Wedding Photography
Your wedding photographs are very important - and they become even more important when the day is over. After months of preparation they are your only lasting reminder of the day's special moments, of all the people who matter to you in your life congregated together for just one day, and of the venue and details you have organised so carefully.
So it's worth spending some time thinking about the style of wedding photography that suits you. There seem to be loads of different styles around, but they fall into three main categories:
Photojournalistic
Capturing people, moments and events as they happen lies at the heart of this - the photographer is being a "fly on the wall" and should be an unintrusive presence, a world away from the bossy wedding photographer of the past. There are many different interpretations of this and the word "reportage" has been used too often to mean much any more - looking carefully at photographs will usually tell you whether your photographer can actually deliver this style.
The great photojournalistic photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson used the words "the decisive moment" to describe this style and said "I go click, not click click click" - just because you have a digital camera in multishot mode does not necessarily guarantee you can deliver this style.
Classic
This is probably what many people associate with wedding photographers - the photographer is an organising presence, producing well structured posed shots of groups and individuals. Although there is some disruption to the flow of the day and the results can be a little static, this remains popular, especially with parents and relatives - my Granny always used to say "I like to see the faces".
Contemporary Posed
Increasing popular, this is about creating pictures that look beautiful, fun, relaxed, and/or show off a venue or a particular feature of the day. In some ways it derives from fashion photography - it's set up and can take time, but it can also have a huge wow factor. A now familiar example of this is the picture of the bride and groom together with little bridesmaids running across a field holding hands - it would never happen of its own accord, but it's a picture that appeals to many.
Which style is right for you?
Most of my clients choose a blend of the three styles above, usually preferring the "captured moments" style, but also having a few group shots for their families.
A particular feature at a venue can also lead to clients wanting some of the third style - the view of the castle at Amberley, the Vine at Jeremy's Restaurant and the gardens at Ramster are good examples of this.
What all of my clients have in common is that they don't want to spend hours away from their guests - whenever I'm photographing at a wedding I still get told about weddings where the bride and groom disappear for an hour and a half with the photographer, closely followed the comment "I wish we'd had you at our wedding".