Pixiq

A wedding photographer has the distinct privilege of capturing a permanent record of the most important day in a couple’s future. Their wedding day is the culmination of months of preparation, countless expenses, and a final note on their lives as individuals. There are two basic styles of wedding photography: The traditional wedding photographer and the photojournalist wedding photographer (and of course those that do some combination of the two).

The Traditional Wedding Photographer

vintage wedding, cutting the cake

Traditional wedding photography will feature many dozens of posed portraits often culled down from a “shot-list”. These poses will feature highlighted moments of every wedding; the tossing of the bouquet, the cutting of the cake, father escorting bride down the aisle, etc. Of course group shots of many different configurations will also be included and don’t forget to get Aunt Bettie surrounded by all of her daughters even though they have nothing to do with the wedding. Traditional photographers will also create scripted moments of candor to give the appearance of spontaneity even though we all know that the bride and groom had to stop during their first dance together and look at the photographer for that oh so perfect shot. Truthfully there is nothing wrong with this type of wedding photography because many people still like this style of capture.

The Wedding Photojournalist

Our Wedding Album

The wedding photojournalist takes a different approach. Instead of being part of the event wedding photojournalists choose to fade into the background and remain invisible. The wedding photojournalist records and documents a wedding instead of staging one. The idea is to allow the scene to unfold naturally and capture all of the surprises and spontaneity that will occur on a wonderful day.

The photojournalist approach to wedding photography usually has the photographer working with a longer zoom lens which allows the photographer to capture the event unobtrusively. The skill of observation is key as well as an intense power to concentrate on the events before you. These skills can be honed with practice. The one skill that seems to elude many budding wedding photojournalists is the skill to predict the perfect time of capture. Rest assured that after a few dozen weddings a good wedding photojournalist will find him/herself at the right places at just the right times.

Assistants

You can’t be everywhere at once. This is where assistants can really come in handy. My wife and I shoot weddings together with different lenses and we swap cameras (and lenses) often. This gives you multiple perspectives and angles all at once. Consider that cinematic movies use this same technique to create a visually compelling story line and the same should be done for a wedding book.

The Details Matter

Treasure 6: My wedding dress

There is much that goes into a wedding day including; caterers pouring drinks, mother’s fixing dresses, beautiful tablescapes, and other fine details. Try your best to capture them all. The bride has spent countless hours mulling over color schemes and flower arrangements so give them their due diligence. The bride (and parents) will thank you. Besides, these fine details make really great backdrops for wedding book page backgrounds.

Combining The Two Styles

Almost every wedding is going to require the inclusion of some posed images. These are typically referred to as “formals”. These often include group portraits of the bride’s family, the grooms family, both families, and wedding parties to name a few. Most wedding photojournalists try to capture these all in one fell swoop before the ceremony or right after. These non-photojournalist images are a necessary function of recording the day. Often times having an assistant that is great at posing groups will pay dividends at these times. This is where my wife really excels. Her style of photography stems from years of working as a formal portrait photographer and her group posing skills far exceed my own.

These are some basic things to get you thinking about wedding photography as a photojournalist style. Rest assured that there is much more to it than this and we will cover more wedding photography tips because I often get emails about how to do wedding photography. These will be sprinkled in along with all of the other styles of photography tips, tricks, and techniques that are covered here at Your Photo Tips.

Photographs:

vintage wedding, cutting the cake by freeparking

Our Wedding Album by SimonShaw

Treasure 6: My wedding dress by *spud*