I’ve been doing this game working as a documentary wedding photographer for a while now. And I have certainly been around and have gained a hell of a lot of experience. On the way I have met a lot of people and seen a lot of places. Making sure to learn a little on the way, this is a healthy thing. The style of photography has certainly evolved throughout the years. And it has to, in my mind there’s no other way but for the work to evolve. This is clearly something that happens in an organic fashion.
I like to reflect on a past year, and especially with a break that often comes with the beginning of a new year. Once all wedding work has been edited and therefore completed, it’s good to stand back for a few weeks. Then cast an objective eye on that years’ work.
In my work as a documentary wedding photographer I find it critical that recent work be assessed and I often look or consider ways to improve. To be more dynamic, or even subtle should a certain scenario demand it. But what I do find is that when the day is moving at a particularly fast pace then the reaction to what is going on becomes almost intuitive. Quite often these pictures jump out right at you when work begins on the edit.
That never changes. As long as the final set is consistent then for me that is the key to a good tight set of images. My black and white work constantly gets noted for the atmosphere and mood. And for me that’s great, I have always seen myself as a black and white photographer in the main. And again, there’s that consistency in the finish of the work
I tend not to go for the typical tropes. Therefore having a set of wedding pictures that will tell their own story of any given wedding day trumps anything else. It never enters into my head that “I will do something different today”. It’s probably best to just turn up and allow the day to breath.
Then just keep up with it. React to it.
And while sometimes I’ll be asked, and often by guests at weddings, “don’t you get a bit bored just photographing weddings?”, the answer is no. No, I don’t. Given that there’s certainly no set ups to be repeated week I week out. I take each day on its own merits and in turn this tends to keep everything fresh. And quite often lively too.
Once this year’s season kicks off, It’ll be excited to get going again and to see what imagery can be produced.
