I know that most Bride and Grooms have a good idea of the kind of photography or photographer that they want. Most say that they want nothing posed, but then show you a selection of favourite pictures of posed images. Others, I find want you to run the show, after all they have never been married before and are not always sure what to do next. I have noticed that I tend to do most of the styles and then weight one way or the other depending on the clients preference.
Does this make me a ‘Jack of all trades and Master of none’ possibly!! but at least I am providing what the client wants and not just what I want. Too many ’Top’ photographers or people who would like to think that they are ’top’ photographers will say that this is my style - take it or leave it.
The reality is that very few ’top’ photographers can get away this. Their work is of such a high magnitude that certain Bride and Grooms will ‘hunt’ them down and pay the premium for them and their style. Perhaps the rest of us would like to think that we could reach those heights, or even have reached those heights, but the reality is that we take what work we can get and we try and do the absolute best that we can do, for that Bride and Groom within the given situation.
As such I find that at my weddings I tend to cover most styles. I will take the family poses, but I will also get shots of the family getting ready for that pose, possibly showing Mum adjusting her sons hair or tie. That way I will get some relaxed informal shots showing the family more at ease, but I will also get the family portrait as well. The couple can select which they would use for their album later. (Incidently 90%of Brides will choose the formal one and 99% of reprints will also be the formal one!!!)
Based on this I decided to ‘Look-Back' on some OLD weddings and see what kind of photographs I had taken but probably never used in the album. I was surprised to find quite a lot of images that, looking at current trends, would definitely have been used in todays albums, but not necessarily in the original ones. It also gave me the opportunity to have a new look at what I could do with the image given todays knowledge.
The wedding photograph here was taken probably 5-10 years ago at Lytham Hall in Lancashire. The Hall is beautiful and I remember that I had to get plenty of pics of the couple showing Lytham Hall in the background. However for this shot I went inside shot through the window using the frame naturally, I told the couple to ‘mill around' outside the window whilst I went inside. (Does this make it ‘posed’ ?) I dont think the couple used it it in their album but I now find it very pleasing to the eye. In particular I find that I am looking at the other people in the shot and seeing what they are doing at that particular moment at this wedding.
It is something that I am trying to emulate this season, perhaps I can persuade more couples to include them them in their wedding albums and perhaps one day I will be in a position where I can charge a ‘premium’ for my style.
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