A wedding day is not a moving portrait session. It’s an event with a story. YOUR story. When you’re hiring a photographer for your wedding you should interview, review portfolios of photographers that are not just great at making you look amazing in your wedding portraits, but you should also hire the best storyteller you can afford.
Your wedding will go by a lot faster than you think, and believe it or not you will miss MOST of your wedding! The photographs from your wedding, the small vignettes of stories, the details, the emotions and moments of excitement and laughter are fleeting and go by quickly, and a lot of the time without you being aware. A seasoned, trained and talented wedding photographer know’s not only how to capture wonderful story telling moments, but also how to anticipate them.
I have been a full time wedding photographer for over 15 years, and have photographed over 500 weddings of every culture, style, size and location you can think of. Although I am proud of the beautiful portraits I’ve taken of my couples over the years, the photographs I am most proud of, and the families that hire cherish most, are the moments I captured of the essence of the people they love that shared the celebration that was the creation of a brand new legacy.
Below are a handful of my favorite storytelling moments of my career.
I love this first image above (and images like it) so very much. Not only does it evoke emotion, and tell a complete story, it does it with absolutely no explanation. You know exactly why this bride is crying on her wedding day. You know it’s a “good cry,” and what brought it on. It was the tender words of the man she will soon call her husband. There are other beautiful images I could share as a series from this moment, but I don’t need to. This one image tells the complete story, and it is these types of images that I anticipate, hunt for, get in close to capture quietly, and deliver to my clients to remind them what they felt on the biggest day of their lives up to that point. In particular, this image also shares to the groom the moment and the impact of his words to his bride for him to also enjoy and cherish.
This next set of images are of the “first look,” where my couples have decided to take a few moments alone together, to talk, share the excitement of the coming day, perhaps read letters to each other, or just take a moment to touch and share and take in each others emotion. It gives me great joy to be trusted to share with them this very intimate moment.
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The wedding ceremony is also FULL of emotion! Not just from the couple, but of the family and friends looking on, and enjoying this moment with you.
Sometimes there are random moments in between that are funny, exciting and emotional as well.
*See the little girl below 🙂
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This next image is one of my absolute favorite images that tell (almost) a complete story in one frame. I mean “almost” because only the couple and the wedding attendees know that on that phone is the grooms parents whom could not attend the wedding in California because of an illness, so their son (and siblings and other family) did a FaceTime call with them from Japan so they could share in their son’s celebration.
That is the groom’s brother getting emotional in the background.
This next image is a favorite of mine because it not only tells a complete story of family and tradition, it also incorporates emotion and love for this bride by the women in her family.
Wedding toasts to the couple often illicit a lot of emotion…
Being tall has its benefits. I can “fight” my way into the fun and crazy dance floor and get photos up and over showing all the fun!
Just because we are wearing pretty clothes doesn’t mean sometimes it doesn’t get a bit wild 🙂
Before you sign the contract for your photographer be sure to do a complete review of their ability to tell stories, especially in a fast moving and difficult environment such as a wedding.
What you are looking for in a wedding photographer is that they are very well rounded in their photographic abilities. Each wedding photographer will have their strengths and weaknesses. They will have areas of your day where they are stronger than others. Even I do. Some photographers are amazing portrait artists, but may not be the best photographer to capture your wedding details in a creative way. Or, perhaps, a photographer is very talented at photojournalism, capturing emotion and telling the story of your wedding, but perhaps is not very strong in the area of portraits.
The best way to determine if you are choosing the perfect photographer for your wedding is to interview them first, but also to ask to see at least three FULL wedding galleries that they have delivered to their couples. Preferably at the venue you are getting married at, or one that is similar. This way you get an opportunity to see how well rounded your photographer is. How do they capture moments? What do the getting ready moments look like? How do they capture the details of your wedding? Are they good at posing your wedding party and family portraits? How proficient are they at night, at your reception, when there is no natural light and they have to modify light with flash? All of these areas of your day require a specific skillset. This skillset is not developed overnight, so be careful hiring a photographer with little experience, or one that is just a “weekend warrior” that has a full time job during the week, but shoots an occasional wedding on the weekend. Being a skilled, well rounded wedding photographer requires thousands of hours of doing it over and over and over and over again.
On a wedding day your photographer is a photojournalist (candids and storytelling), a portrait photographer, a landscape photographer, a food and product photographer (all the details of your wedding including rings, shoes, flowers, reception details, etc), a family portrait photographer (family portrait sessions), a child photographer, etc. Your photographer has to be proficient at controlling light in difficult situations such as window light, high noon harsh sunlight, super dark reception rooms at night, and they have to be able to think quickly on their feet, moving from room to room, indoors to outdoors, light to dark areas, and have the ability to adjust exposure and modify light very quickly in an often times chaotic and fast moving environment.
Basically, your wedding photographer has to be very good at thinking on their feet, adjusting quickly, great at problem solving, easy under intense pressure of a fast moving timeline, ready to capture images of moments that are fleeting and will never return again. No do overs!
If you are interested in HOW I go about capturing these wonderful, emotional storytelling moments in detail, from a photographer’s perspective, you are welcome to follow this link below. Over the years I wrote for a professional photographers magazine called Shutter Magazine. For one article I shared my techniques for capturing emotion on a wedding day. Follow the link to see how it’s done: