A photographer’s style is tied to things like how he or she uses lighting, composition and story telling which the average bride or groom doesn’t want to get bogged down with.
Have no fear however, I’ll do my best to walk you through everything.
Don’t choose your photographer assuming we all have the same style
There are different wedding photography styles around us today.
No matter what style of photographer you run into, you will find that we can be lumped into two broad categories. Some folks shoot posed and highly stylized photos. Others shoot trying to pay attention to the natural flow of events of the day.
Most of us nowadays belong to the second class even though you will find that a good number of photographers strive for a healthy balance between posed and candid photographs.
Neither style is better than the other. It all depends on what you consider to be a good photograph.
How do you know what makes a good photo?
Story telling
If you and your photographer both have the same idea of story telling, then you’ll both agree on what is important in the ceremony and where to take the picture from.
Lady Diana and Sir Christopher were a couple I photographed in Lagos back in 2012 (not their real names). They chose Ayede Film and Photography for some interesting reasons. The conversation with Lady Diana went something like this:
“Mr Ayede… You and Sever know that even though we are going to be the centre of attention on the day, you understand that the wedding is not just about the two of us”
Sever is my brother and business partner. He is the talented video editor who put up the wedding videos we have on our website.
Looking through some of our previous work, Lady Diana continued:
“I like that double spread photo of the two sisters. Please make sure that when Christopher is prostrating you capture it the same way o!”
Christopher (her fiancé at the time; now husband) is from the Caribbean and they were heading back to their home overseas after the wedding.
We understood that all our footage was going to be a nice cultural reference point for their kids in the future and their friends abroad. Because of this we laid emphasis on the uniquely Yoruba parts of the ceremony as well as the Caribbean gifts of coconuts, Bananas and rum.
We paid attention to the gift handing of the bible because they were both proudly Christian. Diana would later find one of her favourite images in the shot we had of them both holding the bible as Christopher got ready for the exchange of rings.
Because we both had the same idea of what makes a good story, they had no problems with the parts of the day we thought were important and they had no problems with where we chose to capture the photographs and the video from and the parts of the day we chose to emphasize.
Lighting
Have a look at the photographer’s portfolio and see how they either light the scene, or how they use what light is available. Some photographers shoot everything really bright and white. Other photographers like to shoot using some shadow.
Composition
This is how each photograph is set up. The term refers to the kind of angles and perspectives or point of view that the photographer uses. Some photographers make you feel like you are right there in the moment. Others take a picture as a record to show who was there, and what happened.
The way forward
Marvelous Mummy (not her real name) was a wonderful lady I met at the Wed Expo in Abuja in March of 2015. She didn’t want to look at our portfolio at the stand. She seemed taken in because we looked like well spoken fellows.
“Don’t worry my son. As I have seen you I know that you will not disappoint us. I will tell Chika. We will use you.”
I was flattered that Marvelous Mummy thought highly of us. Mummy thinks its good enough that we are legit, but we’d like to make sure that Chika likes our photography and video style because that is important to us.
When Chika gets back into the country, we’ll be sure to schedule a consultation session where she can come in to the office and have a look at our portfolio and sample albums.
The important things to look out for
Don’t worry about what tools the photographer and video crew use.
Some photographers love film (the analogue or old school tech) and quite a lot of us shoot digital.
All our digital equipment have fancy names likes DSLR (what some Nigerians call pro camera), MILC (which look like small “point and shoot” cameras but have very large sensors and because of that they take some good photos) and a very small number of us use SLT cameras (they look like a DSLR but have some changes made to the mirrors inside the camera).
Focus on the photographer’s portfolio or body of work in front of you. Don’t worry about the tools we use. I started off using a DSLR and I now shoot with an SLT. Who knows what I’ll use tomorrow?
Information overload? The simple test
Some of the photographers and bloggers I love have come up with a simple test if you find all this talk about style, story telling, composition and lighting confusing.
Test one – do you like the photos and do they make you feel happy?
Test two – do you like the photographer and does he make you happy?
To answer these questions you are going to have to do either of a few things (a) sit down for a consultation with your photographer (b) have a chat with him or her over the phone if you aren’t in the same city (c) ask to see their portfolio, sample work, online gallery or anything that can give you a sense of the full breadth of their work and what the photographer is capable of.
No regrets
Good luck with all the planning ahead of you.
Make the best choices you can when selecting wedding vendors. Have no regrets and commit to enjoying yourself silly on your wedding day.
Do all of these because you and your spouse have the best part to look forward to; building a wonderful marriage together.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ayede Film & Photography