GUIDE | THE NETHERLANDS

Digital or Film: Which Photoshoot Suits You

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Published 28 October 2026

Couple sitting on a garden path at Keukenhof as he kisses her cheek, tulips of every color behind them, a film photoshoot on Kodak Portra 800

Should your photoshoot be digital or film? With me, the two differ in three ways: the look, the rhythm and the wait. Choose digital if you like to keep moving and want your photos within 7 days. Choose film if you love the grain of a real roll and enjoy a slower pace. Still can’t decide? Then you can have both in one session.

This guide is for anyone weighing the two before booking, whether you come on your own, as a couple or with your family. Every comparison below comes from real sessions, digital next to film, from Rotterdam to Keukenhof. For the film side, this is how my analog photoshoots in Amsterdam work. I also bring the film camera across the Netherlands.

At a glance

Digital: A medium-format camera, the look created in camera, your gallery within 7 days
Film: A vintage film camera with black-and-white or color film, your scans within 15 days
Rhythm: On film I take one photograph at a time, with a short pause at each click
Downloads: 15 for an hour on film; with digital, the number depends on the package
Both: The Analog Photofilm add-on brings film into a digital session, with 10 extra downloads

How Digital and Film Photos Differ

My digital photos come from a medium-format camera. I adjust the settings by hand as the light changes, so I create the cinematic look in camera. The lens adds its own character: painterly softness, a subtle vignette, swirly bokeh and, in bright sun, a soft glow.

Couple kissing by the railing of the Veerhaven in Rotterdam during a digital photoshoot in black and white, sailing ship masts behind them

Couple kissing on the cobbled quay of the Maas in Rotterdam, Het Witte Huis and tall towers across the water, a black and white film photoshoot — Digital, then film on Ilford Delta 100: two couples in black and white by the water in Rotterdam

Film works differently, because the roll itself shapes the photo. Every film has its own grain and its own response to light. In the two black-and-white frames above, the digital one keeps soft gray tones and a gentle vignette. The Ilford roll, shot at 400, gives harder contrast, with deep blacks and bright whites.

In color, each of the two shows the place in its own way. By the Spaarne in Haarlem, digital keeps a white T-shirt crisp and clean in the midday sun. On the Amsterdam canals, Kodak Gold gives skin, brick and water a golden tone.

Smiling woman in a white T-shirt sitting on a low concrete edge by the Spaarne in Haarlem, an old barge behind her, from a digital photoshoot

Laughing woman in an orange shirt and sunglasses sitting on the quay, looking back over her shoulder with canal houses behind her — Digital by the Spaarne in Haarlem, then Kodak Gold 200 film on an Amsterdam canal, both in July sun

What a Session on Film Feels Like

On film, I take one photograph at a time instead of a burst. So when I press the shutter, you pause for a breath, then carry on walking, talking or laughing. You don’t need to pose or prepare anything: I guide you through the hour, just as in a digital session.

Film in progress on a sunny March afternoon in the Amsterdam canal belt

There is one more difference: when you see the result. With digital, the look you see taking shape during the session is exactly what arrives in your gallery. On film, you see your photos only after the lab has developed and scanned the roll.

You choose the film when you book: black and white or color. I load the camera in advance, so it is ready when you arrive. Portraits on Fomapan 100 along the Amsterdam canals shows how such an hour unfolds.

A surprise proposal works on film too. At Keukenhof, I photographed an evening proposal on Kodak Portra 800 from across a bed of white tulips.

Man on one knee holding up a ring on a white wooden bridge as she smiles down at him, a digital proposal photoshoot in the Trompenburg gardens

Man on one knee on a tulip path at Keukenhof, rows of red and pink tulips behind and white tulips in front, a proposal photoshoot on film — Digital in the Trompenburg gardens in July, then Kodak Portra 800 film at Keukenhof in April: the moment he kneels

From experience

The kneel shows the difference best. In the Trompenburg gardens in Rotterdam, that moment filled more than a dozen digital frames. At Keukenhof, on Kodak Portra 800, it filled five. Both couples have the moment itself; only the rhythm was different.

