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Photograph by Warwick Photography
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Image of flowers at a wedding reception
When Sabrina Rodgers began her search for the perfect wedding photographer, one thing was certain: She didn’t want her wedding photos to be the same predictable shots she’d seen a million times before.
“I didn’t want one of those albums that you looked at and didn’t know whether you got married in 1975 or 2005,” she says.
That meant nontraditional all the way. Rodgers had nearly all photojournalistic, candid photos taken at her August wedding, capturing unique close-up shots and unforgettable moments. Food was another important visual centerpiece, given that her father, former White House chef Pierre Chambrin, was head chef for the big day.
“The most important thing to me was getting the shots that were different from everyone else’s,” Rodgers says, “and I think I got that with the style I chose.”
Rodgers’ choice was intensely personal, but it took her straight to one of the strongest trends in wedding photography, one that, according to local photographers, is changing the face of the business.
Photographer Josephine Havlak credits recent shifts to the use of digital technology, which frees photographers to capture every moment without worrying about wasting film. She says that couples are choosing photojournalistic photography over traditional portrait-style photography in overwhelming numbers.
Tom Warwick, owner of Warwick Photography, estimates that about 80 percent of his clients choose the photojournalistic approach but adds that the newest trend is a combination of posed and candid photos.
“For a while, all they wanted to see was photojournalism, but the pendulum is swinging back a little,” he explains.
Still, most of the photos that end up in most couples’ albums are those candid, right-in-the-moment shots that the bride and groom can’t resist because the photos allow them to relive their wedding day with such immediacy.
“They want the feeling of the day, and you don’t get that in a posed picture,” Warwick says. “Feelings and emotions are revealed by interaction. We want them to see what they felt. If it’s done well, they can feel it again.”
Nowadays, doing it well often means having more than one photographer on the quest to capture those moments. Couples are hiring two or three photographers to catch all of the stories playing out simultaneously.
Even with just one photographer, Havlak says, the number of pictures shot at a typical wedding has skyrocketed. “In 1990, it wasn’t uncommon to shoot 70 posed pictures and that was it,” she says. “Now I don’t shoot anything less than 1,300. The client has more choice, and the pictures have an intimate quality.”
But the changes don’t end with the ceremony. While the happy couples are honeymooning, the photographers are spending hours editing and reprocessing photos and designing albums for them—tasks that, Havlak says, have nearly quadrupled the time spent on each client.
Much of this time is dedicated to designing the art or collage-style books that have begun to replace the traditional albums. Aside from the additional time Warwick now spends advising his clients during the editing process, he spends 40 to 60 hours on each art book he designs.
The new art books are created with the use of digital images, so no physical photo prints are included. The design permits the use of more photos per page, a background image behind the pictures and other stylistic touches such as black-and-white images, spot color on black-and-white photos and mirrored images.
But the lighter weight of the art book compared with that of a traditional album is what seems to be the most appealing aspect.
“An art book with 180 digital images would only be 2 inches thick, while a traditional album would be 6 or 7 inches thick,” Warwick explains. About 85 percent of his clients are choosing touse at least some digital imagery, he says, but some couples still prefer a traditional album because the art book looks too much like a yearbook and they’d rather have the actual prints.
Alisha Frank, who married in July 2004, got a combination of the traditional album and the collage style. Rich Kohm Studios had just begun working with the collage templates and inserted two collage pages into Frank’s 30-page album.
“It was more modern and fun compared to the old-fashioned look of the regular albums,” Frank says. “If I had it to do over again, I’d do all collage.”
As technology goes digital, some photographers are offering more than just still pictures. John Omoresemi, owner of Photo Video Image Productions, provides photo and video services.
“It’s not as traditional as just having a camera sitting on a tripod anymore,” Omoresemi says. “We move around to capture the mood and atmosphere of the day as it occurs.”
Warwick and other local photographers also offer a DVD option with still photos set to music—which, Rodgers says, makes the wedding come alive again.
“You only do this once,” she points out. “After the bouquet dries up and the wedding dress is stored away, all you have left are the pictures.”
