Choosing Your Wedding Photographer
Over the past twenty years, wedding photography has turned into a whole new art form. It may even mean something different for each couple. In days long gone, the wedding photographer was the person couples trusted to record their big day.
Today, your friend’s camera phone are much less expensive than a professional wedding photographer. However, professional wedding photographers actually know what they’re doing, and must have much more to offer the lucky couple. In fact, professional wedding photographers have learned to take advantage of all this new technology; using it to enhance their work and perfectly capture your wedding day. This is one of the reasons wedding photography has turned into its own individual art form.
This new level of complexity, however, brought with it a challenge for wedding photographers. They now need to be able to suit a couple’s needs as well as possible.
There are quite a few photography buzzwords floating around out there. Vintage, artistic, or contemporary may ring a bell. Confusingly, photographers can’t seem to agree on just what these terms mean.
It is up to the couple to do their research before deciding who will capture their wedding for them. There are quite a few styles of photography to choose from.
First off, there’s documentary photography, or reportage or photojournalism photography, as it is otherwise known. This is when the photographer doesn’t direct or set up any of the shots, but just covers the wedding naturally. This is for when you want the event to be captured as naturally as possible.
Traditional wedding photography is where people line up for photos, directed by the photographer. This style requires the photographer to set up each and every photo as well as they can.
Another example is artistic wedding photography, also known as fine art wedding photography. This style is essentially an evolution of traditional wedding photography. At its best, artistic wedding photography can document your wedding in a beautiful and romantic way.
These aren’t all of the styles–there are quite a few others–but you really shouldn’t get too caught up in labels. If you become too concerned with the labels, they often just make the decision more difficult. You don’t even have to choose one over the others.
In reality, wedding photographers will be happy to use different styles over the course of the wedding. In fact, they might have to use different styles for the sake of getting the shot just right.
Many photographers are specialized in one specific style, sometimes even using it as their main selling point. Some others use a more mixed style of photography. You need to look past all the buzzwords; there are a lot of different photographers to choose from. Ultimately, it is their abilities as a photographer that really matters.
Their portfolio should have a good balance of photos from every stage of the wedding. They should have experience and professionalism. They should be able to adapt to each situation, and get a great shot each time. They need to devote time and effort into capturing your wedding as perfectly as possible.