Documentary wedding photography

Documentary wedding photography has fast become the norm amongst the majority of modern wedding photographers. Having evolved from the days of shooting on film where a traditional wedding photographer would capture the day in a series of posed shots. Wedding photography today demands much more than your typical ceremony & group shots. The terminology can vary from documentary to photojournalism/candid/reportage/fly on the wall. etc but pretty much all mean the same thing.

According to a recent survey the average cost of a wedding in the UK is over £30,000 – Weddings today can involve a wide variety of things which could only be dreamt of in the 1970’s! From helicopters to singing waiters, dove releases, fireworks, magicians, choreographed dances, sports cars etc. Couples go to greats lengths to ensure their day is perfect and its our job as photographers to document this and create happy memories.

My approach

One thing I always try to get across (in my images, and when I speak to couples about the way I work) is the way in which I capture the story of your day, I like to capture the day naturally, getting those shots where you had no idea I’d taken them! This is unobtrusive documentary wedding photography at its best and allows you to enjoy the day without a photographer pointing a camera in your face all day.

I’ll typically stick on the zoom lens and capture the day unfold from a distance. Most people prefer to see these kinds of photographs and look forward to the chance to view the wedding photographs which was taken without them even knowing.

How much of the day is documentary?

From the start of the day during bridal preparation to the end when your guests are warmed up on the dance floor. Its around an 80/20 split, 80% being between documentary photography and the 20% is where we can have some fun and capture some creative shots to compliment the documentary photographs. These photographs make up the story of your day and more importantly, the memories you’re left with.