What is Wedding Photography?
For most couples, this may sound an odd question to ask, most would answer that wedding photography is the kind of photography done during weddings. That is partly correct. But that over simplifies the meaning of wedding photography. The elopement photographer has change tremendously in the past twenty years. Today it may even have a different meaning for each couple.
In the past, wedding photographers are technicians behind a black box almost mystical that very few would even try to operate it. Back then, wedding couples are hiring wedding photographers to produce wedding pictures of their big day. It is to simply record the event. And the one they chose might be doing six weddings a day.
Here is a Guide to Photographic Methods
The good thing about the Internet is it makes it easy to research the work of a big number of wedding photographers. Check some photographers’ websites and you will be amazed by the different photographic styles.
Reportage photography is also known as documentary or photojournalism photography; it is best described to have an approach which simply covers and documents the event without directing the wedding couple or its guests. Instead it tries to capture the event as it happens in the most natural and creative way possible.
Traditional wedding photography is used to describe the old-fashioned way of lining up the wedding couple, their guests and family for traditional photos.
Contemporary wedding photography can be described as glossy which can be trendier than traditional wedding photography.
My humble advice is to look beyond the labels of wedding photography. It can be more confusing than being helpful in deciding which kind of wedding photography suits you as a wedding couple. Another reason is that the style often is a combination of several photography styles anyway. Third, it implies that wedding photographers offer just one style of photography during their wedding coverage.
In reality, weddings offer a chance for wedding photographers to show different photography styles. Wedding photographers sometimes just can’t ask the couple. To move to a spot where there is a better light during the wedding ceremony. Also, it is quite often that couples expect to have formal photographs which show them at their best. Even the most modern weddings will require having traditional and formal family shots.
Choosing Your Photographer
For couples, the best way would be to decide which wedding photographer is right for you is to decide together what kind of wedding pictures you expect You may want something traditional which means you like a professional account of the wedding day without having too much interruptions.
You may be a photography enthusiast as well, and desire to have a creative set of wedding pictures. You may be looking at high end and contemporary photography style.
Once you both as a couple decide on what type of wedding photographs you desire. You can start examining different galleries of photography for quality. Be warn that galleries represent the best work of photographers, so it is quite important to see a sample of a whole wedding to be sure of consistency.
Awards of excellence can help you decide which photographer could be best suited for your wedding. A membership to well know professional body is also something to consider.
Budgeting For Photography
There is no such thing as an appropriate budget for weddings. What can be more helpful is the percentage in terms of value to the total wedding cost.
Professional wedding photography will be what will define the memories of your wedding day. You are going to entrust a photographer to use his skills to document your wedding as if it was taken through your eyes. Discuss with your wedding planner what you think is the best budget for your wedding photography. A good wedding planner would be able to help you with the right budget and if you need to allocate more to get the kind of photography you desire.
Traditional (or Posed) Wedding Photography
A lot of people think of traditional wedding photography. As endless stuffy group photos where everyone looks stiff as a board. Worse still, the different collections of people seem to go on forever. I think there is a fashion to be down on traditional wedding photography, but the actual working framework is still the same for most wedding photographers. The photographs may be more stylish but the actual experience on the day for the bride and groom is very similar.
Reportage Wedding Photography (Wedding Photojournalism)
If traditional is all about posed photographs, then reportage wedding photography is the opposite. It relies on capturing moments as they happen, and is more like a fly on the wall documentary. This form of wedding photography means that the photographer. Spends most of his time in the background, and so has become increasingly popular with couples. Weddings are also increasingly less formal than they used to be. Documentary wedding photography demands a different skill set from traditional wedding photography so you have to make sure that your photographer has the correct photographic background and can show you full weddings to back this up.
Vintage Wedding Photography
It a style that has been coming into vogue recently, but in lots of ways its a hard one one to quantify. Vintage can mean anything from using old film cameras during some of the wedding to just a different approach. To post production to produce ‘vintage’ looking digital files. There are some great photographers out there, but bear in mind. That if you are receiving files that are heavily edited in a certain style, you run the risk of your photos looking rather dated a few years later. If I was hiring a vintage style photographer, I personally would want at least some of the wedding shot on film, I’m not a huge fan of faking things. As always ask questions, see examples and make an informed decision.
Editorial Wedding Photography
This wedding genre is inspire by the fashion editorials of glossy magazines. At it’s best it can produce fantastic high-end images. To produce this successfully on a wedding day the photographer needs to be highly organised, and would probably need an assistant to help set up some of the shots in advance, although that would depend on his or her style. Do your research to make sure that the time requirements for this type of shoot fit in with your plans. If you really like this type of photography but don’t want to devote. Too much time to it on your wedding day, consider booking a separate photo session after the wedding.
Artistic or Fine Art Wedding Photography
Essentially an evolution of traditional wedding photography, this type of photography offers a contemporary take on the traditional set of posed photographs, although these are both terms that have been somewhat over used by the photographic community, so again do your research. At its best this genre can produce moving romantic images, but some photographers can over use the same poses, so it can feel a bit impersonal. Ask to see lots of shoots and don’t be afraid to input your own ideas at your pre-wedding meeting. Don’t necessarily think that it all has to be done in one day.
