Saturday, January 30, 2010

Wedding Photography - A Different Look

By Joel Wong

Wedding photography includes pictures of the couple before the wedding, as well as coverage of the actual ceremony and reception. The two approaches in wedding photography are traditional and photojournalism. Traditional wedding photography consists of classically posed images. In this approach, there is much interaction with the photographer on the day of the wedding. In the photojournalistic approach, the images recorded are much more subtle with less photographer interaction. These two approaches are the two extremes of photographic styles. Most of the modern day photographers' fall somewhere between these two styles.

When you are hiring a bridal photographer to shoot your wedding, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Every photographer possesses an individual style. It takes some research from your side to decide who you want to photograph your wedding. To find the perfect photographer you should start looking well ahead of time. Look into your photographers creative side more then the business side when hiring a wedding photographer. One shouldn't be concerned about comparing various package details or the number of prints he is going to get. Take care of all the last minute details so your photographer isn't preoccupied with thoughts about payment on your wedding day.

Always remember NOT to give constant direction to the professional you have hired. The biggest pet peeve of wedding photographers is that they are given instructions by the brides, grooms, parents, relatives and everyone on the wedding party. No photographer likes to be directed as to what to shoot and how to do it. The more there's third party interaction, the less creativity in the photography. Sometimes the relatives and friends are so preoccupied in instructing the photographer that they almost miss the entire wedding.

As always, trust is a major factor that affects your relationship with the photographer. Not everything can be controlled on your wedding day, so you will need to come to terms with that. That's another reason why you hired a professional to capture all the beautiful moments of the wedding day.

Don't forget to feed your photographer. On a interesting point - always make sure your photographer is fed! This should be the last person you want to starve at your wedding. And try not to give your photographer a very long list of things to do. This would distract him from what you actually hired him to do.

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