“Wedding Photographer” vs “Documentary Wedding Photographer” and How to Tell the Difference
Pretty much every wedding photographer these days says they shoot in a “natural” or “candid” style, and that they capture all the “unscripted” or “documentary” moments of a wedding day. No one that I’ve seen purports to be a “traditional wedding photographer” anymore. And it makes sense, because of course most (all?) people don’t want photos in which everyone looks stiff and uncomfortable. Genuine is the goal because we associate that word with un-posed and informal. Traditional is not, because we .associate traditional - at least in wedding photography - with stiff, posed and old-fashioned.
If you’re looking for a documentary wedding photographer, you might become confused because, according to the descriptions you see on websites, it seems everyone describes what they do as ‘documentary’. And it is true that all wedding photographers shoot in a documentary style during the ceremony. It would be a bold photographer who’d step in mid-vows in order to better position the couple or the officiant for a photo. And all wedding photographers shoot candids during the dancing, because….it’s the dancing! But shooting documentary style in the moments when there really is no other choice doesn’t make someone a documentary wedding photographer.
So what does?
For my money there are three things that makes someone a pure documentary wedding photographer:
They do not work with shot lists. A shot list is just that - a list of shots that the photographer is asked to get. These can be anything from shots of rings on pillows or the wedding dress on a hanger, to the list of family shots and shots of the wedding party with all the desired iterations, i.e. “Bride with Bride’s parents. Bride and Groom with Bride’s Parents. Groom with Bride’s Parents.” And so on.
The reason documentary shooters don’t use shot lists is that if you’re checking items off of a list you are definitely not in the moment. The day becomes a to do list of preconceived ideas rather than a journey of observation and capturing the events as they unfold in real time.
They don’t clean up the scene. In other words, if wedding prep is being shot and there is a jumble of brushes or other items in the shot, so be it. Cleaning up the scene, making it all look neat and tidy means that’s no longer a documentary shot. It’s staged. Documentary photographer is all about capturing the day as it really looked and as it happened.
They don’t make the wedding about the photographs. Dragging a couple away from their guests is the biggest example of this: Hello cocktail hour, goodbye bride and groom! Time to spend an hour doing a couples shoot instead of enjoying time with your guests! A documentary photographer will never interrupt the natural flow of the day in order to stage a photoshoot.
If you’re researching wedding photographers and you really want a documentary shooter, there are a few easy ways to tell if the photographer whose website you’re looking at falls into that category or is just using a popular keyword. If there are staged photos of rings, invitations, shoes or the dress on a hangar anywhere on the site, you’re not dealing with a pure documentary photographer. Likewise if there are any obviously posed shots of the bride and groom, you’re not looking at a true documentary wedding photographer.
There are many wonderful photographers out there who use shot lists and spend hours on detail and family shots, and if that’s what you’re looking for you’ll absolutely be able to find someone who’ll fit that bill and do a great job. But if you want a documentary wedding photographer it’s important to know what sets us apart from the more traditional approach.
Hire the photographer who best fits your vision of the day. In this regard there is absolutely no reason to compromise. It’s your wedding and you should have the type photos you want because, except for your spouse and the ring, your photos are the only thing you keep forever!
