Top 7 Wedding Photography Style in Melbourne
When we look at our parents’ wedding photo hanging on the photo frame, we will notice that we have more wedding photography styles to appeal our preference nowadays. Melbourne is a multicultural city where bride and groom don’t want to limit their imaginations on their wedding photography.
I’m William, a Melbourne wedding photographer who has been shooting weddings for 7 years and experienced with the wedding trend movement. My little advise for your wedding photography is that you don’t need to stick to just one or two wedding photography style.
I have listed the Top 7 Wedding photography style trending in 2020. And then it would be your decision on which one would be your favorite.
Natural and Candid Wedding Photography Style
People like natural wedding photos as people like who they really are.
What is natural and candid wedding photography style?
It is not a surprise that the word candid wedding photographer become a popular trend in recent 5 years in Melbourne.
The natural and candid style is aim to capture the authentic wedding moments without interruptions. The photographers tag themselves as a natural wedding photographer always advocate the natural lighting and un-posed shooting philosophy.
How does candid wedding photographer shoot on your big day?
A candid wedding photographer utilizes his observation skill to get flattering angles to capture the real wedding moments.
A master of candid wedding photographer captures the ‘decisive moments’ without pose. As the wedding couple, you will feel more relaxed and chilled with a candid wedding photographer. Sometimes you might not be aware that your photographer was there. The bride and groom have freedom to have fun with bridal party and guests.
Instead of using the artificial light (flash), the candid photographer takes the advantage of the natural light to create a romantic and soft mood for indoor wedding photography.
Also, the candid wedding photographer select a light and pastel color background to supplement the wedding color theme.
You could also see the candid wedding behinds the scene.
What wedding locations fit with natural and candid wedding photography?
The candid wedding photo style work with that the wedding is celebrated in a blooming garden, tranquil seaside and fairytale countryside.
Lots of Melbourne brides who get married in Dandenong range, Yarra valley and Mornington peninsula fall in love with this style when they get in touch with the candid wedding photography.
How do we edit the natural wedding photography?
To ensure the wedding photo’s consistence, the wedding photographer use the light and airy filter. The photos always be boosted with half stop of exposure and the shadow is also reduced, the photo will look fresh and bright.
Fine art wedding photography
When we say Fine art wedding photography, our imaginations are always associated 5 main Fine art that are painting, architecture, music, sculpture and poetry.
What is fine art wedding photography style?
The fine art wedding photography absorb nutrition from Italian Renaissance in 16th century.
The fine art photography was invented by John Edwin Mayall in 1940.
A fine art wedding photographer can fuse the classic aesthetics knowledge into the contemporary wedding.
In contrast to a commercial photographer, a fine art wedding photographer is more like a pure artist, he or she attempts to use the wedding imagery as a medium to express the rich emotions on the wedding day.
In contrast to the documentary and photojournalist wedding photography, the fine art photography has more subjective intention than objective repreparation. The photos literally reflect the people’ mood and wedding vibe.
How does fine art wedding photographer shoot on the wedding day?
The fine art wedding photographer use the element of artist intention rather than documenting everything in front of you. There are 5 main factors to affects the fine art look and feels.
- Mood
- Light
- Color
- Composition
- Lens
Mood-Different lighting leads to different mood. Groom and bride normally have little nerves prior to their wedding ceremony, it is true emotion. The photographer wants to express the emotional appearance, because it is part of wedding atmosphere.
Light-A fine art photographer uses dramatic window lights, blueish and pastel backdrop to emphasis the real feeling of groom. He might feel a little bit anxious and excited for his big day before the ceremony. The imagery reflects his complexed emotions in an aesthetic way.
Color-A fine art wedding photographers are also a master of color management. The color can give accurate expression for a wedding’s vibe. During outdoor wedding photo locations, there are variable color options to be supplementary to the wedding theme.
Wedding photo Composition– The wedding photographer have a more creative perception when comparing to a traditional wedding photographer and he can make a good composition in harmony. The fine art photographer gets a pyramidal composition inspiration from High Renaissance and a more dynamic composition idea from Baroque.
