Why I'm not a Wedding Photojournalist (and you don't want me to be)
Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 12:24PM Tweet 
Wedding photojournalist has become one of the new buzzwords in the wedding industry. Here is Columbia it seems like every time I talk with bride or groom they are looking for a wedding photojournalist. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for my brides knowing exactly what they want and being able to provide that for them, the problem is my experience has been that they really don’t want a photojournalist, no matter how much they say they do. Most of the time, it’s because they don’t know the real meaning of the term, other times it’s simply because they haven’t been able to in vision how their wedding day isn’t just an event. It’s Art. You plan for months and month down to the last detail. Do you really want someone to treat it as just another event?
Let me explain. A typical bride might say something like this. “We really just want a photographer who will document our day for us. We don’t want to do a lot of the formal pictures with everyone looking at the camera and smiling.”
Here is the problem. First thing that sticks out is, “a lot of formal pictures” true most of my brides are more modern than their parents, but the truth is I have yet to find a bride that doesn’t want a single big family picture. Second, even if the bride doesn’t really want them, or care about them, their parent ALWAYS do! In fact from a business stand point; it is the big formal family pictures that always sell well.
The second problem with being a wedding photojournalist (in my opinion) is that a true photojournalist adheres to a very strict code of ethics when it comes to their photography. Those codes include NEVER manipulating a scene, or post processing beyond basic color correction. That code is in place to insure accuracy in the news world. For me it’s not a code to live by for a wedding. Photojournalist show people exactly what happened, rarely are they praised for their art.
Here is a classic example; Let’s say I’m shooting a wedding, the bride walks down a gorgeous staircase that is being lit by golden afternoon sunlight through a large window. The wedding photojournalist will take pictures of her walking down the stairs get some nice pictures as she passes through the window light and that’s that. No interfering, no hassle, just straight wedding photojournalism. However, what if the photographer said, “Hey pause for just a second right there and look out the window”. He then photographed her standing in perfect light looking out in to the light, telling a story about the future she was walking into later that day. While the wedding photojournalist got a nice picture, the second photographer created art. It didn’t take a lot longer, it wasn’t a hassle to just stand still for a second and it certainly created a better photograph.
The truth is, most wedding photographers call themselves wedding photojournalist simple because it’s the buzzword and it’s easy to not get involved and not look for art. It’s also an easy excuse to not give the bride amazing photography. “Well, it didn’t happen that way” is all they have to say. There are some great true wedding photojournalist, don’t get me wrong, some are even here in Columbia. But if you really want someone to document your day and give you art. You need to find someone who isn’t JUST as wedding photojournalist.
When people ask me about my style I say I like to create art. I have three key points I like to make. Strong portraits (that’s the art side), real moments, (photojournalism) and amazing details (again, back to art). I want you to have beautiful photography to remember your wedding day with, that is the most important thing to me, not labels, not stereotypes. Most of the time it’s a hands off documentation approach, but when the time is right I leave the photojournalist world and step into the art world. My brides deserve nothing less from me.
If you would like to talk with me about your wedding day. Give me a call.
803-386-1513 or email brodiefoto@gmail.com
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