Choosing Black and White or Color

Once you choose film, the next choice is black and white or color. Black and white puts light, expression and texture first. Color also keeps the palette of your clothes and the place, from red brick to tulip beds. Not sure? Share a few photos that speak to you, and I choose the film to match.

Man in a dark suit holding his partner from behind by the Maas in Rotterdam, the river shining in backlight and towers in a haze, on Ilford Delta 100

Couple hugging and smiling at each other among red, yellow and pink tulips under tall trees at Keukenhof, her hand with the ring on his arm, on Portra 800 — Two films side by side: Ilford Delta 100 shot at 400 by the Maas in Rotterdam, then Kodak Portra 800 at Keukenhof

Each roll has a character of its own, too. In March and April alone, my sessions ran on Ilford Delta 100 shot at 400 and Fomapan 100 in black and white. In color, they ran on Kodak Ektar 100, Gold 200 and Portra 800.

For a whole session on that Ilford roll, see a surprise proposal on film in Rotterdam.

Black and white portrait on Fomapan 100 of a woman looking over her shoulder as a beam of light crosses her cheek and hair

Close view of a man’s hands holding his fiancée’s hand with a new engagement ring, dark red tulips below, on Kodak Ektar

Toddler in a brown cardigan with red trim standing on a bark path beside yellow daffodils, a dark evergreen hedge behind him at Keukenhof — Fomapan 100, Kodak Ektar 100 and Kodak Gold 200, three rolls from one spring

When Your Photos Arrive

Digital is quicker. Your digital gallery is normally ready within 7 days, or within 1 day with Priority Delivery. Film takes longer, because the lab first develops and scans the roll. Your film photos arrive within 15 days, in the same online gallery as a digital session.

Family of three on a white railing at Keukenhof, red and white tulips around them and the toddler sitting between his parents, on Kodak Gold 200 — Kodak Gold 200 at Keukenhof on an April afternoon

Every photo of your session goes into your gallery, digital or film. An hour on film includes 15 downloads; with digital, the number depends on the package. Want to keep the roll itself? Then the Original Negatives add-on gives you the developed film. You’ll find the details in my FAQ.

Digital and Film in One Photoshoot

You don’t have to pick between a digital and a film photoshoot. With the Analog Photofilm add-on, I bring the film camera to your digital session as well. It adds 10 photo downloads, and you can select it at checkout or later in My Photoshoot. Your digital photos arrive within 7 days and the film photos within 15.

Mother in a pink headscarf holding her daughter and a brown teddy bear in a green garden in Delft, a moment from a digital photoshoot

Smiling mother in a brown sweater with her toddler on her lap on a red bench, daffodils behind them, a film photoshoot on Kodak Gold 200 — Digital in a Delft garden in August, then Kodak Gold 200 film at Keukenhof in April

One summer portrait session on the Amsterdam canals did exactly that: digital portraits plus a roll of Kodak Gold. If you book a film session, there is a second option. The Film Swap add-on gives you an extra hour on the other film, so black and white and color, with 10 more downloads.

Laughing couple at Keukenhof as he points at her ring hand, bright red, orange and pink tulips in front of a dark green hedge, on Portra 800

So Which One Suits You?

Choose digital if you like to keep moving and want your gallery within a week. You also see the look take shape during the session.

Choose film if you love grain, a slower rhythm and the small thrill of waiting for your scans. It works on your own, as a couple or with your family, children included. And if both sound good, the Analog Photofilm add-on brings them together in one booking.

Either way, a digital or film photoshoot with me starts the same. I suggest the area and the route, I guide you through the hour, and you prepare nothing.

Couple in a tuxedo and a pale fur coat standing at a brick parapet in Rotterdam, faces turned to the sun, a building with a tall pointed roof behind them — Ilford Delta 100 in Rotterdam, on a sunny day in March

Drawn to the slower rhythm of a real roll? Discover how my analog photoshoots in Amsterdam work.