Why I love weddings

I’m sometimes asked by other photographers why on earth I possibly could enjoy shooting weddings. They are often seen as contrived, technically difficult and fraught with bridezillas. Well, that’s not my experience. Firstly, I enjoy the technical aspects of the job. As for the other two points, they can be mostly avoided. I avoid contrived situations by clearly shooting in a natural way and avoiding those terrible cheezy photo situations that, thankfully, seem to be dying out. As for bridezillas, sure one or two may creep in every now but most are avoided by ensuring you are teamed up with people who are on the same page . The kind of people that love my style tend to not fit the bridezilla mould – natural happy people (who usually love dogs !) who understand that the best photography comes from a photographer who targets natural emotion without interfering and who allows situations to develop by themselves but who has a knack for the more technical aspects of lighting etc. There is one more reason I love photographing weddings – stuff happens at weddings, emotions, humour, bonding, the list goes one and I have a licence to stick that lens into any situation without anyone batting an eyelid. It’s like battlefield photojournalism without the risk of being shot!

Here’s one such natural moment from a recent wedding.

James

Nursing bride at a Perth wedding