Chapter 4: Developing a Style
With so many wedding photographers out there today, the question is, how will you stand out and set yourself apart from all the others? If a prospective client asks you this same question, how will you define your style? Some different styles have already been established with wedding photography, including the traditional style and photojournalistic style. Many other wedding photographers use random words to describe their style, such as modern or edgy, but what does that actually mean to you? It is important to learn about some of these different styles and most important, to experiment and find where your photography fits in. In the end you have to develop a personal style that is unique and makes you stand out in a positive way. This doesn’t mean that you should shoot each and every wedding the exact same way every time; you need to be flexible and to be able to mix styles depending on the situation. For example, the portraits can be more traditional, while photographs of the ceremony and reception can be more photojournalistic. And sometimes the client will hire you based on your creativity. In Figure 4-1, I broke the rules of composition and cropped the image in a way that was unexpected.
4-1
ABOUT THIS PHOTO The nontraditional crop of this ...
