How marriage has changed
In today's wedding market, design is key. Modern media has influenced the tastes of couples and created the feeling that weddings are more than a ceremony and a party. Contemporary weddings are cohesive, themed events that couples use as an expression of their personalities. So we can also witness an evolution of wedding photography, adapted to what weddings are today.
Photography has become an increasingly vital part of wedding planning. The most successful wedding photographers today do more than simply document; they craft images artistically to fit a complete project. A couple chooses a photographer based on how his or her style fits into the overall vision of the wedding and how well he or she can integrate image creation into the theme of the event. To reach the top level in today's wedding market, photographers must be well-rounded professionals who understand the many elements that need to come together in a wedding. They must think big and be able to contribute to the overall look and feel of the event .
We plan to do it, visit our gallery to have tangible proof of our work.
How wedding photography has changed
The origins
This is the reality of wedding photography today, especially high-end wedding photography. However, this role for the wedding photographer did not evolve overnight. For decades, wedding photography had a reputation – rightly or wrongly – for being static and overly posed. Too often, wedding images were those stark shots where families lined up as if they were facing a firing squad.
Photojournalism
Then, in the 1990s and early this century, photojournalism swept through the industry like a monsoon flood – slowly, surely changing the landscape of modern wedding photography. Photographers turned the paradigm on its head, eschewing old approaches in favor of candid images created with limited subject-photographer interaction. The new school of documentary wedding photographers often ignored, or dramatically adapted, traditional posing rules and lighting techniques. These photographers did not look to wedding or portrait photographers as their heroes, rather they looked to photojournalistic icons like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White and W. Eugene smith. Concepts like “slice of life” and “moments in time” filled the marketing language as photographers stood out as simple documentaries whose free-flowing approach appealed to the tastes of the young couple.
The perception of photography evolves
The change in style has also ushered in a change in the perception of wedding photography. No longer seen as the calling for conservative professionals who adhere to age-old guidelines, wedding photography was suddenly fun, adventurous and creative. There was a freedom to the work that hadn't been present in decades. As a wedding photographer, you didn't have to spend all day taking photos of extended families. You were free to wander, to document, to apply your unique eye to the event.
Pay also improved. Bringing a new level of energy and movement to work, industry leaders were able to command five-figure rates while attracting clients from America's most exclusive circles. Not surprisingly, when rates started to increase, so did the number of wedding photographers. It seemed easier than ever to make a living from photography, and photographers of all backgrounds began to migrate to the wedding market.
The role of digital imaging cannot be underestimated in this process. Automated, easy-to-use digital cameras have significantly lowered the barrier to entry, as have Adobe Photoshop and a host of digital imaging software that have helped photographers skip the lab altogether. Digital workflow issues aside , it was easier than ever to become a professional wedding photographer. As a result, thousands of new practitioners entered the field and the market began to swell at the core.
The consequences of the influx of new photographers
The influx of new photographers has proven good and bad. On the one hand, new photographers have brought a much-needed youth movement to the field. New ideas, approaches and energy poured into the market. Styles, techniques and technology have changed more in a decade than in the entire previous century. On the other hand, competition for established professionals has increased while the industry's quality standards have decreased. Many of the new professionals lacked real photography training. Looking for a quick buck, they shot from the hip and hoped their “snap and pray” shooting technique would yield enough lucky gems to earn them a happy payday. This was not photojournalism – which involves careful consideration of where to place the camera , how to compose and when to exhibit – it was instant photography, naïve images that had no real sense of artistic planning or professional exposure principles.
The role of digital
Digital has certainly accelerated this trend. As DSLRs became faster, better and cheaper, photographers found it easier – and more affordable – to shoot thousands of frames per event. Documenting the life of a marriage has become an exercise in the speed of successive shots as photographers shoot in search of those decisive moments.
The market has begun to question the value of receiving thousands of randomly captured images instead of a focused, cohesive collection of photographs. As more and more wedding photographers offered basic packages of simple, candid images, clients began to grow disenchanted with the rising prices of work they felt they could do themselves. These demanding customers began to desire something more.
The return to a personal style
In this environment, some progressive photographers began to expand their work into more consciously influenced styles. If photojournalism was a backlash against the meticulously posed static wedding photography of previous generations, newly developing styles were a backlash to the lax approach to photojournalism (and its many corrupt forms). These emerging photographers saw themselves as more than just documentarians. They wanted to influence the images with their unique styles. For some, this meant using fashion or editorial photography techniques. Others preferred to mix environmental portraiture methods with their photojournalism. For a select few, wedding photography has become the combination of fine art and real life, a stylized representation of their client's special day in carefully contoured images.
We want to try to be among these chosen few.