Your engaged, time to find a wedding photographer!

You’ve just got engaged, life is good, talk of wedding planning is around every corner, even the dog has opinions on venues, typefaces for invitations, what your first dance song should be and finally, who on earth should you book as your wedding photographer?

There are three main avenues (with plenty of smaller side streets leading off these!) you can travel down when choosing your wedding photographer. You can ask your friends and family, fire up good old Google and finally, use the power of social media in your search for your photographer. All these avenues are safe and reliable, sure, you’ll find a wedding photographer, but will you find THE wedding photographer, the one who fits in with your personality and style and who gives you the images that your passionate about?

‘Documentary’ wedding photography is the word on everyone’s lips at the moment. Most photographers’ website will probably use the words ‘documentary wedding photographer’ or ‘reportage wedding photographer’ to describe their style. Every wedding photographer to a certain extent shoots a selection of unposed imagery at a wedding. After all, there are certain times during a wedding where you can’t shoot anything other than unposed, for instance at the ceremony or during the speeches. However, to be considered a true reportage or documentary wedding photographer means having a firm desire to shoot unposed photographs not as a side show to posed imagery, but more as a passion to shoot without directing or controlling a scene.

Documentary is one of many genres of wedding photography, it can be easy to see how styles can be confused and lines blurred. As I mention above, even the more classic, portrait orientated photographers will end up taking a certain number of candid photographs at a wedding. Whilst it is true that the staunchest reportage wedding photographers often get asked to take some portraits and/or group shots, meaning crossover between these differing photographic genres is always going to happen. My overall focus and one which is reflected in my portfolio reveal my style for the unposed. I thrive on capturing a real scene, through spot on timing, the art of composition, and using light, I look for the personalities of your friends and family and photograph them using these principles.

As important as selected images in a portfolio is the information behind the hero shots, the blog, the background information, the bio page, all should be studied with great detail. Any self respecting wedding photographer should tell you a bit about themselves, what makes them tick, how they approach a wedding and how they like to photograph. Blog’s are useful for looking through selected weddings, they will allow you to build up a picture of what images you can expect for your day.

I wouldn’t even say wedding photography is all about photographs of the bride and groom, it’s also about your guests, your families, the interactions between them, the social aspect of weddings, together with the ‘I do’s’ is what makes them the best day of your life. These interactions are what I value most. A photograph of a bride’s reaction to seeing her dad for the first time in her dress, or some of your closest friends enjoying a good laugh are far more powerful than any formal photograph will ever be.

Of course, the story for me as a wedding photographer doesn’t end when I finish at the end of your big day. The task of editing your images is one I take very seriously. I personally edit each and every one of your images, I don’t outsource to a company, nor do I use automated presets to add a vintage or ethereal look to images. My style of processing sits alongside my journalistic approach, it’s not gimmicky, my black and white images are just that, black and white, with emphasis on punchy shadows, my colour images are realistic and subtle with no tones or effects added.

Take advice from your family and friends, use Google, put shout outs on social media but remember; think about what you actually want from your photographs and stick with these beliefs when choosing your photographer – you won’t go far wrong.

Want to know more?
If you are interested in booking me for your wedding, please head over to my blog for further images, or click here to get in touch for a chinwag.