Contemporary Wedding Photography

By Author: John Smith
Total Articles: 1
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In Traditional wedding photography, images are rendered in a classic style and the photographer controls a great deal of the interaction on the day of the wedding. A Photojournalist style of wedding photography takes its form from editorial reporting styles; it focuses on candid images with little photographer interaction.

Fashion-based wedding photography is a contemporary technique that is becoming more popular. In this style, the photojournalist combines candid images of the events of the day with posed images that are inspired by editorial fashion photography—the kind of photographs one would find in Vogue or Vanity Fair. This style often involves more innovative and dramatic post-processing of images.

These three approaches are rough categories of wedding photography, and most working photographers combine elements of all three. Indeed, contemporary wedding photographers work to capture the story and atmosphere of the day, so the viewer has an appreciation of what the wedding was like; they endeavor to build a photo-narrative that illustrates the varying moods and emotions of everyone involved in the wedding ...
... ceremony.

Contemporary wedding photography involves more than just taking informal photographs; it includes the use of composition, lighting, and timing to capture photographs that have a strong visual appeal. With advent of the internet and digital camera wedding photography services are more widely available than ever. Of course, practices and issues having to do with copyright vary from place to place. A wedding photographer melbourne or a wedding photographer Sydney may offer different kinds of services than a photographer from a smaller town.

But there are basic services that most contemporary wedding photographers provide—usually some combination of the following: indoor photography at a church, temple, or other private venue during the ceremony and reception; outdoor photography (often at a park, beach, or scenic location on the day of the wedding and/or for engagement photos); both posed and candid (photojournalistic) shots of the wedding couple and their guests at the religious or civil ceremony, and the reception that follows; formal portraiture in the studio (for either the wedding and/or the engagement photos); digital services, such as digital prints or slides shows; and albums (either traditional matted albums or the more contemporary flush mount type of album). The range of deliverables that a wedding photographer presents is varied. There is no standard as to what is included in a wedding coverage or package, so products vary regionally and from across photographers, as do the number of images provided.

Wedding photographers typically allow clients to purchase additional prints for themselves or their families. Some photographers include high resolution files in their packages. These photographers allow their clients limited rights to reproduce the images for their personal use, while retaining the copyright. The owner of the pictures' copyright is often explicitly stated in the contract for photographic services. Photographers who do not retain copyright of the images often charge more for their services. In these cases, the photographer provides the client with the digital images as part of the wedding package. The client then has unrestricted use of the images and can print any that they may desire.

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