Capturing weddings in a photojournalistic way has become way more popular in the last couple of years. While traditional wedding photography used to be all posed photos mixed with maybe a few images that actually told a story, a modern wedding gallery looks like a story of the day. It is basically a documentary approach of capturing the day in the way a photojournalist might shoot.
Of course a lot of bride and grooms reach out to me because they are interested in candids, natural, unposed photos. That is basically what I do 85 percent of the day. During getting ready I rarely change much, during the ceremony I obviously don't change anything. Cocktail hour is usually prime time for those candids, since I can just walk around the guests and capture a lot of candids in a short amount of time.
The only time that involves posing is group photos and couple shoot. A line of people that look straight into the camera is obviously not candid. Have them look back at each other makes is a little more natural, you could call it staged candid. And in the couple shoot it is pretty obvious that the bride and groom didn't randomly hug each other with that perfect backlight behind them and I just happened to be there and took the photo. But the way they pose, should at least appear as natural as possible which makes it feel more like a genuine moment.
The wedding of Laura and Craig happened to be an amazing example of a day that is ideal for the way I work. The first look and couple shoot before the ceremony gave me a lot more time to photograph guests. That is one of the reasons I recommend doing a first look. Not only has the photographer more time to photography your guests, you, the bride and groom, can also spend more time with all these people who might have traveled from far and you haven't seen in ages.
Ceremony and Reception: Ginny Lee Cafe @ Wagner Vineyards
Music: Finger Lakes Platinum DJ
Hair and Makeup: April Birchler and Nicky Gonzales from Tangles Hair Designers and Day Spa, Rochester NY
