Photography Style

What is my photography style?

A simple question from a bride today sparked some thought and reflection. The two most common styles talked about today regarding wedding photography are photojournalistic and traditional. I have avoided categorizing my work because I don't truly fall into either specification.

Photojournalistic wedding photography can be described as a fun & candid style that tells the story of your day. Strong use of mostly natural light (which I do prefer!). Working without a shot list - simply capturing moments as they happen. I enjoy shooting in this manner, especially at the reception. Many photographers claim to shoot this way.

Traditional wedding photography, described as contrived posed or staged portraits, while not my favorite, definitely is a requirement of most brides & grooms at least a little bit, mainly in order to satisfy parents & grandparents. Working strictly off a shot list. I do offer to do this, as it's a good document for family purposes, but it lacks creativity. Therefore, I don't spend much time with it - especially alone with the bride & groom.

I'm not satisfied classifying myself as either of these styles, or even saying I'm both. But in my quest to come up with a description of my style, I stumbled across another term that's begun to fly around - illustrative.

Illustrative photography is described as when the photographer thinks in terms of design elements, and places subjects in settings of interesting compositions and backgrounds. Usually the photographer provides direction and the couple (and bridal party) are encouraged to interact, which results in a spontaneous feel. Unlike wedding photojournalism, illustrative wedding photography is said to bring out the photographer's artistic creativity and compositional skills, rather than simply capturing a series of moments.

All in all, my work is somewhat of a blend of the 3. But the majority of my work lies in the the illustrative category, based on how I work and how I think as I'm shooting. This is how I enjoy shooting and what I do best. And this is how I think brides & grooms are most comfortable - most people desire a little direction or some idea of what to do. But strictly posing is too rigid and unnatural for me. With purely candid photography, you risk losing the opportunity for some truly beautiful work. Illustrative is a nice, comfortable and creative blend.

For example, in this shot:

Did I tell her to smile? No - but I did tell him to whisper something in her ear, which made her smile.

Even in this shot:

Did I place them all specifically? No. I told them to spread out in the area and climb on the farm equipment. I do recall moving one of the guys to help create visual balance. Then I just told them to all do their own thing and look wherever. They did - simple as that.

And here:

Did I tell them to laugh? Yes (did you expect me to say no?), but a little bit before I took this shot. What happens when you tell people to laugh? They force a laugh, which feels awkward and silly - and then they end up talking about it, which usually leads to them making fun of each other (or themselves), which usually leads to true laughter and natural reactions. There's your shot.

Descriptions of the different wedding styles came from: http://www.image-designer.com/wedding-photography-styles.htm