Wedding Styles
There are two primary approaches to wedding photography that are recognized today: Traditional and photojournalistic. Traditional wedding photography provides for more classically posed images and a great deal of photographers control the interaction on the day of the wedding. Photojournalistic wedding photography takes its cue from editorial reporting styles and focuses more on candid and unposed images with little photographer interaction. These are two extremes and many of today’s photographers will fall somewhere in the middle of these two styles.
A third style that is becoming more popular is a fashion-based approach. In contemporary/fashion-based wedding photography, photojournalistic images of the events of the day are combined with posed images that are inspired by editorial fashion photography as would be found in magazines like Vogue or Vanity Fair. This style often involves more innovative and dramatic post-processing of images.
Wedding Photojournalism
A wedding photojournalist is a person who takes photographs during a wedding using an alternative approach where images are captured spontaneously to emphasize moments and emotion. Much like photojournalists for the media, wedding photojournalists present the story of the day through their photographs. A wedding photojournalist typically shoots images quickly using available light or on-camera flash rather than using traditional, formal posing techniques and studio lights. The phrase wedding photojournalist has been in vogue for at least 10 years and has now become almost synonymous with normal wedding photography. Wedding photojournalists consider themselves to be photographic storytellers. Most wedding photojournalists value shooting techniques that minimize posing and scene manipulation. Their goal is to be as unobtrusive as possible while capturing the reality of the event with little interference. They focus on finding moments during a wedding that happen naturally, rather than setting up portraits. Most wedding photojournalists still provide wedding group photos, often referred to as formal wedding portraits. The main difference here is that these are typically less rigid and make up only five to 10 percent of the entire coverage. Wedding photojournalists commonly use an on-camera flash or take the portraits outside instead of using elaborate lighting set-ups for these portraits. The development of digital photography has evolved the photojournalistic approach to wedding photography. Evolving camera technologies have allowed photographers to take more images than ever before, however this informal style of wedding photography is much more than snapping candid photographs. The craft requires a strong sense of composition, lighting, timing and editing. Wedding photojournalist predominately use available light in order to better record the atmosphere and minimise disturbance to the couple. Wedding photojournalists typically use online photo galleries to display their edited images, or deliver the digital files to their clients as well as albums. Many times, the images are presented in chronological order to better tell the story of the day. Because photographs were shot on the fly, exposures probably weren’t optimum. They often required post processing, and it is common for photographs to be delivered more than a week after the wedding.
Contemporary Wedding Photography
The term contemporary wedding photography is used to describe wedding photography that is not of a traditional nature. The emphasis in contemporary photography is to capture the story and atmosphere from the day, so the viewer has an appreciation of what the wedding was like, rather than a series of pre-determined poses. This term can be mistaken for meaning any photograph that is not posed or formal. The advent and advancement of digital cameras (and increased use of the internet) means that many people can offer their services as a wedding photographer, but contemporary wedding photography is more than taking informal photographs and involves the use of composition, lighting, and timing to capture photographs that have a strong visual appeal.
Albums, Prints and Products
A contemporary wedding photographer will usually provide some or all of the following:
- Indoor photography at a church, temple, or other private venue during the ceremony and reception.
- Outdoor photography (often at a park, beach, or scenic location on the day of the wedding and/or for engagement photos).
- Both posed and candid (photojournalistic) shots of the wedding couple and their guests at the religious or civil ceremony, and the reception that follows.
- Formal portraiture in the studio (for either the wedding and/or the engagement photos).
- Digital services, such as digital prints or slides shows.
- Albums (either traditional matted albums or the more contemporary flush mount type of album).
The range of deliverables that a wedding photographer presents is varied. There is no standard as to what is included in a wedding coverage or package, so products vary regionally and from across photographers, as do the number of images provided.
Most photographers provide a set of proofs (usually unretouched, edited images) for the clients to view. Photographers may provide hard copy proofs in the form of 4×5 or 4×6 prints, a “magazine” of images with thumbnail sized pictures on multiple pages, an online proof gallery, images on CD or DVD in the form of a gallery or a slideshow, or a combination of the above. Some photographers provide these proofs for the client to keep, and some photographers require the client to make final print choices from the proofs and then return them or purchase them at an additional cost.
There are a wide variety of albums and manufacturers available, and photographers may provide traditional matted albums, digitally designed “coffee table” albums, contemporary flush mount albums, hardbound books, scrapbook style albums, or a combination of any of the above. Albums may be included as part of a pre-purchased package, or they may be added as an after-wedding purchase. Not all photographers provide albums; some may prefer to provide prints and/or files and let clients make their own albums.
Most photographers allow clients to purchase additional prints for themselves or their families. Many photographers now provide online sales either through galleries located on their own websites or through partnerships with other vendors. Those vendors typically host the images and provide the back end sales mechanism for the photographer; the photographer sets his or her own prices and the vendor takes a commission or charges a flat fee.
Some photographers are also including high resolution files in their packages. These photographers allow their clients limited rights to reproduce the images for their personal use, while retaining the copyright. Not all photographers release files and those who do will most likely charge a premium for them, since releasing files means giving up any after wedding print or album sales for the most part.
The owner of the pictures’ copyright is often explicitly stated in the contract for photographic services.[7] Without such explicit statement, the owner of the pictures’ copyright will depend on the country involved as copyright laws vary from country to country. Photographers who do not retain copyright of the images often charge more for their services. In these cases, the photographer provides the client with the digital images as part of the wedding package. The client then has unrestricted use of the images and can print any that they may desire.
Locations where John Prado Photography has worked before include:
Lake Oak Meadows Temecula, Pacific Edge Villa Laguna, Ole Hanson Beach Club San Clemente, Shanghai Reds Marina Del Rey, Darlington House San Diego, Calamigos Ranch Malibu, Electra Cruises Newport Beach, Rancho Capistrano San Juan Capistrano, Kindred Community Church, Old Ranch Country Club Seal Beach,Orange County Performing Art Center Santa Ana, The Mitten Building Redlands, La Costa Beach Resort Carlsbad, Tivoli Too Laguna, Omni Hotel Downtown, Benedict Castle Riverside, House of Blues Hollywood, House of Blues San Diego, Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, Hyat Regency Newport Beach, Santa Barbara Zoo, South Coast Winery Temecula, Faulkner Winery Temecula CA, Grand Del Mar Resort San Diego, CA
