The different wedding photography styles and what they mean?

You are looking for a wedding photographer but there are just so many. You have already narrowed it down by location, but which of the different wedding photography styles is the one for you?

Your wedding photos are one of the most important purchases for your wedding. They are a keepsake that lasts a lifetime, that is why choosing the right photographer so important.

There are many things you need to consider when choosing your photographer, but the first one to whittle the choice down by, is which of the different types or styles of wedding photography appeals to you.

So what are all these alien words used to describe types of wedding photography mean?

This is where I can help you!

In this blog I will help you make sense of what the most widely used names for the different wedding photography styles mean.

The style can describe what your photos look like or how the photographer works on the day. Both things are important!
Because if you just want your photographer to get on with taking photos while you party, and they interrupt you every 5 minutes to pose for a photo, you will find them pretty annoying.
(Spoiler alert: I am not THAT “annoying” photographer)

So, let’s talk wedding photography styles.

Reportage or Documentary or Natural Wedding Photographer

All of these describe a photojournalistic approach, where the photographer captures candid photos and tells the story of your day.
Most photographers will still take some formal and group photos, of course, but posing will be minimal or non-existent.

This is the ideal style for you if you want to spend as little time as possible on formal and posed photos, and like the in the moment photos.
The set of photos you will receive will tell the story of your day – the good the bad and the ugly!

But don’t confuse Natural and Natural Light Photography! These mean two very different things, which I have explained in my blog The Difference Between Natural Light and Natural Photographer.

Traditional

Traditional describes the classic posed look, with the photographer focusing on formal photo opportunities.
In-between these, a traditional photographer will tend to take candid photos and document things as they see them happen.
The formal photos will likely take longer than with other photography styles.

Editorial

Editorial is a modern style, that draws on aesthetics from fashion magazines and applies them to photographing weddings.

This includes how the candid part of your day is shot, often with hard direct flash that creates drama, as well as taking inspiration for poses and angles used in fashion magazines for group and couples photos.

Fine Art

The fine art photographer draws on techniques used to create fine art and translates them into wedding photography. This includes aspects of your photos like the composition and colours.

Fine art wedding photography often uses soft colour hues or black and white, low depth of field, and has an airy feel.

Alternative Wedding Photography

It’s informal, it’s fun, it’s anything but mainstream! Your photographer is just as nuts as you are 🙂

Rather than follow the tick list of traditional photo opportunities, the alternative wedding photographer will focus on capturing everything that makes your day unique and documenting the joy of your day.

There is very little posing, and if there is, it will have a moder twist to it.

This could be bright colours or nature hues, fantasy or comic or goth, industrial chique or nature lover aesthetic… it’s anything unusual and unexpected!

You don’t have to have a hippie wedding in the woods or a goth wedding in an old warehouse to hire an alternative wedding photographers. But alternative wedding photographers love it when you do!

Contemporary or Modern

Contemporary or Modern Wedding Photography combines editorial and documentary styles and gives them a twist. The traditional poses are out, and fashion shoot styles are in.

Outside of your formal photos, the photographer will document your day as it unfolds, but in a less dramatized style than an editorial wedding photographer would.

But what about this type of wedding photography?!

You probably have read or heard a photographer describe their style as something I haven’t listed above. That’s because those descriptions pop up like mushrooms.

We photographers are creative people. Mostly visual, but some of us are just as creative with words, and use unusual, flowery ways to describe our style.
Probably something I have been guilty of in the past. Ooops! Apologies!

That’s why I said at the beginning of the blog post that I would cover the most widely used expressions to describe the types of wedding photography.
And these should get you a whole long way further in your search for a wedding photographer already.

If you would like to know what the other two most important things to consider are when choosing a wedding photographer, you can find them in my blog: 3 Steps to Choosing the Perfect Wedding Photographer.

My Own Style

I am a visual storyteller with a love for the extraordinary. (What did I just say about unusal, flowery words…)

I firmly fall into the alternative and documentary wedding photography style brackets.
Because you don’t need me to stage and pose anything, because your day is already perfect. I just record it!

My alternative geek is anything fantasy, festival and out in nature.

My approach to your wedding is to make the formal photos quick and most importantly: fun.
The rest of the time I linger and prowl to document your day without interrupting it. I want to capture those unplanned and un-staged moments that make the most precious memories.

If this sounds like an approach you would love or you have any questions, please get in touch via my contact form.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Bright blessings,

Eco-Wedding Photography from the Handfasting And Pagan Wedding Photographer UK and EU