When it comes to weddings, every bride is different. Even if there are similarities, there will always be something unique about all couples. When it comes to wedding photography styles, this holds true!
Choosing your wedding photographer is arguably one of the most important aspects of planning your wedding.
That said, before you can even do that, you need to determine the style of photography that speaks to your heart and fills you with joy!
Otherwise, if you begin reaching out to photographers of all kinds of different styles, you may be wasting your time and their time as well.
To help you along with the decision-making process of which wedding photography styles you love, I’ve put together this comprehensive guide to speak about each style.
Wedding Photography Styles
There are two categories to break photography styles down into:
- Editing Styles
- Photographic Approach
The reason for this is that while some photographers may take an editorial approach to their shooting, they may edit cinematically.
Let’s start with editing styles.
Wedding Photography Styles – Editing Styles
Editing styles vary between photographers.
Some of the most popular editings styles include the following, which we’ll cover:
- Cinematic
- Light and Airy
- Natural
Why don’t we go into more detail with each one, shall we?
Cinematic
Cinematic is a beautiful style that typically blends muted colors with dramatic lighting.
You may have also heard of this style referred to as “dark and moody.”
This wedding photography style is best for couples who are looking to blend intimacy with high drama in their photos. It pairs great with intimate and photojournalistic photographic approaches (more on this later).
That said, if this style is done without intention, it can quickly go from beautiful drama to just another trendy editing style.
One way you can determine if a photographer only follows trends is to look at their work over the last 3 years.
Trends typically last 2 years, so dramatic changes in their styles indicate if they edit intentionally or follow trends.
Trends also can date your photos – take a look at these photography trends from 2010! Yikes!
Light and Airy
Light and Airy wedding photography styles tend to be editorial and more traditional. Most couples who enjoy this style often have classic venues or ballroom style receptions.
The draw to light and airy is the dreamlike quality it can give. Especially in portraits.
A quality you will notice here is just as the name implies – it is very bright.
Often, the colors are very creamy and best coupled with natural light.
The danger with light and airy editing is that the quality of the edit can be too bright. This means objects in an image can become overexposed.
When an area of an image is overexposed, it turns completely white and loses detail.
Light and airy has been a strong style that is not as much of a trend as it once was, and has officially become timeless.
Natural
Natural editing means basic and light edits are typically applied to an image. Essentially, it’s almost a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” approach to editing.
This is the style we take at Arkansas Wedding Collection.
You may find yourself draw to this style if you prefer an unstaged, natural approach to your photos.
This pairs nicely with photojournalistic approaches to wedding photography.
The colors are very natural, and aren’t heavily styled.
Wedding Photography Styles – Photographic Approach
We’ve covered editing styles – now let’s cover photographic approaches of wedding photography styles.
Photographic approaches include:
- Intimate
- Traditional
- Photojournalistic
- Documentary
- Editorial
Here’s how they differ!
Intimate
Taking an intimate approach to wedding photography styles usually means the photographer is upclose and personal.
You can expect more portraits to be very close and with a lot of interaction with your photographer.
As far as how the outcome of the look of the photos mean, you can expect more blurred backgrounds and wider images.
When it comes to posing, don’t expect much of it. Instead, expect to receive direction and small scripts to play with each other for natural emotion.
Traditional
Traditional photography is slowly becoming more obsolete. This is because of digital photography is more forgiving than film photography.
In traditional photography, expect to stand still and look at the camera.
When you see a photographer’s work like this, it’s likely because they have not adapted to changes or are just starting out.
However, it is seen in most portfolios during family portraits and getting a few photos of a couple.
Photojournalistic
Photojournalistic style is done by having a story in mind of what to tell.
All moments are real, but are guided.
This is great for couples who want great photos but can feel nervous around a camera.
Usually, the photographer stays out of the way.
If an opportunity to shoot an event in better light is present, a photographer may move you to that spot.
Great photojournalism is very intentional and requires a present photographer.
Documentary
Documentary is very similar to photojournalistic.
The main difference is that it is a very fly-on-the-wall approach.
Couples who love this story want a story told in complete, raw, truth.
Photos you may expect to see from this are fairly wide to capture an entire story in a single image.
Editorial
Editorial is comparable to having your wedding shot almost as if it were Vogue.
These are highly stylized and often are far-off portraits that accentuate the bride and groom.
An editorial photographer may choose to use external lighting and large modifyers to achieve a certain look, or will utilize natural light.
You may be drawn to this style of photography if you want an incredibly luxury style of photography.
Arkansas Wedding Collection’s Style
The approach we take is a mix between photojournalistic and intimate. At key points during the day, such as the tying of the dress, I like to get up and personal.
I also take an intimate approach to bridal portraits.
However, for the rest of the day, I am more photojournalistic.
The reason for this approach is because I believe the combination of these two styles are complimentary to each other.
It’s also great for telling a beautiful and truthful wedding story.
You can see how I apply this approach in my work on my portfolio as an Arkansas wedding photographer.
If you are looking for a wedding photographer, contact me.
I would love to hear about your story!
