What style of wedding photography should you choose?

Hello hello! So here's the things, there are A LOT of photographers out there. Ya, I'll be the first to admit that photography is a saturated market. Do you know what that means for you as a bride or groom. O P T I O N S. And a seemingly endless amount of them. Bright + airy, dark + moody, film, documentary, lifestyle, fine art. The list goes on and on and on and on and...you get it.

So when it comes down to choosing the one for you, it's a tough decision. Because just like your spouse, you are going to have to look at these pictures until the day. you. die. Yikes, I'm getting a little morbid, bring it back to fun things. I am here to break it down for you and help you navigate the waters of the ever-changing photography world. There are two things to consider when viewing a photographer's portfolio. What the images look like colour-wise and how the people look in the photos. Okay let's talk about how people look in the photos first. This is how the photographer is choosing to photograph her subjects.

The two most common photographic approaches that you will see are documentary + lifestyle. Let me break that down even further because if you aren't savvy with photog talk (like, who is?) then those terms will mean nothing. Documentary: This is a hands off, fly on the wall type of approach to wedding day photography. Little to no posing or direction is given to subjects, candids are heavily focused on and details are not styled in any way. Your photographer will be more like a ninja than a guest at your wedding. Capturing moments when they happen, exactly how they happen. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad. It is all there and it is RAW. Lifestyle: This is the approach I currently take with all of my wedding clients. Sure candids of guests are captured and natural looking imagery is key, HOWEVER, your photographer will step into situations such as your couple photos + wedding party photos to adjust dresses/suits/boutinneres/whatever the heck else is out of place. I will also move and direct my subjects to be in the best light and the best pose to create the most flattering angles. I will also style and curate details to show them off in the prettiest way possible. Okay those are the two main shooting styles, let's get into editing styles.

Every photographer has their own spin on editing styles but the main ones that I see everywhere are light + airy, dark + moody, true to life + film emulation. Although they are fairly self explanatory (aka you know it when you see it), I will break it down a little bit further for you.

Light + airy images are often bright, with little shadows and vivid whites. Dark + moody is the opposite end of the spectrum. These photographers play with shadows much more and often will have very little green in their photos. True to life is true to life and I'm not even going to explain that further because it's just true to life, ya know? And film emulation is how I edit my digital photos. Because I shoot both film + digitial, I match my digital images to my film scans. Film images (or the way I shoot film) often have pastel tones and more green-ish blues. They are often softer and skin tones are just, a delight. SO. MUCH. INFORMATION. And I still haven't answered the questions completely. What style of wedding photography should you choose?

All of the technical mumbo-jumbo aside. Choose whatever style of photography that you like. Choose something that you think is timeless. Choose a photographer that you jive with. Because your photographer is with you all day long during one of the biggest events of your life so it is imperative that you vibe (I'm SO new age) with them.

Okay that is all.

If you any questions for me, leave a comment below/email me/slide into my DMs. I am here to help! Until next time,

Telle