Wedding Photography: A Guide to Styles

A benefit of the internet is the ease in which you can examine the work of a large number of wedding photographers.   Surf through just a few photographers’ websites, and not only will you come to terms with the range in calibre, but also the proliferation of photographic styles.  Many of the terms used to describe these styles can also be confusing because they are used interchangeably and sometimes inconsistently.

Reportage photography – also referred to as photojournalism or documentary photography – is often used to describe an unobtrusive approach in which the photographer does not direct the wedding couple or guests at all.  Instead the photography captures the flow of the day – in a creative way as possible – as it would naturally happen.

Traditional wedding photography -  is probably the most confusing description, but many people use it to depict old fashioned line-ups of wedding guests and family.  But it is also used to describe any photographic posing of the couple.

Contemporary wedding photography (sometimes confusingly used interchangeably with reportage photography because it is modern!) can refer, for example, to poses with modern, urban or colourful backgrounds. Or perhaps because the image has a strong camera tilt, an avant-garde feel, or simply just that it contains a new innovative fashion pose.