Wedding Photojurnalism

[dan_c]

I was reading 'The art of Wedding photography by Bambi Cantrell' and she talks there about wedding photojurnalism, the new trend in wedding photography. I find this technique much more interresting than directing the subjects in creating every image.
Form your experience, do people prefer this technique as oppossed to traditional portraiture and which one do you personally prefer?
Thanks,
Dan

[Jaymz]

I know what the traditional wedding photos are but I am unsure what you mean by wedding photojounalism. Do you have a link that explains what wedding photojournalism is or can you explain it to me?

[dwildone]

My wife and I were married almost 2 years ago now. When we were looking for a weding photographer, it quickly became obvious that 1) our favorites all were more of the PJ type 2) these photogs generally were more expensive and 3) they were much busier than the more "traditional" guys/gals. That's not to say that some of the more traditional people were not excellent photographers, simply that we prefered the less structured PJ style shots better. On the other hand, we still did the posed shots for our family and such.

Lax_lacks, "wedding photojounalism" the best way that I can describe the difference is that along with the traditional poses and group shots, there are many much more candid shots from the begining of the day to the end. Our "photographer" was actually a husband and wife team, so the wife went with the girls from the time that they started getting ready and the husband followed the guys. We actually became pretty good friends with our photographers, so I'll see if they mind if I post scans of some of the more PJ-ish shots here.

[robertwgross]

I can't explain it, but I know it when I see it.

First of all, you probably know what traditional wedding photography looks like. Formal group portraits, all shot with impeccable exposure. All very predictable, but possibly boring.

The new style has the photographer wandering around with the bride and/or groom for the entire day. A subtitle would be "A Day in the Life of a Bride and Groom." This attempts to reflect the life going on behind the formal poses.

As an example, when my niece was getting married, I was there to photograph the occasion. I had to sneak back to the room where she was getting gowned, and her makeup was getting done, and all of that stuff. She had been going for hours, and she was feeling hungry and weak. So, one of her bridesmaids was sent out to the local fast food joint to get burgers. I got the shot of her munching down on a big greaseburger, and her bridesmaids were busy protecting her gown and other stuff from the food. To the family, this was a hugely funny shot, and the bridesmaids each received that print and thought it was their favorite.

Another PJ shot: Bride and Groom finally finished with the reception, and they are heading out of the hall, hand in hand, walking away from the photographer. The bride's shoes have been removed, and the groom is carrying them in his other hand. Another favorite shot that never shows up with the traditional stuff.

---Bob Gross---

[MALI]

You said:

I can't explain it, but I know it when I see it.

And this is your not being able to explain it:


First of all, you probably know what traditional wedding photography looks like. Formal group portraits, all shot with impeccable exposure. All very predictable, but possibly boring.

The new style has the photographer wandering around with the bride and/or groom for the entire day. A subtitle would be "A Day in the Life of a Bride and Groom." This attempts to reflect the life going on behind the formal poses.

As an example, when my niece was getting married, I was there to photograph the occasion. I had to sneak back to the room where she was getting gowned, and her makeup was getting done, and all of that stuff. She had been going for hours, and she was feeling hungry and weak. So, one of her bridesmaids was sent out to the local fast food joint to get burgers. I got the shot of her munching down on a big greaseburger, and her bridesmaids were busy protecting her gown and other stuff from the food. To the family, this was a hugely funny shot, and the bridesmaids each received that print and thought it was their favorite.

Another PJ shot: Bride and Groom finally finished with the reception, and they are heading out of the hall, hand in hand, walking away from the photographer. The bride's shoes have been removed, and the groom is carrying them in his other hand. Another favorite shot that never shows up with the traditional stuff--Bob Gross---

I wonder what you would write if you really could explain it. :)

MALI

[RandyMN]

I actually prefer a combination of the two. Too many things happen to not capture the events as they happen, but on the other side there has been too much money spent not to include the formal shots. You can creatively arrange the groups to show the beauty of the dresses as well as the wedding party. I don't see this to be boring whatsoever... The only problem is that formal shots take time away from what should be happening normally in the course of the wedding. I always chose to do the formal shots prior to but never after or in between the wedding and the reception. If that was not possible I would turn the opportunity down. Maybe not exceptable for all but that was my style.

