WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY STYLES IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Confused by all the different wedding photography styles offered in Northern Ireland, I am sometimes. Especially when some of them mean the same thing. I will endeavour to explain my interpretation of what these describe.
I recently met up with clients for the pre-wedding consultation leading up to their wedding to chat over the running order of the day and to find out the finer details with regard to the style of wedding photography they wanted. After talking to them for a while the style they asked me to shoot was ‘Reportage’. This got me a little confused, so I felt we needed to go into more detail and clarify what this means, from previous conversations my notes did not lean towards this direction of style.
It ended up that they had picked up this term from a wedding magazine and actually were unaware of what it meant.
It is important that you don’t tell your wedding photographer to shoot in a particular style then realise afterwards that your interpretation of what this style is, is completely different. You could end up with a wedding album that does not suit your wedding or even worse, you don’t like.
If in doubt ask to see wedding albums by the wedding photographer and point out the style that you like the most, you don’t always need to relay on fancy words.
I have compiled explanations of what the different styles mean and aliases they may go by, if you are not sure which style suits you best ask your photographer to shoot your wedding in a range of styles listed to cover all eventualities.
CLASSIC WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
The Classic style everyone is familiar with and images that have been captured by wedding photographers in Northern Ireland for generations. Also know as ‘Traditional’ these images are usually always camera aware, in other words the subject has had time to prepare for the photograph and are looking their best for the camera.
This style is usually the foundation of any good wedding album and the parent pleasers, typical images would be photographs at the church door, bride and groom with their parents, bridal party set up, family groups and the mandatory cutting the cake shot. In my opinion a must at any wedding, if they are not captured you can run the risk offending people that would normally expect to be included in these type of photographs.
They do not necessarily need to go into the finished wedding album but it is a good idea to have them taken. A wedding day isn’t just about the bride and groom, it’s also about the people you celebrate it with.
REPORTAGE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
The Reportage Style is by definition ‘to report’ and not to intervene or to alter the course of events. Also known as Documentary Wedding Photography the subject is not aware they are being photographed, the photographer will stay in the background and let the wedding unfold naturally and whatever happens they capture it.
This style is fully dependent on the situation, it is easy to do but hard to do well and takes a good eye for composition and razor sharp timing. Talented documentary wedding photographers have a sixth sense of when a significant moment is about to materialize, this comes from years of experience at weddings. It is a skill that cannot be taught, you either have it or you don’t.
Images that are normally associated with reportage wedding photography are any of the impromptu moments captured and attention in the detail. These are anything from the bridal preparations through to the speeches and sometimes beyond (within reason).
They include images where the photographer tries to be invisible during the hair and makeup preparations, the bride getting into the dress, the groom meeting and greeting the guests at the service, the drinks reception and everything else between. Images also prevalent in this style include a lot of detail photographs like the shoes, wedding dress, flowers, jewellery and table decorations the list goes on and is endless.
In my opinion this style should not be solely shot on it’s own. Unless your wedding photographer has amazing skill or has explained to you the type of images you will get. It carries risks and can sometimes only show one side of a wedding day. It tells a great story but not the whole story.
Most people at weddings don’t know what happens on a wedding day and rely on the photographer to guide them, if the wedding photographer is shooting solely in this style the wedding will lack structure and no one will know what is meant to happen, it may be a good idea to hire a wedding coordinator to run the day.
AVANTE-GARDE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
This style is one I am not exactly sure what it is, I believe it to mean experimental and innovative. It is really anything that is not covered in the other two styles, something that has not been done before.
Photography with this style is usually associated with unusual backdrops that are not normally associated with wedding photography. Images related to this style include inspiration from modern structures in city centres, urban art, cobbled cathedral quarters and colourful graffiti. Anything that can give the wedding photography a metropolitan arty chic feel. Another trait of creating this contemporary look is by using interesting camera angles and wide lenses, this distorts the ordinary and creates a more interesting perspective.
The subjects are usually camera aware and either looking at or away from the camera but they do know they are being photographed. To add to this look they are not normally smiling, usually looking moody like in an ‘Avant-Garde’ Federico Fellini art house movie.
This style is great for brides and grooms in a contemporary situation, but like everything it needs to be done in moderation along with other styles. Too much of this and your wedding album will look like you did not enjoy yourself on the wedding day.
MY APPROACH TO WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY STYLES
For the best result I advise a blend of all three styles. If you shoot too much Classic photography the wedding will look wooden and formal, almost lifeless. The opposite can be said for the Reportage style, it can look like no one is taking the wedding seriously and it is just a party with no sense of occasion. So it is important the strike the right balance.
My approach is to closely work with the client to evaluate their needs, my clients trust me to cover their wedding in styles I think best suit them. I would cover all the three main styles to cover all bases, shooting the classic images as quickly and efficiently as possible and leave them to relax with their guests as I work unobtrusively in the background capturing all the impromptu moments.
When the time comes to choosing the images for their album they have a large body of a variety of styles that they can choose from, enabling them at this stage to focus on the main style they want to feature in their album.
If you would like to contact Des for a consultation you can reach him by clicking on the link below.