Reportage wedding photography – Posh name what is it?
Reportage Wedding Photography
If you’ve been looking for a wedding photographer you’ve most probably heard the term “Reportage Wedding Photographer” I know I use the term quite a bit! It sounds a bit flowery and posh – but what does it mean?!!?
Your wedding is easily one of the most important moments in your life. You’ve probably played it out a million times in your mind: the resplendent, shimmering wedding dress, the air heavy with the musky perfume of flowers, the lingering smell of delicious food, and of course, great photography to capture it all.
Modern day weddings demand photography that goes beyond the traditional, formal poses that reek of stiff cordiality, rather than carefree, eternal love. Gone are the days when wedding photography meant smiling uncomfortably and waiting for the camera to click. Today, wedding photography is all about capturing the unique personality and intimate moments of a wedding.
A wedding is replete with priceless, precious moments, from Grandpa & Grandma holding hands to your little niece dropping ice cream all over her dress and smiling wildly about it. Traditional wedding photography, unfortunately, fails to capture these details. Creative wedding photography, on the other hand, takes the traditional and adds a special zing to it, capturing these moments in all their wonderful glory.
Maybe you want to get a few photographs in black & white or seeped in sepia. Maybe you want to capture a few moments of intimacy between you and your spouse to-be. Or, maybe you want photographs that capture the true essence of your wedding, and you as a couple. Whatever your requirement may be, creative wedding photography can capture it.
Finding the right wedding photographer, however, is far from easy. The easiest way to go about it is to get in touch with friends and family whose wedding photographs you admire. The work of a good photographer spreads by word of mouth, and you are much more likely to find a quality wedding photographer in the recommendation of your friends than in the yellow pages.
The internet is another great way to find a creative wedding photographer. You can do a quick search for photographers in your area on Google. Many of them might have websites or photo albums online, and you can browse through them to get an idea of their work. Are their shots candid enough? Do they capture the special moments of the wedding? Do they sprinkle enough formal shots in between those candid moments? These are just a few of the questions you must ask yourself before picking a wedding photographer.
Once you do decide on someone, meet them in person. The wedding photographer will be by your side throughout the big day. You want to hire someone whom you are comfortable with, or else the quality of the work might suffer.
At the wedding itself, you should give the photographer a free rein. A quality professional should be able to float through the guests, capturing intimate moments. In that respect, creative wedding photography is quite like story telling – with the bride & groom as the primary protagonists. Remember that the pictures of your wedding day will last with you forever. You want to show your kids and grandkids a story, not a series of formally posed photographs without warmth or intimacy. It might cost you a bit more than hiring a traditional wedding photographer, but when it comes to preserving the memories of the biggest day of your life, it is money well spent.
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Some of the modern wedding photos I have seen are gorgeous and the photos are not boring – the bride, groom and bridesmaids look like they’re just having a great time.
Marriages are made in heaven! The couple’s smile proves that truth!!!! Made for each other!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing a nice blog.I really like your post. The picture you have posted here is really very nice. Great post!
This is a really good read for me, Must admit that you are one of the best bloggers I ever saw.Thanks for posting this informative article.
Wonderful post and advise. Its so important to make a good decision on a photographer that matches your style so that you don’t have to guide them on you special day.
Hi,
Really interesting post, just bookmarked-,keep it up.
Jenn
Yep – reportage wedding photography is about the story in an image. It’s so much more exciting for couples to see than the standard traditional over-posed photography. There are a million and one moments that they could easily miss. Those are the moments they will want to treasure since they are about the personalities of their guests..
My advice for couples seeking a documentary/photojournalism approach is be careful and skeptical. Thanks to the style’s surge in popularity “Wedding photojournalist” is a much-abused term in the wedding industry and all it really means is the photographer promises to shoot a couple of candid photographs during your wedding day.
If the photographer’s portfolio has a ton of heavily photoshopped special effects, has a ton of detail shots and mostly a bunch of posed pictures in their portfolio then look elsewhere. You are not getting a true photojournalist and a lot of the fun, unscripted moments of your wedding day are not going to be captured for posterity. Your wedding and the spontaneous event will be a blur so be sure your photographer is competent and experienced enough to anticipate things when Aunt Edna does the worm on the dance floor.
BTW, wonderful blog Shaun. I love the clean, orderly look.