What is wedding photography?

Learning goal

You will be able to explain why wedding photography carries a different responsibility from other genres and take the first steps in preparing for a wedding. You will separate the moments at a wedding that can't be shot again from the moments that can be rebuilt. By talking it through, you will learn what kind of photographic language the couple and the family want, and the choice between a style that follows moments as they are and a style that builds the frames. You will draw up a map of the day by asking the family, without assuming the wedding customs of different families, regions and faiths. Throughout the day you will behave not as a guest, but as a photographer who doesn't draw attention while doing their work; and in scenes where a white wedding dress and a dark suit, people of different skin tones, are in the same frame, you will set the exposure for the faces first.

The question

When they hang up the phone, your friend can still hear the tea stall owner's joyful voice: their son's wedding, from morning to night, entrusted to their camera. Your friend is happy at first, then thinks. In a portrait, if the person blinks, you shoot again; if a street frame is missed, another moment comes the next day. But at the civil ceremony the moment the ring goes onto the finger is lived once; the bride's father sees her off at the door once. If a card fails or the flash doesn't fire that day, no one will live that moment again. What kind of responsibility is photographing a day that never repeats, and how do you prepare for it?

Context

In the lessons on going professional you saw how to draw out a client's expectations with a short conversation before giving a quote, and how to tie this to a written contract (Lesson 28.6, Lesson 28.7). In the last lesson of the portrait track you worked on gathering twenty people into a single frame with everyone visible and their eyes open (Lesson P.14).

Wedding photography asks for all these skills on the same day, over a span that often exceeds ten hours, and under the pressure of having no second take. At a wedding, portraits, groups, documentary, details, a dim hall, crowds and dancing are all within the same day. And these photos are frames a family will look at for years and show to their children. This track opens this responsibility in nine lessons: equipment and backups, the day's plan, details, the dim hall, couple shoots, other events, concerts and delivery. This lesson asks the question that comes before all of them: what does a wedding photographer do, and why do they have to be so careful?

Simple explanation

What makes a wedding different?

A once-only moment is a moment at a wedding that is lived only once and can't be rebuilt if it is missed: the registrar's questions, the signatures, the rings being put on, the bride leaving her home, the first dance, the moment an elder's eyes fill with tears. Part of the rest of the wedding can be rebuilt: the couple's portraits, the detail frames, the family groups. The wedding photographer's first job is to know which moments of the day are once-only and which can be rebuilt, and to arrange their attention, their equipment and their position around the once-only moments.

That is why wedding photography needs a lot of preparation. The preparation covers equipment, because when a device fails you need a backup to carry on the work; it covers the day's plan, because once-only moments are waited for with a schedule that tells where and when they will come; and it covers people, because the most important moments of that day are lived on the faces of a few people. The next lessons of this track take up each part of this preparation separately.

What does the couple want?

A wedding style is the general direction of a wedding's photographic language. Some couples want a documentary style that follows the day as it is, without intervening, with a witness's eye; the photographer doesn't direct moments, they wait and catch them. Others want a style that builds the frames, directs the couple and the family, and is posed and carefully lit. Most weddings are a mix of the two: the ceremony and the celebration are shot with a documentary eye, the couple portraits and family groups with direction. Neither is more correct than the other; what matters is that the style is talked through and agreed with the couple in advance.

The first meeting where the style is discussed is also a chance for the couple to show their own photos, the frames they love and the things they want to avoid. One couple may not want crowded group photos, another may absolutely want a frame with their grandmother. These wishes are written down and added to the contract.

How do you get to know the day?

A customs map is a list, drawn up by talking with the family, of which customs a wedding will be held with, in what order and in which places. Weddings change from family to family, from region to region and from faith to faith: a henna night, fetching the bride, the civil ceremony, a religious ceremony, the gift-pinning ceremony, the halay line dance; not every one of these may be at every wedding, or they may come in another order. The photographer doesn't assume these customs, they ask: which moments matter to you, where is it not appropriate to take photos, whom do you absolutely want in the frame? At some moments or in some places photos may not be wanted; this is written on the map too.

The unobtrusive photographer is the attitude of a photographer who, throughout the wedding, behaves not like a guest but doesn't draw attention while doing their work, dresses plainly, doesn't interrupt the ceremony and steps back when needed. Getting in front of the registrar during the civil ceremony, firing a flash in a face during a prayer, or stepping into the middle of the first dance spoils the moment. Being unobtrusive is the balance between being close enough to catch the moment and staying far enough not to spoil it.

