When you hire a wedding photographer, you want your photographer to understand your vision. This moment happens once, and you’re investing a lot into photos you’ll look at for the rest of your life. Your photographer should have the foresight to understand what you’ll love for a really long time.
This is a pretty tall order, and there’s a lot of pressure to really get it right. Sometimes there’s a misalignment with what a client is expecting and what a photographer delivers. This commonly leads to frustration on both ends.
On the client end, being able to articulate what style of photography you like is helpful. It’s also important to connect what a photographer’s portfolio looks like with what your own wedding will photograph like.
The two buzzy style words I hear all the time are: documentary and editorial. I’m going to break down what I think each of these things mean, the differences between them, and what they look like in practice. I also want to speak to how to look beyond these specific boxes and analyze a photographer’s work like you’re creative directing your wedding (which you kind of are!)
Documentary wedding photography is an approach that tells a story through unobtrusive, hands-off documentation. In my opinion, a true documentary photographer shouldn’t give direction and truly let everything unfold as it happens.
This is a huge departure from past wedding photographer standards, where the photographer is expected to give heavy direction and make moments happen.
When you hire a documentary wedding photographer, you can expect plenty of imperfect photos, where you might have some silly faces and awkward angles, but they’ll be heartfelt moments of noticing and documenting. It’s the most beautiful version of being a fly on the wall, when a photographer can see you exactly as you are and preserve the feeling of that.
I also think that the expectation that nothing will be perfect helps let go of any pressure, and can help you relax into your wedding day.
If you hire a documentary photographer, the best things to offer them are vision for the overall feeling of the day, a timeline with a lot of wiggle room for candid moments to unfold, and lots of trust in their instincts. Know that your photos might feel vulnerable and real, but they’ll represent an artists untouched version of your wedding.
Editorial wedding photography is an approach that tells a story through a directed, curated vision of your wedding day. An editorial photographer has a vision for what they want based on the story you want to tell, and they’re going to make it happen.
Editorial-style photography is typically inspired by fashion and creative direction. Imagine your wedding gallery as a Vogue magazine spread.
When you hire an editorial style wedding photographer, trust that they’ll never leave an opportunity for telling the story of your wedding on the table. They want your wedding to have a vibe, and a purpose. Editorial photographers love a moment and want the memories of your day to be full of feeling and style.
If you hire an editorial wedding photographer, know that they have your back and should make sure everything is picture perfect. They want you to feel like the superstar you are from beginning to end. The best things you can offer your editorial photographers are lots of moments for detail shots, great fashion, and an airtight timeline.
My hot take: I don’t think that any wedding photographer is truly either of these things. All wedding photography has room for both documentary and editorial moments.
A great wedding photographer knows how and when to juggle both. Your wedding photographer will have be ready to guide you through group photos and couples portraits, which is an editorial task. They’ll also have to let moments unfold through the ceremony and reception, requiring pure documentation.
It’s really a spectrum of what a photographer prioritizes, and if you’re hiring a photographer, you need to find where you are on that spectrum and find photographers that align. Ask photographers what they care about, what they’re prioritizing, what they need to execute a great gallery. Those answers should reveal where they fall between documentary & editorial photography.
Another approach: If you still feel pressure trying to find a space between these two styles, here’s your permission to go beyond these buzzwords.
Instead, do some reflecting with your partner (and your wedding planner) about how you want your wedding to feel, what you want your guests to experience, and what you want to remember. These questions can reveal more than just your photography desires, they can reveal more about what you want for your floral design, your venue selection, your guest count, your attire. Really everything in your wedding design.
When interviewing a photographer, look for similar words and feelings in things that they focus on, and what you’re looking for. When you view their work, look beyond the specific visuals. Reflect on how you feel when you look at their work, and see if that aligns with your vision.
For instance: let’s say you want your wedding to feel welcoming, warm, calm, and romantic.
You might view a photographers work that you absolutely love, but when you view their work, it feels fun, raucous, big and bold. This might not be a great fit if you’re looking for something that feels more calm and relaxed.
If going off of vibes and feelings feels difficult and vague to you, go through your favorite sources of art. This can look like movies, tv shows, album covers, your favorite song, magazine covers etc. Take notice of the style you like, and what feels right to you. You can glean a lot about your own personal style from these things, even if you don’t think you’re an artsy person.
Choosing a wedding photographer is an incredibly personal choice, and not one that should be made lightly. I’d challenge anyone looking for a photographer to think critically and as artfully as you can about it. It’s an artistic, feeling-forward medium, and it’s important to give that the weight it deserves even if that means going out of your comfort zone.
If you’re still feeling intimidated by finding a photographic style that you like, we made a quiz for anyone who wants a starting point.
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