all about the candids...
documentary style
wedding photography approach
documentary style wedding photography
Natural, non-posey photos
Are you afraid of looking awkward in your wedding photos? How do you find the right photographer to capture your wedding day without spending hours posing? How can you look and feel like the "natural you" in your wedding portraits? If you have these questions, you're in the right place!
Nothing’s worse on a wedding day than things going so wrong that you feel sick to your stomach. Granted, there are many things that can happen, but the most important thing to occur is for you and your spouse to tie the knot with happiness and peace! You may experience many different people asking you things. As documentary-style wedding photographers with experience spanning over a decade, we’ve noticed that couples do not photograph very well when asked to constantly pose for photos. There’s enough going on in the day, so when a photographer asks you to move or shift your hand, arm, foot, and head all day, it’s no doubt that your facial expressions might look uncomfortable or unnatural. We want your wedding photos to be as full of joy and peacefulness as much as possible!
What is documentary style wedding photography?
The #1 way to avoid a lot of awkwardness in photos is to hire a documentary style wedding photographer. Many photographers will state this on their website, but if they don't, all you need to do is look at their photos. As you look through the bride and groom portraits, and images throughout the day, you should see a lot of candid moments.
how to pick a wedding photographer
The #1 way to avoid a lot of awkwardness in photos is to choose a photographer who can deliver in the photography style that you love. Look over their portfolio to see how their candid photos look at venues similar to yours. You can also read their Google reviews to find out what past clients say about the style and approach on the wedding day. Clients that rave about that photographer will be in love with their photography style. In a nutshell, look at (1) personality or brand personality (2) photography style (3) legitimate client reviews. Don't get stuck with a photographer promising a good deal without showing you photos.
You can find photographers through referrals from other vendors or venues, but most of these vendors might not be familiar with the look and style of these photographers they recommend…they might just like them because of personalities, friendliness, and professionalism.
how to choose a documentary wedding photographer
The #1 way to avoid a lot of awkwardness in photos is to hire a documentary style wedding photographer. Many photographers will state this on their website, but if they don't, all you need to do is look at their photos. As you look through the bride and groom portraits, and images throughout the day, you should see a lot of candid moments.
Another key word to look for on a photographer’s website is “photojournalistic” – which basically means the same thing as “documentary.” Documentary wedding photographers typically behave very unobtrusively on a wedding day. Instead of seeing them interrupt a moment to posed pictures, you’d see a documentary photographer roam around a wedding, watching people, and occasionally making friendly conversation with a few guests. Yes, it’s true, we are kind of like spies.
Documentary photographers watch for facial expressions, laughter, tears, serious moments, and they take photos as moments are unfolding throughout the day. Here are some examples of documentary style photos taken by the Trailing Twine Photography team.
how to get natural-looking portraits without posing much
You may think that having a lot of great candid photos throughout the day is great, but you still want some nice portraits of your and your partner or of your families. How do documentary style wedding photographers create portraits? Is there posing?
As huge proponents of showcasing human personalities and natural moments, there are tricks that skilled photojournalistic photographers use to create amazing portraits: the ability to direct motion, infuse emotion, and anticipate and predict.
Our method at Trailing Twine Photography is to first get to know the couple in a Zoom meeting prior to the wedding day. We see your facial expressions, we ask questions (like if you dance, or not), and see how you make each other laugh or smile. Then, during the portrait time on the wedding day, with just you two, we will ask you two to *remain physically connected* whether it’s your hand on him/her, or holding hands. During this time, you talk to each other as we ask you to walk from one area to the next. As we move from one area to the next, the cameras are clicking!
It’s fun, and we try to let each couple to focus their thoughts on why they love each other. The last thing we want is for you to look back on a photo and think about the awkward pose the photographer asked you to do! So as you are naturally connected to each other in the photo, we now have opportunities for sparks in expressions.
In just the right light, we’ll ask you to stop and slow dance, or if you don’t dance, you’ll just be in actively in motion. There’s no “wrong pose” or “right pose” –and if there’s something we need one of you to do, we’ll tell you in that moment.
Sometimes, documentary photographers will ask you to think about certain things, which often creates natural expression. For example, documentary photographers would rather tell you “think about a special gift that he gave you” or “tell each other your proposal story without breaking eye contact” and things like that.
Here are some examples of bride and groom portraits taken with a more natural approach like this.
