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Wedding Photography e-Book - Styles of Photography

Photojournalism or documentary style is the current catchphrase in wedding photography, becoming overused and clichéd, but it still seems to be popular amongst the couples even if most so-called practitioners do not actually offer true photojournalism coverage.

True photojournalism is to be a witness and faithful recorder of an event. The recorder is not an active participant in the event, but attempts to capture key moments that arise spontaneously. The opposite is the formal style in which the photographer dictates all of the poses and structures the positioning in minute detail. Most photographers work in between the two extremes and although they may suggest that they cater to one type or another, I find that pretty much everyone has to mix and mingle the two styles as the situation warrants.

Is it photojournalism to start taking photos of the bride getting ready but then suggesting the bride snuggle in closer to her helpers for a mini group shot? Cute, nice, but not spontaneous as the “photojournalism” would suggest. Or how about having the bride and groom walk around a garden path? Perhaps the couple would do so on their own to take in what they have just done in their ceremony earlier, but not likely. And if the couple indicates that they’d like to have some setup poses of the family, are you really going to say no, because you’re a "wedding photojournalist"? Well, maybe if you’re Denis Reggie, but if you’re breaking out on your own, you’re not going to be burning bridges and potential referral business because it’s just not your style.

What I’m saying is that much of wedding photography is contrived and while the truly spontaneous moments definitely occur and should be photographed, the wedding photographer is more a laid back choreographer than a completely invisible bystander to the proceedings.

In most cases, the time that the couple allots to the photographer is almost carte blanche for the photographer to create special photos. Spontaneity still occurs and it takes an observant photographer to capture those moments in between the setups and formals.

Additionally, in these days of fast action weddings, it seems many couples do not have the patience to do a whole wedding in the formal style, like their parents might have done. Where every single shot in the album is structured and rigid. Today's couple want fluidity in their photographic coverage even if the wedding day is as highly structured and regimented as in years past.

The wedding photographer of today must be flexible enough to offer whatever coverage a potential client desires, from formal (minimal) to candid and documentary (most jobs).

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that photojournalism can also be as contrived as wedding photography. Hard breaking news is truly being a witness to the events unfolding, but a lot of journalism for photography and video is “set up” and is hardly spontaneous. Watch a TV news story and watch how the video footage unfolds if it happens to include an interview with someone. Usually, the person is shown to be doing some “normal” activities, working at the desk, reading a reference book, or other, but this is all fake for the benefit of providing filler for the audio track. Same for still photos used for non-breaking news. The photographer can bring enough equipment to create a mini studio for taking and directing a simple shot that tries to look spontaneous.

Color versus B&W

Color is king in the world of photography. In the consumer world, which provides the profits to R&D professional products enjoyed by serious amateurs and professionals, the vast majority of photographs created end up as 4x6 color prints. When the color process was introduced, many wrote off B&W as a viable consumer medium and indeed there was a time when B&W’s future looked as dim as film does now compared to digital.

However, the artists and photographers with a flair for running against the color grain kept on using B&W and over the last decade, it has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. In fact, B&W never went away; however, as the digital process becomes better over time and is more capable of producing darkroom quality B&W prints via the computer, true silver-halide B&W printmaking might again face extinction. However, that is not for discussion in this module, because we are more interested in the end-result not the process itself.

B&W prints are very popular for wedding coverage. It evokes a number of emotions and harkens back to classic times when style was ever present, when there actually was such a thing called “society”, instead of the morass of pop culture inundating and permeating every facet of western life. B&W is simply timeless and should be an important consideration for your photography.

Do be mindful though that with certain cultures, you may have to sell the couple on the merits of B&W photography. My own experience is primarily with Chinese couples and when I mention that I would shoot some B&W film, some give me a quizzical look and request that I still shoot color, and lots of it too. It seems as if using B&W film is to rip them off of their expected color coverage, because the couple sees color everywhere and this is what they expect too. These couples lack the ability to see the aesthetics of the medium for a very direct “truthful” color representation of the wedding, and if they only knew how much more expensive B&W is over film J

These are the same couples that do not appreciate different expressions or interpretations of an event. Once, as a guest, I took a photo of the couple walking by my table using the rear-curtain sync mode of my camera and flash combo to create motion blur. I liked it enough to produce a 10x15 inch print for my book and use it as my opening image. When one person viewed it, she questioned why I would have a “blurry” photo in my book and even after explaining it to her, she still concluded that she did not like that style for which I quickly added that I would not produce any “National Geographic style” photos for her brother’s wedding.

A professional photographer and teacher had a look at my book once and he asked about the same photo and how people reacted to it and I told him that generally, the Chinese clients would not like it whereas the Caucasian couples were usually intrigued by the photo and more receptive to including a few similar shots here and there. It’s not as if you can do rear-curtain sync motion blur all the time anyway and even when opportunities arise, your timing has be right on to release the shutter at the right time, otherwise you won’t get the shot just so to make it work.

Back to B&W, it has a classic feel to it and when a moment presents itself, you can create images that evoke 1920s cool. B&W simplifies matters for the photographer too. Worried about ambient light mixing in with your flash? Well put away the flash and load up some high-speed B&W and shoot direct. Grainy yes, but killer for ensuring the foreground has the same light levels as the background. Grain works for B&W too whereas it becomes a detriment for color photos.

Modifying B&W to add some toned shots can be a really nice touch to really enhance the nostalgic look and feel. You can ask the lab to do it the old fashion way or shoot a chromogenic B&W film such as Kodak Portra B&W 400 or Ilford XP-2 400 and just process and print through the regular color process. Just be sure to indicate what kind of toning you want because while you drop off expecting brown sepia tones, you may end up with blue tones instead, which is cool too, but no longer a warm feeling image like good old brown sepia.

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