Curtis & Jordin Wiklund, A Husband and Wife Photography Team in Birmingham, Michigan, specializing in weddings, high school senior pictures, family portraits, and lifestyle photography.
Thank you all for following along with us through the years. We have not stopped. We have simply re-branded and launched our new websites!
Our new website for personal and wedding photography work is: curtiswiklundphoto.com
Our new website for high school seniors is: seniorsruntheworld.com
See you all there!
For those who like learning about film: This was a “hybrid shoot” with a digital camera (5D III) and a film camera (Contax 645). Because the Contax 645 shoots medium format film where each frame is 6″x4.5″ (hence the name Contax 645), anything with a 6:4.5 aspect ratio (or 3:4) is film. Anything that is 2:3 in this shoot is digital. I like making film and digital flow well together. What is funny is how long it takes in editing to get the digital pictures to flow well with film, while I spent zero time editing the film pictures. Both mediums have their merits though. I get more spontaneous moments on digital when I blast three shots in a row during a sweet moment. I am not concerned with overshooting and therefore I can catch the split second moment that I may have not otherwise shot on film. On film, I tend to only shoot when I know it will be good because each shot costs money. In effect, nearly all of my film pictures look awesome, require very little sorting or editing, but with digital, I may catch something special. More and more I am learning to catch these moments on film, learning to anticipate them in ways I haven’t had to when shooting only digital. Shooting film is forcing me to be a better photographer, and I love it. I will probably never abandon digital all together though, because I love pushing the front edge of technology to make art, and like I said it has many merits of its own for photography, not even considering the many terabytes of HD home videos I have shot on our 5D. Those are priceless memories that I could not have gotten on film.
Jordin and I are planning an overseas trip this winter, and I will probably bring my 35mm rangefinder (Zeiss Ikon ZM) for most photos and our 5D for home videos around the place we stay. This has been my latest “go-to” for our personal work, and I usually also bring the Contax 645 to engagements and weddings for the big pretty smeary pictures. For styled shoots, I typically shoot all film (Zeiss Ikon + Contax645 + EOS-3).
All the film in this shoot is Kodak Portra 400.
One from the archives – Seattle.
It is coming to a point in our lives that Jordin and I are looking to buy a home, and I have to tell you… I do not want a house. I am being dragged like a kid kicking and screaming, but we can feel God leading us to get a house, or at least, to move. The houses that I see in this state feel so opposite of who we are, that I cannot imagine being excited about this.
Tonight coming home from the grocery store, I was reminded that no matter where we live, it will always feel like “us” because of the girl who makes everything beautiful. “Whoa, look at all the hydrangeas!” she said. Snip, snip, tada!
I just enjoyed re-reading a post from Jordin from a while back about her love of plants. It’s here.
Becca has been a dear friend to Jordin and me for a long time, and she also started working for us last summer (see this post). When she got engaged, deep down we hoped we would get to shoot her wedding, but we knew it would probably be out of town and may not work out. I am thankful it did, because this wedding on a sheep farm in Pittsburgh was one of the sweetest weekends we have ever been a part of. Being with her family, long time friends who moved to New York years back, watching Becca and Todd worshipping during their ceremony, shooting such a heart felt daddy daughter dance (video coming at some point)… My job makes me cry tears of joy. This was also the first time we’ve brought Casen along on a work trip! He stayed in a hotel with a friend while we shot. This is our life now :)
Here is a preview from the batch of film I got back today (more on film at the end).
The last few weddings I have been “hybrid shooting” both film and digital. I knew I loved the look of film, but I am blown away with how much our work flow alone is improved by it. I received these photos back from the film lab today, was able to do a quick sort (because I shoot way less and more intentionally with film), barely had to do any editing (the only editing I do digitally anyways is to get my digital pictures to look like my film pictures), and that was it. This would have taken so much longer for me to do digitally. I would love to shoot more film at weddings.
All images shot with a Contax 645 using Kodak Portra 400.
Loves of my life.
Notes for film enthusiasts: all photos shot with a Contax 645 using Kodak Portra 400.
It may not be quite as hip to reference Kinfolk now that we’re all aware and obsessed, but at the time that we met Shauna and Alex, Kinfolk was in its infancy and had yet to see the likes of an Anthropologie shelf. I had happened to have already heard of the light-inspired group of small-gathering artists when some west coast friends began doing shoots for them. When Shauna sheepishly mentioned the little-known magazine as a point of inspiration for her wedding, the four of us clicked on a mutual love of small gatherings, enjoying friends’ company over good food, and a love of natural light and 35mm and medium format film. Shauna trickles her inspiration tumblr with some of her own photography, which is beautiful. I love shooting for like-minded artists. Shauna and Alex are a joy. I am sure I will be incorporating into their wedding as many rolls of film as I can afford (of course along with the usual digital getup… for the time being *wink wink*).
Meet Shauna and Alex:
(Bought it from