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Which Style Of Wedding Photography Should You Choose?

A wedding day is the most important day in a woman's life. It is the one day where she can be a princess and the centre of attention. Of course, the birth of her children will be even more important, but that is more about the children than about her. Everything on a wedding day has to be perfect. It only happens once - or at least it is supposed to only happen ones - hence every detail needs to be paid attention to. The dress has to be just right, the flowers and the venue have to be perfect, as do the menu and the music arrangement. Of course, the memories of this perfect day need to be recorded, for which you need the best wedding photographers.

Every photographer will have their own style, so do have a look through a photographer's portfolio of wedding photography to see which one will be able to take photographs in the way that you want. There are three generally styles of wedding photography, being traditional, reportage and contemporary. A really good photographer will be able to combine these styles.

The Traditional Style

With traditional - or classical - wedding photography, pictures are taken of the important moments, such as the moment the rings are placed on the fingers, the signing of the register, walking out of the church as husband and wife, the cutting of the cake and group pictures. This type of photography has been around for a very long time and remains incredibly popular. It is believed that this because a wedding remains a formal event, and this style of wedding photography fits this formality. Good wedding photographers will be able to capture these moments without the need for lengthy posing and will also be able to see how people need to stand for group shots to make it look the best.

Classical photography is what you would expect your mother and grandmother expect and are the type of photographs that are often put on display in people's homes.

Whether or not this style is for you is a personal choice, of course. The only regular complaint about this style of photography is that certain shots may have to be retaken over and over again if it isn't absolutely perfect, meaning you can spend a considerable amount of time posing for the camera rather than enjoying your day and mingling with your guests.

The Reportage Style

This type of wedding photography is often referred to as photojournalistic photography, which means it reports on the day. With this type of photography, there is no posing at all and the photographer will try to remain out of sight as much as possible, capturing your special moments without you noticing it. If this is the style of photography you are looking for, it is really important to only use a photographer who really knows what they are doing and who can demonstrate this with a range of different portfolios. The photographer has to have incredibly fast reaction times and an excellent eye for detail in order to capture a wedding this way. This is mainly because people will not have the opportunity to pose. With classical photography, the photographer will make a posed picture look natural but with reportage photography, it is almost the other way around.

One of the reasons why this type of wedding photography is becoming more popular is because it is much cheaper. The photographer will have no need to bring expensive lighting equipment, for example, and will not have to spend time making people pose. However, the downside is that many amateur photographers claim to be very good at this style but actually take thousands of pictures on their digital camera in the hope of capturing sufficient good ones.

One thing to remember as well is that if your wedding is completely photographed in photojournalistic style, you may not have any photographs that are traditional enough for you to print and display. Generally, the married couple is very happy with the results, but their parents will offer complaints that they do not have a "traditional picture" to put on their mantelpiece.

Contemporary Style of Photography

Contemporary is also known as Avant Garde. This is the high fashion of wedding photography, which means that the style changes very regularly along with the fashions. At present, what seems to be popular are shots that are known as off the wall or by using odd camera angles. The personality of the wedding photographers will really shine through in this type of wedding photography. It is important that you choose someone who can demonstrate an artistic insight, or your photographs make look absolutely terrible. Again, do check their portfolio and make sure you see examples from more than just one wedding. If you find a good photographer, you will end up with some amazing and completely unique photographs, of course.

Whenever you look up awards for wedding photography, you will come across contemporary styles. As a bride, you will probably also have a stack of bridal magazines in your home, and generally the avant garde style is found back in photographs in those magazines as well.

The only negative is that, once again, you will not have any traditional photographs and your pictures may be so contemporary that you feel you are looking at a photo exhibition rather than a wedding day.

So, think about what types of photographs you want as a momentum of your perfect day. Don't be swayed by what you think others will think. If you choose for traditional, for example, this does not mean you are boring or old fashioned. Similarly, there is no need to pretend to be modern by opting for contemporary photography when you actually want some photographs that actually capture and tell the story of your day. Do visit a range of wedding photographers and review their wedding photography portfolios before you make a final decision of which one to go for. Remember that it is your day, and it should be recorded the way you want it to.