DOCUMENTARY STYLE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

DOCUMENTARY STYLE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Documentary wedding photography aka reportage is a style or genre of shooting that captures only the real, authentic moments from your wedding day.

When you look back at your photos in 20 years time, every single one will have context, meaning and personal value.

But it isn’t for everyone… some couples want every minute of the day planned down to the last detail, and would never dream of just letting the photographer capture everything as it really happened (as crazy as that might sound!)

However, for perhaps more ‘forward thinking’ couples it makes alot of sense. Why would you want to spend the most emotional part of your wedding day (the period right after the ceremony) away from your friends and family, and instead traipse around the countryside in hot formal wear while the photographer directs you for an hour?

Let's be honest, wouldn’t you much rather just be hanging out with your bridal party before sunset enjoying a glass of champagne? Or spending more time with friends and family?

HOW IS DOCUMENTARY STYLE DIFFERENT TO CONTEMPORARY STYLE?

Documentary style wedding photography is similar to my Contemporary wedding photography during periods such as the ceremony, but with these important differences at other times:

• I arrive 30 minutes early to scope out locations for any planned family group photos in the vicinity of the ceremony location so we know exactly where these will take place.

• Getting ready coverage is not interrupted, nothing is posed or setup (although you will get some tips beforehand like try to get ready near window light sources etc).

• You are still able to request ‘to camera’ couples photos wherever and whenever you want them, or some couples like to go for a walk together, enjoy drinks with their bridal party etc. while I capture this candidly. Others prefer to sit down after the ceremony and enjoy some quiet time together while I capture this in the background.

• One of the main differences is that I don’t scope out locations for portraits (as I normally would for contemporary style coverage).

One of the other benefits of documentary style coverage is that it requires considerably less time for the photographer to prepare. There are no site visits required, no scoping of portrait locations etc. I spend less time checking timelines and shot lists, and more time just focusing on the moments.

It also means the pre-wedding consultation will only take 15 minutes, instead of the normal one hour to 90 minutes.

Due to less scoping & planning documentary style wedding photography is less expensive than my normal contemporary style pricing.

If you want to spend more time with guests, and less with your photographer, then documentary style is for you!