day. I also loved capturing an elopement and its story as it unravelled throughout the day on both digital and film. Emma & Rob’s coverage wasn’t a formula of ceremony + couple shoot, but a documentary of their adventures around their favourite spots and their experience of seeing their favourite sea birds for the first time. I really enjoyed how authentic the storytelling aspect was on this format of elopement photography and I’d love to capture more elopements this way.

Thank you so much guys for basically giving me my dream assignment - an island elopement captured on digital and film from start to finish with a boat ride in the middle. I remember so clearly as the water taxi dropped Jon, Lyra and I back to St Mary’s island that night as we skipped along the ancient historic streets, giddy with the magic of the day and a heart full of love and fulfilled with what I get to call my work. This job brings our family so many exciting opportunities and 2024 is going to be even more.