Common Styles of Wedding Photography

Wedding Photographer Ventura and Santa Barbara County

 

 Most common wedding photography styles today are of two types, the first is Traditional wedding photography (classic), the second is Photojournalism. Most photographers will fall somewhere in between these two styles.

 

Wedding Photojournalism (Candid Photography)

  Photojournalistic wedding photographers began to rise in popularity in the 80's and has its roots in story telling documentary style images and focuses mostly on candid and non-posed images. In the tradition of straight photojournalism the photographer imposes very little simply photographing the events of the day as they unfold often from a distance.

 This is the least intrusive type of wedding photography as the photographer acts akin to a "fly on the wall" rather than an integral part of the ceremony. I here over and over from couples "how did you get this picture?" and "I didn't even know you were there" 

 Shooting as a photojournalist I also produce a lot of images and series of wedding photos as I tend to "sketch" with the camera rather than just snap a few images.

 

Classic Traditional Wedding Photography

 Traditional consists of classically posed images and requires a great deal of control by the photographer on the day of the wedding. Traditional wedding photography draws on the discipline of  portraiture and is very detail oriented body alignment, lighting, the background, even the dress, will be set up for the image. 

 There will be a lot of interaction between the photographer and wedding party. The photographer will often work from checklist of detailed images to be photographed. The print quality, correct lighting and  background are photographer's main concerns. 

  This takes time. Traditional Wedding Photography requires some commitment of time devoted to the photographer from the Bride, Groom and wedding party. Basically the photographer is in charge of large portions of the wedding to accommodate posing for the pictures.

 

 

 A new style that is gaining popularity for weddings is Editorial Photography, post ceremony "Trash the Dress" shoots kind of fall into this category of Editorial .

Editorial Wedding Photography

  Consists of Wedding images that are inspired by Editorial and Advertising photography rather than the classic traditional portrait type of imagery. This type of wedding photography requires intense control and interaction between the photographer, the bride and groom and wedding party. Often there is a great deal of photographic and lighting equipment involved and a crew of assistants including makeup artists.  There is also a great deal of image post production.

 This could all be described best as a production photo shoot that just happens to include someone ending up married. In some cases this is desirable, especially when very few loved ones are able to attend the ceremony leaving them with only the wedding album images to experience the event. And really... It can be a whole lot of fun, something you would never forget.

 

 

  Weddings and Engagement photography in Ventura County, without travel expenses including the cities of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Port Hueneme and Oxnard, Ojai, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Fillmore and Santa Paula, and Camarillo, California. Weddings in Santa Barbara: Isla Vista, Goleta, Montecito and Carpinteria. In Los Angeles County: Westlake Village, Santa Monica, Malibu, Calabasas and Agoura Hills. Also available for destination weddings.

 

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