Iâve spent a lot of years learning all things documentary wedding photography related, often the hard way or the slow way - sometimes thatâs the only way to learn, sometimes itâs just stupid. I thought Iâd note some things down based on my own experiences.
On being unobtrusive
Being unobtrusive isnât the holy grail âifâ a couple arenât really bothered about that kind of approach. If you are trying to become an unobtrusive photographer, be extremely sensitive to your surroundings, the reactions youâre getting from people, how they behave around you (even with your camera away). People are extremely wary of photographers, itâs like theyâll catch a disease from us or something. Watch for signs people are modifying their behaviour around you, if they are then youâre being too obtrusive or obvious. You only have to get one picture of a certain scene so donât overdo the camera work - instead try and focus on building relationships, donât be âthe photographerâ, be yourself (unless youâre a total dick, then be someone else). Dial the camera work back, relax, donât make it about getting âthat killer pictureâ at all costs, it rubs people up the wrong way. This of course takes time, it will take a fair few weddings to get anywhere near knowing what Iâm talking about and it will be a gradual change in your own behaviour towards people at a wedding.
Invest in you, not equipment
You can shoot a wedding with any camera, I use my cameras until they fall apart, personally I couldnât care less about the next latest and greatest camera gear. Faster focusing, more megapixels, sharper lenses wonât make for better pictures - you make the pictures.
Too many photographers jump on the new gear bandwagon before investing in themselves. Money on gear youâll never get back. Money spent on learning, education and self improvement will pay for itself time and time again. Spend your funds on trips, books, things that will expand your mind.
Keep your camera out
Some of the fave pictures Iâve taken are when Iâm staggering back to my hotel room, or leaving a venue or saying my goodbyes to everyone. Thereâs always the potential something amazing, funny, touching or downright weird will happen as youâre leavingâŚ.never pack your camera away until youâre actually far far away. The one time you do pack it away will be the time youâll be like âfucks sake whereâs my cameraâ.
Donât bullshit
Thereâs plenty of SEO courses out there that tell photographers to call themselves whatever it takes to get noticed and booked, youâve got to get those clicks to your website right? If youâre the kind of person whoâs cool with that approach (talking shit) then by all means go for it. The very real danger is youâll get caught out at some point, and the people who catch you out will be a very irate couple who have it within their power to severely damage any reputation you may have built yourself. My advice is, be honest. If youâre not particularly creative donât call yourself a creative photographer. If youâre not an unobtrusive photographer whoâs âjust like a guestâ donât say you are. Basically donât make out youâre something you arenât, itâs silly and dishonest.
Practice, practice, practice
If youâve not got a camera of some form in your hand all the time youâre missing out on an opportunity to learn. Take pictures at any given opportunity, then go back and critique your own work, ask yourself how you would improve a picture next time then go and do it. Your rate of growth with multiply exponentially if youâre hugely passionate about taking pictures of everything.
Remember this also applies to editing your pictures, the more you do it the more proficient you will become - itâs a big part of the photographic process. Learn your tools inside out it doesnât matter if you use lightroom, capture one, alienskin exposure or anything else - they all pretty much do the same thing, itâs not about what you use, itâs about how well you know it and how you use it.
Street photography is your friend
If youâre not into street photography or donât even know what it is youâre missing a trick. Become a proficient street photographer and shooting weddings documentary style will be much easier. Everything you want to practice at a wedding you can practice during a daily jaunt to your local town or city, the more you do it the more youâll be able to compose your images quickly, get used to anticipating the optimal moment to press the shutter button and not forgetting work discreetly. Obviously youâll need to check the laws of your country as far as photographing people in the street goes.
Moments matter
Ultimately youâre there to serve the people whoâs wedding youâre shooting. Your primary role is to give them a set of amazing memories and do it well. Forget the fancy bollocks and trying to be arty farty, or at least shove that way down your list of priorities, as a documentary photographer youâre there for moments. Now depending on who you listen to a moment can be anythingâŚUncle Brian eating a bag of crisps (bullshit moment), A flower girl doing nothing in-particular but lit by the most gorgeous sunlight (bullshit moment), a load of people stood in a room with great layers (bullshit moment). NO NO NOâŚconcentrate on the simple stuff, the relationships, the characters, the interactions, the personalities, the little things that happen in between the big stuff (sure sure youâll be getting pictures of the first kiss, someone crying watching the ceremony, kids climbing trees, the first dance and all that âwedding stuffâ - anyone can get pictures of these things, theyâre pre-determined to happen at a wedding). I mean the things that happen in-between all those things, DONâT start nobbing around on your phone doing a facebook live broadcast, donât sit down because your little legs are tiredâŚget to know people, observe the things that are happening around you, notice how people interact with each other, listen to them, join in conversations with them - be part of the weddingâŚbasically give a shit about their memories and their day. Youâre being paid a fucktonne of money to photograph them, not to tit around making yourself more social media popularâŚbecause sods law WILL dictate that the moment you switch off your brain something incredibly amazing and personal will happen at a wedding and youâll miss it.
Prioritise moments above everything else.