I never posed the shots that should have occured naturally during the ceremony. Maybe a kiss, but nothing else.

[Jaymz]

Thanks for the explanation, I had never heard of doing that. It actually sounds like it would be alot of fun to do.

[tim]

I've read one Cantrell book and I didn't like it. She seemed to deign to mention 35mm cameras, and at that time had never heard of digital apparently. It's not an old book either.

I like this book (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584281227/102-9127707-6895351?v=glance&n=283155) best, on this topic.

[robertwgross]

I wonder what you would write if you really could explain it. :)

Been there. Done that. Saw the movie. Read the book.

I doubt that we have the bandwidth here for a full explanation. Pekka would wait until I was starting the fourteenth chapter, and then he would pull the plug on me.

---Bob Gross---

[robertwgross]

I've read one Cantrell book and I didn't like it. She seemed to deign to mention 35mm cameras, and at that time had never heard of digital apparently. It's not an old book either.

Up until about 2002, most wedding photographers were resistant to the idea of shooting digitally. Medium format film was very popular, and also some 35mm film. That is roughly the same period when Canon's D60 was hitting pretty good, so the D60 results were beginning to encroach upon the film turf. After Canon had gone through another generation or so, and the megapixel count was increasing, the color noise issue was decreasing, and some other changes were creeping in, then film was being threatened.

Now (in my own opinion), digital photography has provided film with such competition because of the cost issues, if none other. Digital shooters are offering a full wedding photography job for half the price that the medium format film shooters were commanding just a couple of years ago. Don't get me wrong, film still offers some advantages. However, those are becoming smaller advantages, and digital is offering more and more advantage as time goes by.

My point is that times have changed rapidly.

---Bob Gross---

[tim]

Fair call Bob - it was published in 2000.

I just looked at the book's i've bought from Amazon in the last year - there's a fair few of them! I just got another eight or so delivered today. I should even have time to read them over xmas! The color management book is very tough going. Here's my list:

Adobe Photoshop CS Down & Dirty Tricks
Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Photographers: A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative Use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC
Cascading Style Sheets: Separating Content from Presentation, Second Edition
Digital Wedding Photography
How to Wow : Photoshop for Photography (2nd Edition) (How to Wow)
Light - Science and Magic : An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
Making Faces
Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers
Photographer's Guide to Wedding Album Design and Sales
Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide
Professional Model Portfolios: A Step-by-Step Guide for Photographers
Professional Posing Techniques for Wedding and Portrait Photographers
Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS (Real World)
Real World Color Management, Second Edition
Successful Glamour Photography: A Guide to Professional Techniques for Film and Digital Photography
The Adobe Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
The Art of Bridal Portrait Photography: Techniques for Lighting and Posing
The Art of Wedding Photography: Professional Techniques with Style
The Best of Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images from the Pros
The Business of Studio Photography: How to Start and Run a Successful Photography Studio
The Perfect Portrait Guide: How to Photograph People
Wedding Photography, 2nd Edition : Art, Business & Style (A Lark Photography Book)

[symes]

Tim

That is one boatload of books...what was the best one?

you had to know that was coming...

[tim]

The Photoshop for Photographers book by Scott Kelby was invaluable. The best wedding one is the Wedding Photojournalism one (I just got a few more so haven't read all on that list). "Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide" might be the best book overall. "Real World Color Management" is the hardest to read, but i'll have to slog my way thru it some time.

I don't want to do formal training, so this is how I learn... practice, and books. Mainly practice, I like to work things out for myself, but books provide interesting ideas, alternatives, and often invaluable information. Without the Kelby book i'd still be hopeless at photoshop. As it is now I can get by and do pretty much what I need to.

[dengli]

I shoot weedings and often work with a videographer. To my mind the two serve entirely different functions. The stills are generally a formal record of the day with the usual posed group shots and a lot of the bride and groom. The video gives the reportage element - capturing the day as seen by the camera and often we will be told that they (the couple) didn't even know that a particular thing happened.

Of course reportage style stills are sometimes required and I always try to include a selection in the proof album but video is so much better at capturing the day like this. On occasions where we do a video only there is always a stille photographer doing the formals and when we do stills only you can bet your life that Uncle Joe or someone has a palmcorder going as well.

There's room for all styles and they are not mutually exclusive.