Documentary style wedding photography is the art of observing and being present. It’s about being at the right place at the right time anticipating a moment that is meaningful and unreplicatable. It is an honest, hands-off approach to telling the story of your day.
Documentary is not the same as candid.
A candid photo put simply is the one where people are not looking in the camera, assumingly unaware of it. During cocktail hour we often take candid photos when we walk around the room and photograph people interacting and having a great time. A documentary photo goes several layers deeper; it requires planning, anticipation, and patience. It’s about telling a story with just one image, noticing patterns, personalities and quirks of each wedding day we get to photograph.
Documentary approach takes time.
A good reportage image may take 1 minute or it may take 15 min for everything to align.
Documentary approach means we are going to take a lot of photos, all the time.
If you notice us taking a photo during a moment that you think it’s unflattering, it’s not because we don’t know what we’re doing, promise. Many people think photographers takes one perfect photo when everyone’s ready. In fact, in order to make a good photo, you need to take 20 (or a 100) bad ones first. We very often take many photos of the scene to test our settings, figure out the best angle and composition. So when the best moment comes, we’re ready.
Documentary approach requires trust.
It means when you’re looking at us, you might be wondering “what the heck are they doing over there?” but you trust the process. We have an extensive questionnaire and a Timeline Review Call to take notes of anything that’s important to you. The rest is unscripted and with your trust, we’ll tell your story in a way that’s unique and meaningful to you.
There are true documentary photographers – they don’t interfere with any single event on a wedding day. They wouldn’t move anything out of the frame or tell anyone to pose. Our approach is hybrid – a documentary style with a sprinkle of creative portraits. During the Timeline Review phase we get all the information from you about how much time you want to dedicate to creative portraits and family photos, and any other images that might be important to you that we will direct (from little trinkets you want captured to specific people). We designate the time for posed photos and our intention. The rest of the day we don’t interfere with your day at all. We don’t tell your guests where to stand or what to do. And we don’t ask you to pose for us.
Wonder down the rabbit hole of our favorite stories – there are more posts like this Documentary Style Wedding Photography on our blog.
