SF Bay Area - Wedding Photography Styles

When you think about looking for the best San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer, you probably figured you would just search the internet for photos that appeal to you the most. You might ask yourself about which photos have the most impact and if they provide any kind of emotional connection or impact. This is a good way to find a wedding photographer, but there are more things to consider. Besides selecting a photographer that displays appealing photos on their website, it's very important to understand the style of each potential candidate. Let's explore some of the current, most popular styles of wedding photography and the names they are frequently referred to as.

Documentary

This is probably the style that is most popular today. If you ask most modern wedding photographers they would most likely tell you that they shoot weddings in the documentary style. The idea here is to document the wedding as though it was an event you are covering as a reporter, but of course in a creative and artistic way. In it's most basic form, the wedding photographer follows the couple around throughout the day and takes mostly candid photos of them. The hope is to catch special "moments". This includes Hugs, laughter, tears and any of the other emotional moments that occur during a wedding. The photographer (or photojournalist) should be unobtrusive and barely needs to speak to the bride and groom throughout the day. Other names for this style include: Photojournalism or Reportage. The best wedding photographers will provide this type of coverage but still mix in some traditional types of images also.

Traditional

Probably the style most of us are used to thinking of when we hear about wedding photography. In it's purist form, Traditional photography sometimes involves shooting from a predetermined "shot list" which includes many of the poses and family photos the couple wants. In addition, unlike Documentary wedding photography, the photographer is very involved in the process. Choosing the best backgrounds, lighting techniques and posing the subjects are all part of a traditional wedding photographers skill set. This style of photography will usually be more time consuming and require a larger time commitment from the bride and groom. Other names for this style include: Conventional, Classic and Posed.

Contemporary

In my opinion, many of today's best San Francisco wedding photographers fall into this category. The idea here is for the wedding photographer to create the photo by putting the couple in beautiful backgrounds and lighting, but then not being quite as rigid with posing. The best Contemporary photos appear candid but are really partially set up by the photographer. In other instances, the wedding photographer simply places the subjects in better light and backgrounds, but still shoots mostly candid photos. One good example is something we often do during bridal prep... We walk into the room where the bride is getting ready, but notice she is preparing by the garbage can with dim uneven lighting. In this situation, we would politely suggest that the bride move closer to the window with a cleaner background, but allow the candid moments to occur and record them. Other names include Illustrative, Fashion or Modern.

Not Every SF Bay Area Wedding Photography Fits

As you can imagine, most Bay Area wedding photographers fall somewhere in between these various styles. It's hard to categorize a wedding photographer into a specific style of picture taking. However, I still feel it's useful to understand the various styles and determine what you like best. Maybe you might discover some new things that you would like to include in your next photography session. It also gives you a good discussion point to bring up with your potential future wedding photographer. Consider asking them what their photography style is. They might not even know, but it's worth it to see what they say and start a discussion.