So what exactly is journalistic photography?
When we think of wedding photos, most of us probably picture the traditional kind. This means posed shots with fancy flashes and lighting. This also often means waiting around and having to hold a smile until your jaw starts tremoring and eyes start twitching. In these shots, the photographer’s job is to direct and arrange everything just so. Think bride and groom, in front of a three-tier cake, shared knife in hand, smiling for the camera just before they make the first incision.
Okay… yes, this kind of photography has evolved somewhat over the last few years to include more fun and modern shots. And it is still important for a lot of people to have these posed shots with family and friends. Yet I can’t help but feel like these more traditional pictures can often lack a little something… a little life.
These days, more and more people are opting for a more journalistic approach to their wedding photographs. In this documentary style, the photographer – an almost invisible entity – follows the action of the day fairly unobtrusively, requiring little additional equipment or lighting. The emphasis is on action, emotion, and creativity in an attempt to create images that go a little deeper than your perfectly posed shots. Ultimately photojournalists, like any journalists, are seeking to tell a story: one with cohesion, one that will invoke a reaction and emotion for years to come. This allows everyone at the wedding to really live in the moment, a moment that they can relive again and again through their photographs.