There’s a particular kind of light that happens on the York River in the late afternoon — gold and a little hazy, sliding low across the fields before it drops behind the tree line. It’s the kind of light that makes you understand, immediately, why couples fall for Scotland Fields.
Olivia and Cooper got married on this stretch of Maine coastline in August of 2025, and I shot their day for Kaitlyn Burdette Photography. We photographed this wedding on film, digital, and Super 8. As a Boston-based film wedding photographer who spends a good part of every season working weddings across Maine and the wider East Coast, Scotland Fields has quickly become one of my favorite venues to document.
About Scotland Fields, York, Maine
Scotland Fields sits on 26 acres along the York River, about fifteen minutes from downtown Portsmouth, NH, and just over an hour from Boston. The property includes a beautifully restored 1732 farmhouse, a 1908 craftsman-style bungalow, and a multi-level barn with the kind of light that photographers dream about — tall windows, worn wood, and views over tidal marshland that shift color by the hour. It’s a raw, indoor-outdoor venue that rewards documentary photography: there’s texture and story in every corner, whether that’s sunlight through the barn doors or a quiet moment on the farmhouse porch before the ceremony.
The Ceremony: Fields, Marsh Views, and Golden Hour
Scotland Fields’ open lawn, framed by the marsh and the river beyond, gives a ceremony room to breathe. For moments like the processional and the first kiss, I lean on my Canon EOS3 and a Sony a7IV in tandem — film for its irreplaceable color and grain, digital as an insurance policy and for anything happening fast, like a ring exchange or an unplanned tear. Shooting both formats side by side is something I do at nearly every wedding I photograph, whether it’s here in Maine, back home in Massachusetts, or anywhere else along the East Coast.
Reception in the Barn
By the time the barn doors opened for the reception, the light had gone gold, then blue. Multi-level barns like this one are a documentary photographer’s favorite kind of chaos — toasts on one level, dancing breaking out on another, kids weaving through table legs somewhere in between. I moved between film and digital all night, saving my Polaroid for the moments meant to be handed straight to a guest before the night was over.
Why Shoot a Maine Wedding on Film?
Film forces a kind of intentionality that digital doesn’t always demand. Every frame costs something, so I’m choosing carefully — waiting for the real moment instead of spraying and praying. For couples getting married at a venue as visually rich as Scotland Fields, that discipline tends to pay off: the resulting gallery feels less like a photo dump and more like a story, told frame by frame, the way a wedding day actually happened. If you’re still curious about why I choose to shoot on film, check this out.
If you’re planning a wedding in York, Kennebunkport, Portland, or anywhere along the Maine coast — or a wedding closer to home in Boston and New England more broadly — and you’re drawn to documentary, film-forward photography, I’d love to hear about your day.
Rachael Shek is a Boston-based documentary film wedding photographer serving Maine, Massachusetts, and the East Coast, shooting on 35mm, 120mm medium format, digital, Super 8, and Polaroid. Reach out here about your wedding.
