Having a wedding photographer is essential and so much fun to choose. When else do you get to splash out on amazing snaps! To help you find what you’re looking for, let’s take this back to basics. There are three types of wedding photography: reportage photography, traditional photography and contemporary wedding photography. Whether you are looking for some budget photography, or you want to splurge, your wedding photographs will be one of the few solid mementos from W-Day and you want them to be epic! So let’s work out which type will suit you and your wedding theme.
Contemporary, fashion, editorial or creative photography takes its inspiration from fashion photography. Contemporary wedding photography does have some posed shots, but they are slightly more relaxed, as the photographer will be looking for exciting lighting and angles. While stunning, these shots may be less about the mood of the day or the couple as characters, but instead the vision and artistic stance of the photographer – which might or might not be what you are after!
Traditional wedding photography, also known as posed, conventional or classic photography used to be the most popular category of wedding photography until the digital era, at which point, both photographers and newlywed couples stopped worrying about the costs of film. Traditional style focuses on taking posed shots of the couple and the group at large and involves a lot of direction from the photographer and time from the wedding party. It may not necessarily capture the emotions of the day as whole, but will give you some beautiful traditional shots to keep forever.
Reportage, also known as documentary or journalistic photography is not a new approach altogether, but in the world of wedding photography it has come into vogue in the last couple of years. The aim of this type of photographer is to document your special day in an unobtrusive fashion, telling a narrative. Whilst this will provide stunning shots and genuine emotion, brought to life by the photographer’s artistic vision, this type of wedding photographer is usually more than happy to conduct some formal shots too. However, it is worth checking with your chosen photographer what their attitude towards traditional shots is.
Aside from photo sessions, a lot of couples nowadays do video shoots as well. The work is normally done by a professional videographer, but for people who don’t have much budget, they hire a family member or a friend for the task. These are the different actual day wedding videography styles to choose from.
The artistic videography style depends on the preference of the couple or the videographer. It does not follow a specific rule of format. It is basically more of a freestyle videography, except that it does not lay its aesthetic dimension on the line. A lot of couples appreciate this style because it makes their wedding video unlike the others. It is not recommended, though, if the couple just asked someone from the family to do the task. While there are no specific rules to follow, the artistic videography style needs proper training and experience.
The journalistic videography style is probably the most widely-used style when it comes to wedding videos. Not much skill is needed for the photographer, since his only job is to record events as they happen. They document every part of the wedding, from the vows to the reception. This requires no intervention from the videographer. It is also described as the “documentary” of the occasion. It will be edited and polished based on the actual sequence of events.
From the word itself “cinematic,” shooting for a cinematic wedding video is just like creating a movie or a film. The way the video clips are recorded can be compared to the journalistic videography style, except that special effects are added in the editing part in order to create a dramatic mood. However, this style is also not suitable for people who have limited or no background at all in cinematography and video editing. Creating a cinematic video successfully requires advanced knowledge of editing softwares.
Typically, the storytelling videography style comprises of a video or a photo montage of the wedding accompanied by a narrating voice and music. It can be likened to a cinematic videography style for its editing approach. This style, however, is the most labor-intensive among all wedding videography styles. Aside from recording and editing the wedding ceremony, testimonies and dialogues should also be incorporated in the video. The testimonies don’t necessarily have to be recorded during the wedding ceremony, though.
Unlike the other styles, the highlights videography style is shorter and can last for about 15 to 50 minutes. Before the day of the wedding, the videographer should already have a blueprint of which parts of the wedding the record and which parts to disregard. Preferably, only highlights of the wedding should be recorded. During the editing part, necessary video clips are removed to save more time. Love songs and transitional effects can also be added, in order to make the video more interesting.
