Photographing a wedding, it’s easy to find yourself looking 9 steps ahead, looking to the next item on the schedule rather than what is in front of you right now. That’s why a firm mantra of our photography (and indeed for our lives in general) is to “stay in the moment”. We never want to find ourselves rushing blindly to the next “event” because often the experience of moving to that place can yield the most interesting stories and photographs.
When you remove anticipation and truly immerse yourself in your surroundings, time slows down and the world opens up around you. If you can remove yourself from thinking about what “should” be an interesting scene and look openly at what is in front of you, new opportunities emerge. Photographs deal in fractions of a second – the blink of an eye, yet our job is to keep our eyes wide open to anything and everything that can bring further interest to the scene.
One of our favourite things to do is to bring elements that exist outside of the wedding narrative into the story of the photograph. Our featured image (above) from the Buckinghamshire wedding of Georgia and Kyle is a great example of that – a frame that could easily be dismissed in the journey from one “key story” to another, but instead pauses to reflect upon it.
The bride, groom and guests leaving for the reception via boat is somewhat unusual in a wedding story – there’s a spectacle to it; an air of fun, of wonder. Photographing the bride and groom on the boat tells us the story, but it doesn’t necessarily convey the feeling. To us, documentary photographers have two jobs – the “documentary” part is to create something of a historical record of an event, but the “photographers” part is all about capturing an essence, a feeling. How can we portray the sense of awe of this moment?
By bringing a member of the public into our narrative we can heighten the sense of excitement by adding an outsider’s perspective. In this instance the little girl is just passing on her bike yet she stops to witness something special happening in front of her. We can’t see her face but her foot, raised on tiptoes, allows us to understand that she is fully engaged – brimming with curiosity at the events in front of her. It’s a contrast of everyday life vs an extraordinary day, and bringing those two together for the viewer only heightens the experience.
So whether it’s outside perspectives, artwork, animals or simple inanimate objects, we’re always looking to bring more to the photograph; to inject more curiosity into the frame. Georgia and Kyle’s riverside wedding was a day brimming with possibility, and we hope you enjoy this selection of our favourite frames.
Dominique & Liam
