What is Documentary Wedding Photography?

Before we dive into what documentary wedding photography is, let’s go over the types of wedding photography that exist. We’ve got Fine Art, Traditional, Editorial and of course Documentary. There are plenty of other styles but these are the most popular. Keep in mind that a photographer’s work may fall under more than one of these categories. Also, don’t get shooting style confused with editing style. You may be familiar with the editing styles Light & Airy or Dark & Moody. While a photographer has to keep the light and backgrounds they are using front of mind based on their editing style, the two practices are different. However, that’s a subject for another article. Let’s stay on topic about the shooting styles of modern wedding photographers.

Wedding Photography Styles:

Fine Art wedding photographers focus on creating photographs that could stand alone as an art piece in a gallery. This means that the photographer will ensure every aspect of the scene is perfect before creating a photograph.

Traditional wedding photography is formal. It is another style that ensures a scene is perfect before capture. What is different here though is that smiles and looking at the camera are a big thing. Think your parent’s wedding photos but in the modern day.

Editorial wedding photography says it all in the name. These photos could grace the pages of a magazine. Similar to Fine Art every image is carefully set and posed. The couples strike fashion poses with sexy pouts and are probably lit with dramatic, artificial lighting. These photographers will most likely retouch the images to bring them to the next level.

And now we’re at documentary wedding photography. Unlike the previous styles, documentary wedding photographers do not try to perfect a scene or a pose. They capture your wedding day naturally and unobtrusively. This means that they are often in the background capturing your day as it truly plays out. This isn’t to say that documentary wedding photographers aren’t on the lookout to make a photo the best it can be. If they know that they can pause and move to a spot with better lighting, only if they’re not interrupting a moment, they will. Documentary wedding photography is rarely lit artificially unless it’s too dark to capture a good exposure. In this case, the photographer will use flash in a way that mimics the natural light already occurring in the space. If a documentary photographer did their job well, you shouldn’t be able to tell if they had to use artificial light. The biggest take away about documentary wedding photography is that it is anti-perfect. People who love documentary style wedding photography know that no moment is perfect but that’s what makes it unique to their day. Your real moment is enough just the way it is so it will not be adjusted. These photographers will also never ask you to reenact a moment. They capture the moment as it happens so they are quick to create an image at that decisive moment.

So how do you decide what style of wedding photography is right for you?

Answer these questions:

• Do you want a photographer that is quietly in the background or someone that will ensure you look perfect in every photo?

If you answer someone who is a fly on the wall you are documentary. If you want a photographer that will pause to make every moment “perfect” hire a traditional or fine art photographer.

• Do you want your photos to be retouched? For example, skin smoothing, eye brightening, etc.

If you answered yes then your style is editorial. Documentary photographers do not perform retouching on their photos because that defeats the purpose of keeping everything true to the moment.

• Are you ok with only being posed 1 of out 10 times?

If so you are documentary. If you want to be posed every time hire an editorial or traditional photographer.

• Is the capture of candid moments of yourselves and your guests important to you?

If you answered yes, you are documentary. If your focus is more on creating dramatic bride and groom photos and capturing the beautifully planned decor details of your day, you are an editorial style bride.

• Do you want dramatic, statement images of you and your spouse?

If yes, you’ll most likely want to hire an editorial photographer. An editorial photographer will orchestrate the perfect scene, lighting and posing for your bride and groom portraits. A documentary photographer will focus more on capturing genuine emotions during your bride and groom photos.

• Is your wedding day about planning the most beautiful day or getting together with your loved ones?

If your answer was getting together with your loved ones, you’re documentary. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to create the most beautifully decorated event, you’re just fine art or editorial.

• Do you want photos that are shot at a wider angle and capture more of a scene to tell the story or a tighter crop that focuses on 1 or 2 people?

If you answered wider images then you are documentary. If you answered tighter crops you are traditional. It is a classic trait of a traditional style photographer to focus right up close on the people they are photographing.

I hope this article has helped understand what a documentary wedding photography style is and has also helped you figure out what kind of wedding photographer you want to hire! Good luck! 🙂

Check out a Toronto wedding captured in the documentary photography style.