11 Reasons Why Documentary Wedding Photography is the Style You Need for Your Wedding
Documentary weddings are becoming more trendy and popular as couples seek to find photographers that are talented to freeze the unposed moments of their wedding day naturally as they happen.
You may be wondering - What is Documentary Photography?
Documentary photography is a style of photography whereby photos are captured naturally, without posing or rehearsal. For me, documentary wedding photography is about telling a tale of your wedding day as if it were a story made of pictures or perhaps a movie if you're considering videography as well. This is one of the many genres of photography and may not be the particular style you were initially considering for your wedding.
Here are 11 reasons why I think Documentary Wedding Photography is the perfect style for any wedding.
1.
Memories that last a lifetime
For me, this is the most important reason to choose this style of photography. The whole reason why you want to hire a wedding photographer in the first place, is to capture every detail of your wedding day, from the anticipation of getting ready to the moment you walk down the aisle and the cheering of your first kiss. These are moments you want to remember and look back at and almost be taken to the exact emotions you felt on that day. If most of your wedding photos have been captured in a posed way, you will remember them as just that - perhaps with a bit of awkwardness as you tried to pose for the camera rather than enjoying the moment with your wedded husband/wife and having that moment frozen naturally.
Weddings are deeply personal and you care what it actually felt like to be at your wedding - so you want wedding photos that convey that feeling. The goal in “Documentary Wedding Photography” is to capture images that make you feel the emotions you felt on your wedding day.
2. RAW emotions are captured
Documentary photography will give you natural photos that may not always be bridal magazine worthy in terms of posing, but they will tell the real story of your wedding day. These will be photos of the first time your dad sees you in your dress, the tear captured in the grooms eye as he sees his bride walking down the aisle, the raw emotions that you share as you say your vows. These are the moments, the stories you want to tell to your children one day and having these photos will not only help you remember those moments but also feel the emotions you felt on the day. This is what makes an authentic visual story, the raw unstaged, unposed photos, even if they aren’t the “prettiest”, they are what make your wedding day special and therefore are valuable to you. These photos make some of the most beautiful moments framed.
3. Meaningful gestures & expressions
You want a photographer who has a keen eye for the meaningful gestures, expressions, and details that tell the larger story. A documentary wedding photographer spends years honing the ability to see the unexpected, to frame things perfectly within a photograph, freeze the unique moments and emotions through an image. This style of photography adds meaning to every photograph taken so the viewer is compelled by the not just the aesthetics of the image but also the deeper meaning of that photograph.
4. Photographs that make you feel seen
You want pictures that make you feel seen. A documentary wedding photographer can freeze the moments that compliment the principles that guided you when you were planning your wedding (whether you sat down and wrote out official guidelines with your fiancé, or you just had a general vision of your day when you were planning your big day). Photographs are subjective and it's about you feeling what's romantic and having that moment captured by your photographer naturally rather than the photographer deciding for you what's romantic or what a "romantic wedding" should look like.
You don’t want your photographer to tell you to have a second first look (seeing your partner before the ceremony). One is overwhelmingly wonderful. Also, hold on a sec, how in the world can you have a second first look? Sure, you can fake the visuals for photo purposes but you won't be able to repeat the emotions, the feelings and the true authenticity of the photographs.
5. It's about minimalism
You don’t want a photography company that takes over with multiple large cameras and huge equipment set ups that block your guests’ view, and makes it feel like it's a photoshoot. In “documentary wedding photography” the goal is to let the wedding be what it is, let the day run as planned and the emotions run as authentically as possible and whilst all of these are happening, freeze the moments rather than to step in and change an authentic moment for a photograph that is staged.
You may also like the colour of your dress and the florals you chose and you want them to be true to life in photographs. There are different style of wedding photography, some of which may involve significant post-processing & alterations of the true colours in an image. Documentary Wedding Photography is usually about minimal editing to offer the true colours of a photograph but this can also depend on the photographer as well. Documentary photographers can offer various styles of editing depending on your requirements and it's important to discuss this with your photographer during your consultation.
6. Your photos will be one of a kind
We live in the age of technology, which means you may have already looked at other photos from other weddings, scrolled through Pinterest or Instagram to find the style that you like. Whilst there is nothing wrong with that, there is definitely the loss of originality by trying to copy poses and photos that you have seen elsewhere (though this is a very subjective matter).
Documentary photos will give you 100% unique and original photos that won’t be found in magazines because they are natural and authentic.
Photographers will naturally encourage you to pose certain ways, because they know what works and they have done many wedding photos before. With documentary photos, usually everything is natural and nothing is posed, staged or rehearsed to capture the most natural story, just as it was on your wedding day. Having said this, it's important to have a bit of traditional photography involved on the day as well, for instance the family group shots as well as snaps with your bridesmaids/groomsmen.
7. You see things you missed on your wedding day
On your wedding day it is impossible to be in every moment and every conversation with every one of your guests. It is inevitable that there are moments and events that you will miss because it is simply impossible to be everywhere at each given time. Think of your documentary photographer as your personal spy for your wedding day, if they are professional with an eye for details, there should be many mini stories that will be captured without you or your guests noticing to create the story of your wedding.
Giggles and private jokes, children getting up to mischief, stolen kisses when you thought no one was looking, tears shed away from the crowd – these are all moments that make up the story of your wedding day, captured as naturally as they happened on your special day.
8. You don’t even know photos are being taken
Weddings can be quite stressful. Generally, the more there is to think about, the more stressful it can be. The benefits of documentary photography is that you won't have to worry about having your photos taken, posing or getting the right shot every time. Whether you're camera shy, don't really like being in front of a camera or couldn't be bothered about stressing over them, a documentary style photographer will capture your photographs without you even knowing your photos are taken, which makes it the perfect wedding photography style for you.
9. Your wedding day runs the way you want it to
Instead of your time and entire day being dictated by your photographer in order to capture the right shots, at the right time of the day, in the right light, your day can go on naturally enjoying every moment with your partner and guests. A documentary photographer should blend in with your guests and silently capture moments without bossing you around and telling you were to go or how to stand for the next photograph. Your guests also get to enjoy the day without a photographer bothering them for posed photos - which is another reason why Documentary Wedding Photography is the perfect style for you.
10. People look naturally beautiful
It goes without saying that every bride/groom wants to look their very best on their big day. You can do your part to have your hair and makeup done, but when people know the camera is out they don’t act naturally and their individual natural beauty can fade, slightly. Some of the best and most beautiful photos that I have taken, have been those natural moments where the bride and groom, and even the guests, are unaware of the camera and are being themselves, laughing, smiling and sometimes shedding a few happy tears. I get to capture the real you and that’s what real beauty of natural photography is all about.
11. You get the best of both worlds
While documentary photography is all about capturing natural moments as they happen, it doesn’t mean that you won’t get those perfect photos that will hang on the wall of your living room for many years to come. Your photographer won’t certainly deny any requests for those group photos of you smiling with your grandma, or those couple portraits you’ve seen on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.
The beauty of the work of a Documentary Photographer is that they know how to capture the posed moments as well as the moments in between. The moments shared before and after “the photo” is taken, the moments where you as a couple to share a romantic moment. Regular photographers can’t always do documentary style, but documentary photographers are sure to get the other styles you want in between real life photos.
