STORYTELLING WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Imagine you are reading your favorite book. After a few pages, you are feeling that you put yourself in the shoes of the key players and live their story from their perspective. From time to time, you probably take a look at the surrounding images; you make a pose, and you are mentally travelling in their world. This is the moment you have entered the storytelling sphere.
Similar to a book, every wedding is unique and has a story to tell, the difference is that as a wedding photographer, I need to instill the story of the couples in my images, since there will be no words to tell the couple’s story. There are only my images that keep their story alive forever.
The storytelling wedding photographer is my signature style. At these moments, all of my senses are focusing on my lens in order to capture the special moment of a couple, the bride’s daddy wiping away a tear during the ceremony or the dad’s first look at the bride, the sound of a trumpet that makes people dance to its tune, or the look on the groom’s face as the bride arrives.
That’s what I adore about documenting a wedding. It stirs emotion. The images have a voice. They tell the couple’s story without words. Not only now but in ten years’ time.
The funny part behind story wedding photography is that I am given the opportunity to shoot the happy moments of the couple, to tell the story of the couple’s precious day, create stunning images, and craft masterful stories filled with beauty, emotion and meaning.
MY STORYTELLER APPROACH COMPONENTS
Photojournalistic Style: I will quietly document your wedding moments without any intervention, suggestions or input. I will draw attention to the intended story through clever use of circumstantial light, visually intriguing composition, such as framing balancing and contrasting elements, which will capture moments that tugs at the viewer’s heartstrings.
Stylized Aware Posing: I will guide you to help you look your best by making suggestions and how to adjust or position different part of your bodies. This approach can also be used to execute an idea, mood or feeling via the pose.
Stylized Unaware Posing: This form of posing is where you are not looking at the camera and appear to be unaware. This indirect relationship plays an important role in your storytelling because it gives the viewer of the photograph a unique ability to connect with the image at a deeper level.
Situational Inspiration: When it involves bride and groom portraits, I have one mantra: Simple is best! This piece of advice has never failed me. Simple and elegant photos are more important than to set up fake staging that leads to contrived and unnatural results. When I photograph couples, capturing true love with my camera is a better approach than letting the situation dictate the mood. I allow the specific situation you’re in to inspire me when choosing a starting point in order to determine what mood I want to achieve in the photograph.
I love emotion! I enjoy capturing documentary moments that will make you cry when you look back on them. The resulting photographs have real meaning for you and real memories attached to them. Although I strive to tell a story with the images that I capture so that in years to come you can look back and remember your day, one photo can also tell a story. In the above photo, the bride and groom desired to have a “first look” before their wedding ceremony. They were both overwhelmed with joy when they saw each other.
See some of my favorite storytelling photographs below.
The bride in the above photo was getting a little nervous about walking down the aisle. She started crying and her mother came to comfort her. When the bride looks at this photo in years to come, she will cherish this moment that she shared with her mother. "A picture is worth a thousand words."
It's the utmost important for me to capture amazing moments as they happen, for these moments will be treasured by the families for the rest of their lives. This photo is a great example that shows how, even when I am fairly far away, I am able to zoom in enough to be right in the action and achieve perfect composition without having to move an inch.
This photo is after the bride and groom kissed and walked down the aisle together as husband and wife for the first time. This is a “must have” photo for every wedding. The excitement on the couple’s face is priceless.
Weddings are about much more than just one day. When the dress has been worn, the cake has been eaten and the party has ended, what you have is your memories. Each image I create for you will take you back to how it felt to be there in that very moment.