A wedding also brings one of the hardest tonal ranges a photographer can meet: a pure white wedding dress and a jet-black suit in the same frame, often together with people of different skin tones. The camera's metering can be fooled by the white dress and darken the faces. The exposure is set for the faces first; the texture of the dress and the suit is checked after detail remains in every one of the faces.

Visual evidence

Your friend looks at the frames they shot as a guest at a cousin's wedding. At the moment the rings were put on, another guest's phone is in front of them; the civil ceremony signature is blurred; there is no sign of the bride's father's tears at all, because at that moment your friend was at the buffet. The wedding dress is pure white, but the groom's dark skin and suit are almost a single dark mass.

At the first meeting with the tea stall's owner and their son, your friend asks: what kind of frames do you want, which moments matter to you? The couple wants the ceremony with a documentary eye and the portraits with direction. The family describes fetching the bride, the civil ceremony and the halay; they say they don't want photos in the part of the henna night set aside for women. Your friend writes these on a customs map.

On the wedding day your friend stands next to the civil ceremony table, in a corner chosen in advance. The moment the rings are put on is sharp; the bride's father's tears are detailed together with the groom's dark skin and the bride's face, because the light was set for their faces. The white wedding dress keeps its texture too.

Common mistakes

Summary

Photographing a day that never repeats is a big responsibility that requires knowing the moments lived only once and preparing for them with equipment, a plan and a well-chosen position. The wedding style is talked through with the couple in advance, customs aren't assumed and a customs map is drawn up with the family; the photographer stays unobtrusive and, in frames where a white wedding dress and a dark suit and faces of different skin tones are together, sets the exposure for the faces first.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will draw up a plan as if you were preparing for a wedding or a large family ceremony.

1. Talk with a couple you know or with an elder of the family and write the customs, order and moments when photos aren't wanted of their wedding or a family ceremony on a customs map.
2. Sort the moments on this map into two columns, once-only and rebuildable.
3. Shoot a white fabric, a dark fabric and a face in the same frame; set the exposure for the face first and check the fabrics' texture.

Check yourself

• Did you think of a position and a setting for each once-only moment?
• Did you assume the customs yourself, or did you ask?
• Were you able to keep the face's detail in the same frame as the white and dark fabric?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Which of the following is a once-only moment?

• A) The couple's portrait shot after the wedding
• B) The moment the rings are put on
• C) A detail frame of the flowers on the table
• D) The family group photo

2. How is the wedding style decided?

• A) The photographer chooses the style they like
• B) Every wedding is shot only as documentary
• C) Every wedding is shot only posed
• D) It is decided by talking with the couple in advance

3. Why is the customs map drawn up by talking with the family?

• A) Because customs change from family to family, from region to region and from faith to faith
• B) Because the photographer already knows all the customs
• C) Because it is only needed for the contract
• D) Because the family has to ask the photographer

4. In a frame with a white wedding dress and a dark suit, what is the exposure set for first?

• A) The wedding dress
• B) The suit
• C) The faces
• D) The background

Answers

1. B — The moment the rings are put on is lived once; portraits, details and groups can be rebuilt.
2. D — The style is the couple's preference and is talked through and written down in advance.
3. A — Assuming leads to skipping an important moment or shooting in an unwanted place.
4. C — Faces come first; the camera's metering can be fooled by the white dress and darken the faces.

Summary card

• Once-only moment: lived once; have your position and settings ready in advance.
• Preparation: equipment, plan and people.
• Wedding style: documentary, directed or mixed; talk with the couple.
• Customs map: don't assume, ask; write down the moments when photos aren't wanted too.
• Be unobtrusive: dress plainly, don't interrupt the ceremony.
• White wedding dress, dark suit: exposure for the faces first.

Bridge to the next lesson

The customs map is ready, the wedding style has been discussed. Your friend opens their bag: one camera, one lens, one card. The older member shakes their head: "What will you do if that card fails in the middle of the ceremony? If that camera falls in the middle of the halay?" The guarantee for once-only moments isn't only a good plan, but a good backup. Why take two cameras to a wedding? The next lesson takes up dual card slots, the spare battery and the spare body.