DEFINING THE SHOOTING STYLE

If there’s one way that professional photographers will not budge on , is their style. There’s a good reason for this : Their shooting style is usually INATE and based on how they were thought photography. It’s based on how their “artistic eye” works. It’s how they see the world and can reflects their personality and their personal moods/state-of-mind. It’s not something that you can change overnight. Forcing a photographer to venture away from their normal shooting style will only result in hesitation and stress in your photographer which will make them miss a lot of moments. You DO NOT want that on your wedding day. It’s just money down the drain if you do. If you have never taken the time to really look at photography though, it’s difficult to know exactly what shooting styles are out there.

In this section, we explain the styles of this website.

Airy: Bright and light photos. Will often be compared to film photography but in the digital format. Tones usually include colder colours (like blues and teals). A popular look usually seen a lot of Pinterest. It is bright, soft and romantic. It can be characterized by overexposed or “blown out” skies  as well as shooting in shady areas for beautiful even soft lighting. This shooting style often includes a lot of details as well to be able to create a cohesive “palette” of colours of your whole wedding day. Although this is technically a retouching style as well, You need to be shooting a very specific way to achieve these types of photos.

Candid : A very popular genre of photography. Moments captured spontaneously as they happen is known as candid photography. The subjects are usually not aware of the photographer, so they appear very relaxed and “themselves”. Photographers in this style usually use zoom lenses so that they can stay further back and still capture a moment. They will often bring their own lighting to receptions and have methodical plans to be able to capture candid moment.

Conceptual : In terms of conceptual/fine art photography, we can create our own fiction with characters in made-up environment. However, the photographer needs to have a vision of what their picture will look like, as this genre is all about an emotion, an idea or a message. The photographer tries to convey a message through his image. Its purpose is to stimulate creative thoughts and encourage experimentation with new ideas going beyond a simple photograph. There should be a significant photographic content, and inclusion of mixed media of any kind (photocopy, paint, transfer, digital etc) is welcome. It can be a collage or a montage and often includes more than a photo pasted into one photograph. The use of photoshop is crucial here. 

Editorial/Creative : Editorial photos are closely related to a more “fashion” approach. Subjects are often posed and tend to have a more serious expression. They are fashion photographs in a more lifestyle manner. Photographers with this style use advanced off-camera flash (or lighting in general) and could use editing techniques (photoshop) to create visually impactful and awe-inspiring images. It could include wide posed shots, and HDR photography, and slow shutter speeds. 

Documentary : Pictures that form a photo-story come under this style. It is about a particular subject (the couple) or a story (a marriage) that a photographer wants to highlight. They are objective photos (not attached to the photographer’s emotion). Often used in wars, social issues, science and so on. Photographers in this style want to chronicle significant events, for instance, the life of a person. They tend to spend some time with the person; chat; listen and capture what comes naturally. They try and capture a lot of details and let your pictures tell a story. 

Film : Pretty straight forward. Photos caught on film.

Hands-on : A style where the photographer will not only be there to capture the story of the day but also take the extra step to make the subject feel extra comfortable. This photographer will be expressive and will direct its subjects most of the day. The photographs will most likely be very candid regardless but created with the help of, perhaps, a joke or reassurance from the photographer.

Photojournalistic : This photography is similar to the documentary genre. It’s less about a person but more about an event.  Photojournalism is not about shooting unexpected events, but about capturing unexpected moments at events that are planned. It is serious unedited journalism and a person needs to plan it right to be at the right place and at the right time.

Modern : This new style is taking on the wedding industry by storm. Some people call it “emotional photography”. Photographers in this style like darker moods, lots of shadows, silhouettes, and distant subjects. they will often go out of their way to create intimate portraits that bring you into the moment with the couple. You won’t see a lot of smiling in portraits in this style.

Traditional : The older way of doing things. That doesn’t make it bad in any way. It’s just a different style. Traditional portraits are often extremely posed (especially the placement of the hands) and take more time to place and produce. They are generally portraits.