5 Reasons Why Your Alternative Documentary Wedding Photography Should Be Classed As An Investment.

I don’t want you to think, oh here goes another tog banging on trying to justify the cost of wedding photography. No…this is not what this is about.  First of all, I’d like to take you through my own personal experience from my own wedding. 

Back in the day….

So, many moons ago when wedding photography was still being shot on film, my husband and I decided to get hitched.  Fabulous – nothing wrong there at all, except for one little thing! Back then, I used to assist a wedding photographer that was based quite near to me.  I would often go out with him at weekends and shoot these amazingly grand weddings in London. He was old school and shot on a big, medium format, Hassleblad camera (oosh, I had a love hate relationship with that thing. I loved it but omg I used to crap myself every-time the film needed changing on it).  Anyway….I negotiated a deal with him, and that was rather than him pay me for assisting, he could shoot my own wedding.  Great I hear you say.  Well, yes…it was in some ways, but the reason and point to this story is, is that 17 years on, I still have a a pile of wedding ‘proofs’ in my office.  HOW BAD IS THAT?  Don’t get me wrong, the images my photographer took were lovely, but after the wedding they just got put aside and I never quite got round to sorting through them.  I thought I was doing myself a huge favour, but in hindsight I should have just spent the money and got him to capture the wedding as a job and not a favour!  Every now and then I find this little pile of 4”x4” images and think to myself, I really must go through these, edit them and make an album up.  I think it’s because of my own experience that I’m so passionate about capturing and documenting weddings, and seeing it right through to the delivery of the final edits.  I love to see the joy on couples faces when I hand deliver their images. 

1 – YOUR ONE CHANCE

This is your wedding day, and hopefully the only one chance to get this right.  So by hiring an alternative documentary photographer, this will allow your day to be beautifully captured exactly how you want it to be.  I create a more relaxed and creative approach to your day rather than the staid, posed traditional type of wedding photography.  My style is described as being an honest representation of your big day.  I will offer gentle direction where appropriate  

Please don’t be like me and regret not going through the correct channels and trying to cut corners. If you’re looking to reduce your wedding costs, there are plenty of ways to do this without sacrificing your eternal wedding imagery.  Despite what you may be thinking – shooting a wedding is never ‘one and done’. What I mean by this, is once we have finished shooting the wedding, we then have the exciting but very timely task of culling and hand editing all of your images.  You may not see the true value of your investment on the day, but more so once you’ve returned from your honeymoon and you get to relive your big day again and again, only then will you know it was worth hiring a professional photographer.  (I recently wrote a blog explaining in detail why I think you should hire a professional photographer  https://www.dollfacefoto.com/the-d-word/why-should-you-hire-a-pro-photographer-for-your-wedding-big-event-or-brand-photography )

2 – QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

As a professional alternative documentary photographer, I make sure that my clients get what they pay for.  Not only do I offer high quality photographs, but I also offer prints and luxurious wedding albums. When I shoot a wedding expect to receive 350/400+ quality hand edited images.  Every single image you receive from me, would have been hand picked and then individually edited in my own alternative documentary photography style.  I absolutely do not and never have ‘batch’ edited any images.  Don’t be fooled into believing that more is, ummm…more! I truly believe that you’re better off having a smaller amount of quality images rather than 1000+ images that are often unedited and you can get 5/10 that all look the same.  I mean seriously, who needs 5 images that look all the same but with a few minor head moves in-between them all? You can also get overwhelmed by the huge quantity when presented with larger amounts of images. 

3 -   LEGACY

These photographs will be your legacy.  Sure, it’s great to have some awesome images to share on your social platforms etc and you’ll get plenty of likes on the ‘Gram’ and Facebook, but if we’re being honest that’s not what this is about.  It’s always great to print out and display images within your home or maybe get the coffee table book so you can beam with pride at the drop of a hat.  I mean, why not….once the dust has settled after the wedding, it’s the only thing you’ll have left to show the world what a magical day you had. These images are more than just photographs….they are an integral part of your love story ♡

4 – THE MEMORIES

Without sounding really cheesy, photography is just as important today as it was 100 years ago.  What do you personally get from images when you look at photos from 100, 75, 50 even 25 years ago? I just adore looking at bygone images and comparing how fashions have (or sometimes have not) changed, and more importantly how the people you care about most looked at that time.  There’s nothing better than seeing pictures of your gran in her 60’s mini skirt, or your 80’s chic, mullet head parents.  A good photographer will be able to capture the memories well, so that you can relive them time and time again.  Once the day is over, the photos are there to make it live on. 

5 -  THE CREATIVE INVESTMENT

Your wedding photography shouldn’t be approached any differently to buying a piece of unique artwork.  It’s not just about buying into a photographers time and experience, it’s about investing in them as a person, in their individuality, in their creative sight and vision.  There are endless terms that a photographer will use to describe their final ‘style’ of photography (me included)(alternative, documentary, fine art, story teller, cinematic, candid, and so on) but at the end of the day you need to avoid getting caught up with these labels.  You need to decide if you want your wedding DOCUMENTED or ORCHESTRATED.  As an alternative documentary photographer (that’s me folks) I will produce images that can be a little quirky and off the cuff, you know….the awkward but natural looking poses etc.  We tend to associate with the traditional approach to wedding photography but put our own twist on it.  How an alternative documentary photographer sees your wedding will be so very different to how your guests and possibly even you, see your wedding, and this will reflect on the type of images you receive (in a good way).  For me personally,  I also look for the smallest details and capture them before the memories fade.  I like to capture people’s emotions, and when I say emotions I mean ALL of the emotions. The happy tears, the oohs, the ahhs, the laughter and even the ugly crying. Every photographer will have their own unique individual way of capturing your wedding, so it’s important from my point of view that you understand if you invested in me to shoot your wedding, that you like and connect with my alternative documentary style of photography. 

If you are at the stage of your wedding planning,  where you are trying to choose your photographer for the day, take the time to go through their previous portfolio’s so you can see wether their style and your vision are the perfect fit.  Click here to see some of my previous weddings. 

Click here if you’d like to have a chat about your wedding photography.