First of all, sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. I have some recent images to post but first I wanted to tell you all...I get it...I understand now.
I have so many of my brides (and grooms, can't forget about you all) tell me that they want photojournalism, or at the very least, they just don't want formal posed wedding photography. Now, since I don't show that kind of work, I don't really get that many requests to do it but until today, really, 10 minutes ago I didn't really know what so many of you seem to dislike. I didn't have a visceral feel for what traditional wedding photography may represent to you.
I was watching a somewhat old photography "magazine" DVD that featured the work of some of that day's better wedding photographers, just to see if there was something I could take from it. To put this in perspective, the photographer in the main feature story was talking about the fact that weddings would never be shot in digital. Hmmmmm. Anyway, in this video I saw a photographer doing what I guess you'd consider VERY traditional wedding photography, filled with all the static, uncomfortable posing you could ever want...or not. I felt uncomfortable just watching so I can only imagine what it must have been like for the bride, groom and their families.
To say I only understand because of this video is not entirely true. I only have to look 10 years back at my own wedding photography to see the very same stuff and while my recollection of how it felt to be stuck in those positions is a little fuzzy, I know I don't like the pictures all that much.
So when you say "Robert, I really don't want traditional wedding photography, you know, all that posed stuff..." I know what you mean, and I also know that what you likely REALLY mean is that you'd love to have beautiful lines both in the scene and your bodies, wonderful lighting and creative angles but you don't want to have to make like a statue for 10 minutes while I pose every last part of your being. That's why I tell my couples that I WILL do some direction and offer the occasional posing advice, even to the extent of directing head movements but I never let it seem like work.
I think too often people assume that when you abandon tradition you abandon beauty, structure and lighting. I think that's a mistake. To me, now, after witnessing what many of you probably consider your worst nightmare, I assure you that tradition, or at least tradition when it means stuffy, stiff, posed wedding photography is not the only path to classic beauty and stunning imagery.
Rest assured, while I do strive to make timeless, beautiful wedding photographs, I think I do it in a way that feels very fluid and totally stress-free.
Thanks for reading.