A wedding is one of the most magical, momentous, and beautiful days of your life. A celebration of love, commitment, and emotion. Wedding photographers are tasked with documenting the festivities so they may be cherished for decades to come.
Sometimes the best way to capture such a day is by thinking outside of the box. This is where fine art wedding photography fills the gap for those that want their day to be represented with a more dramatic feel.
But what really is fine art wedding photography?
At its core, fine art wedding photography is about creating visual art; something aesthetically beautiful and impactful. Shooting fine art wedding photography involves a more deliberate mindset, with care to make the most of every shot and every moment.
Many photographers shoot weddings in a documentary style. What is documentary style, you ask? Documentary wedding photography is a style of photography that captures the candid moments of a wedding day as they unfold naturally. Unlike traditional posed wedding photography, documentary wedding photography aims to document the day's story in a photojournalistic manner.
Fine art however, steps further into the realm of art than documentary. The images need to have an element of artistic intent rather than just capturing what is right in front of you. Fine art plays into wedding photography wonderfully. Think of it this way, a wedding is a grand tale of romance.
From the beautiful decor to the fairytale dance, capturing a more artistic side of this already visually enthralling endeavor just works together. When the details of a wedding are paramount to its fruition, fine art photography is the missing piece.
Fine art wedding photographers capture images that are intended to be appreciated as art, not just a documentation of the event. Many fine art wedding photographs are well-planned, putting great care into the detail of the scene.
The only caveat to shooting a wedding in this style is that weddings usually follow a strict timeline and photographers are only given a certain amount of time to capture images of the bride and groom.. If you want your pictures to be taken in this style, you must add a little extra room in your timeline. Shots like these require more thought in how they are set up, especially when the photographer is manipulating light and shadows with an off-camera flash system.
And what about all the details? The details are the glue of every story, tying it all together. Weddings tend to have an influx of beautifully subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) details in its decor, in its attire, and in its portrayal.
Detail shots make up the core of fine art wedding photography. Lenses (especially macro lenses) can bring to life even the smallest of details.
Fine art photography allows us to narrate the images more. They’re no longer just photographic evidence – they are a story. So go ahead, make your couple laugh, make your bridesmaids jump in the air, make your groomsmen run!
As the name suggests, fine art wedding photography is all about focusing on the artistic side of the wedding. A fine art wedding photographer will not just photograph what is presented to him/her but think of more ways to elevate and enhance what is in front of them.
Captured with an artistic and storytelling intent, wedding images created using this style are no less than masterpieces that deserve their own space in exhibitions or art galleries.
While most photography styles function on some basic principles, there are no set rules that this style of photography follows. In short, it depends on your creative vision and artistic inclination.
Breathtaking compositions, a whimsical aesthetic, glorious detail shots – there are different aspects that make this wedding photography style what it is. And when hiring me to shoot your wedding, you can be sure I will do my best to capture images that will take your breath away while at the same time, default to a more journalistic photography style so I can remain as unobtrusive as possible and let them more candid moments of your day unfold as they happen.
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