Back the fuck up
Youâve had a long day, youâre knackered, staying on your feet with your brain on constant alert for up to 18 hours (or more) is tiring. More so if youâve been actually a part of the wedding a fully enjoying the celebrations, maybe youâre wobbling back to your hotel room at 3am in the morningâŚfirstly you need to make sure youâve got your cameras and memory cards (obviously), personally I check at least 5 times before a venue finally closes itâs doors. Once you get back to your pit, back your cards up, yes I know itâs the last thing you might feel like doing but really get into the habit of making a couple of copies of everything youâve shot. The last thing you want is pictures going missing, getting corrupted, dropping a memory card down a toiletâŚas soon as you get back to wherever youâre sleeping, back your stuff up. You can sleep the next day.
You canât appeal to everyone
When youâre writing your website copy sound like YOU, not everyone else - donât repeat what Jonny the bore-off but looks like heâs super busy photographer is writing, the guy who covers all bases with his âIâm a wild creative caring boho fine art relaxed documentary wedding photographer with an edgy fashion, light and airy dark and moody twistââŚyou canât appeal to everyone on the planet, what you want is to appeal to people youâre going to really get on with, couples on your wavelength - not for your own sanity, more so you can give them pictures theyâll absolutely love, so they trust you completely without question - those are the people you want to find and the only way youâll do that is being completely yourself.
Donât check your stuff the night before
Obviously do check your stuff the night before, that goes without sayingâŚcheck it the day before that or a couple of days before. Why? Simply to give yourself change to get a replacement for anything thatâs broken, common sense yeah? Imagine the night before a wedding your doing your checks and your fave lens has taken it upon itself to fall apart for no better reason than it wants to ruin your evening, youâre setting off at 4am in the morning for your wedding and youâre pretty screwed if you need to get a replacementâŚ.give yourself a days grace to replace anything that might have self destructed. Sure youâll have backup stuff, but why nobble yourself if you donât need to?
Traffic is a bitch
You canât control traffic, accidents happen, roadworks happen, shit happens. While Waze is my frikkin lifeline when it comes to getting anywhere, unless a wedding is literally 10 minutes down the road from me I never leave turning up on time to chanceâŚeven if you leave hours and hours in advance thereâs always a chance something will stitch you up when you donât want it to! A 5 hour drive once took me 12 hours, blame circumstance and thereâs nothing you can do about it. Book a room either at the wedding venue or very close to it, stay over the night before and set off early anyway. Thereâs so many times Iâve seen wedding photographers in blind panic on photographer groups asking for emergency cover because theyâve been snarled up in traffic. Donât be a mug for the sake of saving yourself a few ÂŁ on accommodation, youâre not only putting a couples memories on the line, youâre risking your reputation as someone reliable and trustworthy.
Learn how to tell a story
This kind of relates to some of the points Iâve made above. A story isnât a collection of randomly taken pictures, you need to connect them. Throughout the day you need to think about transitional pictures, things that link a story together, no two weddings are the same - the plan for the day may follow a certain format but thatâs where the similarities end, the thing (for me) that makes each wedding so unique and personal for me is the people there, their relationship with each other, the thought that goes into each one, the personal touches and the characters. Every wedding is special to the people whoâs wedding it is, the things that happen at each wedding are uniquely different for those people (based on their personalities and how they see the world through their own eyes). This is where you need to work on understanding people, not circumstance, to tell a unique story for each couple (and their associated families and guests) you need to understand them, get to know them in the short time you have with them. How you tell that story is obviously up to you, I canât really advise you how to do that, just bear in mind that everyoneâs story is different.
Donât over promise
Donât over promise and under deliver to anyone. If youâre not comfortable in your capability to deliver something be honest about it. Things like confidently stating âOh yessss Iâll absolutely without doubt get a picture of everything that happens at your weddingâ unless thereâs 10 of you taking pictures you canât guarantee this, if you do youâre a big fat liar.
Styled shoots
Theyâre great for networking with other suppliers, but the amount of styled pictures that find their way into portfolios as a way of demonstrating how great a photographer someone is, I find it frightening. Be careful with themâŚ.by displaying images of models, taken when you have a huge amount of time to control pretty much everything youâre giving couples the impression they will get incredible pictures on their wedding day, when the reality is you barely have a 10th of the time and your couples are not used to posing for pictures in the way models are. Unless youâre absolutely, 100% certain you can pull off exactly the same thing in a fraction of the time with real couples, donât put them in your portfolio. It will bite you on the arse at some point, and itâs not fair on genuine couples who may be left wondering why the shit their pictures donât look like your portfolio.
Be aware of other people
Youâre not the only person at a wedding. Thereâs nothing worse than a photographer who constantly gets in the way of guests and other people trying to work at a wedding. Itâs damn annoying, rude and unprofessional. I was a guest at a wedding once and saw two photographers literally backing into kids who were trying to watch a first dance, they didnât give a shit whoâs view they were ruining. Be aware of your surroundings, the people at a wedding have bigger dibs on witnessing the moments than you do. Let people enjoy the wedding, work round them! Work around people, always remember the people at a wedding are there to enjoy it, not see the back of your head blocking their view.