We live in a time where our landscape is saturated with images, and most of them are made to sell something to you.

Wedding photography is no exception.

When I search for wedding photography, the first things that pop up are highly posed, totally airbrushed, manufactured moments. This is the norm for wedding photography, and has been for years, aided by stacks of glossy magazines and The Knot. Thankfully, there has been a sea change in the past 5-10 years, and there are more and more documentary wedding photographers out there.

I’m one of them. And I love explaining exactly what I do.

the definition of documentary wedding photography:

Documentary wedding photography is the art of capturing real moments, real emotions, and the real relationships that are around you.

Documentary wedding photography is also sometimes referred to as candid wedding photography. I’d say there’s a very small distinction: candid implies something more like “snapshots,” a series of random photos taken of anything and everything, while documentary photo work is a very intentional process of getting to know people and photographing moments that are rich with personal meaning.

This is in contrast to traditional wedding photography, as well as what might be called “fine art” wedding photography. These are often highly directed, and/or might just transform you into an imaginary person who doesn’t exist. They focus a lot on the expensive “consumer” goods, with a hyperfocus on specific moments in a wedding day (the first kiss, the first dance, the bouquet toss).

If I wasn’t a documentary wedding photographer, it could be a lot easier to market myself. I could have picture-perfect images of models and submit my images to wedding magazines; I could sell my photos for wedding advertisements. But I don’t. That’s because my interest in this work is not in the potential earnings of this job — rather, I am trained in this specific subgenre of photography because of my interest in capturing real human stories.

How do you know if a documentary wedding photographer is right for you and your celebration?

5 reasons why you should hire a documentary wedding photographer:

1) You want genuine emotions

You don’t want someone reminding you to smile, telling you to “pretend” to tell a joke, telling your friends to “pretend” to put your dress on. You want to genuinely experience your wedding day — to genuinely laugh out loud at your best friend’s jokes, or genuinely feel wracked with nerves. You want a photographer who can capture the way your partner bites their nails. You want to see the look on your grandma’s face when she sees you on your wedding day, and a photographer who has the confidence to capture that moment fully, wrinkles, sobs, and all.

2) You want to see all the things you didn’t even know happened

A good documentary wedding photographer won’t just be laser-focused on the bride and groom. We want to capture all the moments unfolding in front of us: flower girls goofing off, a mother’s silent prayer, uncles drunkenly kissing dads. People who hire me are often amazed when they get their gallery, and get to peek at all the little things that were happening on their wedding day.

You can’t be “everywhere” on your wedding day, and no matter how loose your timeline is, you will hardly have enough time to spend with the people who come and gather with you. Documentary photography can pause all those little moments in time and give you the full story of your wedding day.

3) You want a photographer who feels more like a wedding guest instead of a director

I’ve seen some of these “director”-style photographers at weddings. They sit on the outskirts of the wedding, checking their phone for shot-lists, and their only interaction with guests is stopping people to pose them with cheesy grins. Then they take the wedding couple away from the wedding for an hour or so to capture those magazine-cover portraits.

A documentary wedding photographer has almost the opposite approach. I don’t work off shot-lists. I know that every wedding is different, and every single guest has a unique relationship to the couple getting married. I like to mingle with people, getting to know their stories. I don’t have any down-time. I’m present and a part of the wedding the entire time.

In fact, people often ask me: “How do you know the couple?” Yep, I’ve heard that at almost every wedding. Because I haven’t been controlling the wedding day, shouting out orders; instead, I’m blending in with the crowd, almost-invisibly capturing moments without people being aware.

4) You want photos that will look like YOUR wedding day — not someone else’s Pinterest board or Instagram feed

Sure, those close-ups of flowers edited in pastel hues are pretty. And there are a lot of quirky ideas out there for wedding day props, favors, and napkin arrangements. But you should hire a documentary wedding photographer if you’re more interested in candid moments between human beings, instead of all the decorations…

That being said — I’m still observing and documenting details! I always feel that special objects can tell the story of a wedding day, just as much as interactions between people. It’s just that when I do take photos of the “details,” I’m not just focused on the expensive ones. I’m just as drawn in by simple things that illustrate who you are: the hand-written card from your niece, the handmade bracelet from your cousin, the blurry Polaroids taken by your friends. These are the details that make your wedding your wedding. Not just an anonymous pretty advertisement.

5) You just want to enjoy your wedding day

Do you want to feel like an actor or a model at your wedding? Or just like yourself?

Do you want your friends and family to remember long hours standing posing for photos in high heels… or do you want them to remember dancing with you all night?

Do you want to remember you and your loved ones, exactly as they are, at this moment?

If any of this resonates with you, then documentary wedding photography is the right choice for you.

Live in California? Want to learn more about photography? Contact me and let’s chat.

— Rebecca