Wedding Photography Terminology What Does It All Mean?

By: Alex Cejka, AC-Creative Photography, www.acphoto.ca

One of the most confusing aspects of choosing a wedding photographer is deciphering the terminology photographers use to describe themselves. Photojournalistic, traditional, fashion, documentary, portrait; these are just a few of the terms a person runs into when trying to select the right photographer for the wedding day. Anyone trying to choose among all the options available should understand that, in essence, all the terms only describe two or three different styles of photography.

For convenience we'll call the two main styles documentary and traditional posed photography. Documentary style photography derives from news photography; a person with a camera attempts to capture an event as it unfolds before them. Photojournalistic, natural, and candid photography also fall into this school of photographic thought. A photographer who advertises himself under any of these terms is less concerned with controlling the subjects and the environment around them and focuses more on getting shots of the event as they happen.

Traditional posed style photography is descended from the photo studio, where the photographer controls the position of the subjects, sets the lighting, and manipulates the environment to achieve the best shot. Traditional photographers will commonly refer to themselves as studio, portrait, or posed photographers. This style of photography emphasizes putting the subjects into settings and positions that make them look their best.

Fashion photography is the one common term that resists being neatly classified into either style. This method uses the set up and, to some degree, control of the posed style coupled with the documentary photographer's use of natural lighting and environment to the greatest advantage. Fashion photographers could be thought of as a melding of the other two styles or as being different enough from both to form a third style of their own.

None of these styles of photography are wrong, nor is a photographer going to rely solely on one style. A portrait photographer is not going to insist on posing the exchange of the rings, and a photojournalistic photographer is not going to blindly hope that at some point during the wedding all the members of the wedding party will get together, turn his way and smile. Any wedding package is going to include a mix of styles, what the photographer is trying to advertise is which of these styles he is most comfortable with and how he would like to shoot the wedding.

How then does a couple choose what kind of photographer they want? A little research can go a long way to help the bride and groom learn what they like. All photographers are happy to show off their portfolios and discuss how they like to shoot weddings. Many of them now conduct much of their business online, and their sites contain everything prospective clients need to make a decision, from portfolios to photo packages to booking. A quick search on the internet will likely yield dozens of sites that offer examples of many of the different types of styles, and probably locate a few photographers locally.

Another way for a client to evaluate how well both the style of photography and the photographer match what sort of pictures she envisions is to book an engagement photo session. These sessions are much smaller in scope than a wedding, usually resulting in smaller photo packages and a more modest expenditure in terms of time and money. The real advantage to one of these sessions, though, is that the photographer and the couple interact without the crowds, the hurry, and the stress of a wedding.

Whether you book an engagement session or not, it is a good idea to spend at least some time with the photographer before the wedding. At this point, the style of photography should not be the main focus, but how the couple interacts with the photographer. Both bride and groom should feel really comfortable with the photographer and should come to trust that he will get the shots they want to record their wedding. On the wedding day there are enough things to worry about without wondering whether or not the photographer is getting the right pictures to remember it by.

By: Alex Cejka, AC-Creative Photography, www.acphoto.ca