Marie Claire Dubois Your wedding is easily one of the most important moments in your life. You’ve probably played it out a million times in your mind: the resplendent, shimmering wedding dress, the air heavy with the musky perfume of flowers, the lingering smell of delicious food, and of course, great photography to capture it all.
Modern day weddings demand photography that goes beyond the traditional, formal poses that reek of stiff cordiality, rather than carefree, eternal love. Gone are the days when wedding photography meant smiling uncomfortably and waiting for the camera to click. Today, wedding photography is all about capturing the unique personality and intimate moments of a wedding.
A wedding is replete with priceless, precious moments, from Grandpa & Grandma holding hands to your little niece dropping ice cream all over her dress and smiling wildly about it. Traditional wedding photography, unfortunately, fails to capture these details. Creative wedding photography, on the other hand, takes the traditional and adds a special zing to it, capturing these moments in all their wonderful glory.
Maybe you want to get a few photographs in black & white or seeped in sepia. Maybe you want to capture a few moments of intimacy between you and your spouse to-be. Or, maybe you want photographs that capture the true essence of your wedding, and you as a couple. Whatever your requirement may be, creative wedding photography can capture it.
Finding the right wedding photographer, however, is far from easy. The easiest way to go about it is to get in touch with friends and family whose wedding photographs you admire. The work of a good photographer spreads by word of mouth, and you are much more likely to find a quality wedding photographer in the recommendation of your friends than in the yellow pages.
The internet is another great way to find a creative wedding photographer. You can do a quick search for photographers in your area on Google. Many of them might have websites or photo albums online, and you can browse through them to get an idea of their work. Are their shots candid enough? Do they capture the special moments of the wedding? Do they sprinkle enough formal shots in between those candid moments? These are just a few of the questions you must ask yourself before picking a wedding photographer.
Once you do decide on someone, meet them in person. The wedding photographer will be by your side throughout the big day. You want to hire someone whom you are comfortable with, or else the quality of the work might suffer.
At the wedding itself, you should give the photographer a free rein. A quality professional should be able to float through the guests, capturing intimate moments. In that respect, creative wedding photography is quite like story telling — with the bride & groom as the primary protagonists. Remember that the pictures of your wedding day will last with you forever. You want to show your kids and grand kids a story, not a series of formally posed photographs without warmth or intimacy. It might cost you a bit more than hiring a traditional wedding photographer, but when it comes to preserving the memories of the biggest day of your life, it is money well spent.