Lens-A fine art photographer uses a series of prime lens to create a soft and creamy background and photo focus point will always be on the bride and groom.
Where are suitable wedding locations for fine art photography?
The historian architectures at Melbourne-Parliament house, Werribee mansion, Labassa, Royal Exhibition Building and also the George ballroom would be ideal locations for fine art wedding photography.
The richness of texture and lavish decorations inside of building can give wedding photographer lots of inspirations.
Also, the historian building is filled with symmetry, geometry and harmony, the wedding photographers use classical symmetry composition to bring their artist tastes into the wedding photography.
How do wedding photographers approach fine art photography in post edit?
The wedding photographer takes care of the fine details. He or she will give a subtle tweak of the light and shadow to keep the photo in perfect harmony.
The main goal of fine art post editing is to use dynamic light movements to make the bride and groom stand out and reveal the delicate emotions.
Color filter- there is no fixed formula for fine art photography. The wedding photographer would mute some unwanted color and increase some certain color hue’s brightness and saturation to make the photo more vivid.
Documentary and photojournalist
How to define the documentary and photojournalist wedding photography style?
A lot of wedding photographer in Melbourne define their wedding photography style as documentary or describe themselves as photojournalist. In fact, all every wedding photo contain more and less documentary elements. For instance, the most of wedding ceremony and reception shoot in a documentary manner.
Let’s go back the documentary and photojournalist’s origin.
Wikipedia give us a definition:
Documentary photography capture a relatively longer event and a more complex story, for instance historical event or a person’s daily life.
Photojournalist photography inspired by newer media (social media platform) and capture breaking news stories.
In the field of wedding photography, we can consider the documentary and photojournalist the same thing. Some wedding photographers used to work in the media industry and convert his shooting skill into shooting weddings or some photographer have a rather traditional documentary styled photography philosophy.
How do documentary or photojournalist styled photographer shoot on the wedding day?
In contrast to a traditional photographer. Unposed would be a key word you’ve heard from a documentary wedding photographer. You don’t bother to be asked ‘could you do this pose for me one more time’ during bride and groom getting ready. ‘stand closer and look at my cameras, say cheese!’ during the bridal party location photo.
The documentary wedding photography style tells honest wedding stories through artisan lens. Sophisticated of the observation’s skills through many years’ practices, the documentary photographers are able to capture lots of laughter and happiness tear to reflect the real emotions and wedding energy. Real emotional reactions are far better than posed similes.
The photojournalists inherit the skill which learned through the new press and media so that the photographers can unfold the entire wedding storyline and atmosphere through meaningful imagery.
The documentary photographer uses his lens to show an accurate reflection of bride and groom’s personalities, the wedding location and wedding theme, and is often used in a reportage way.
Which wedding genres fits best with photojournalist style?
- Destination wedding photography
- Elopement wedding
- Adventure wedding
The photojournalist can follow the bride and groom to capture every details of their wedding journey, from departure at the airport, the night before wedding, tying knot at a secret wedding location and intimate wedding reception.
How do enhance the documentary photography in post edit?
Again, the documentary wedding photo shall reflect the wedding honestly and accurately.
Color-In the post editing, the documentary wedding photographer would not apply too much filter on photos and make it unreal, for instance, changing the photo color theme or muted any color hue.
Composition-the documentary editing trims part of image or recompositing the photos to make the main wedding subjects more eye-catching.
Dramatic
If you like masterpieces during the Baroque period or Martin Scorsese’s moves, you would like Dramatic wedding photography style as well.
What is Dramatic wedding photography style?
The dramatic wedding photography style can be seemed as creative photography. The photos will look significantly different when comparing to the daily life.
Like a magician, the photographer uses special lighting effects to give a plain photo a new life. The light is the key component for a dramatic wedding photographer to give the photo a more immersive feeling. The off-camera lighting skill is one of the essential knowledges to approach a dramatic styled wedding photo.
How do Dramatic wedding photographer shoot on the wedding day?
- Lighting
- Composition
- Props
Lighting– the best time to do dramatic wedding photos will be during the sunrise and the sunset. During that time, the lighting has a wider range of color, the landscape and sky shows a richer color hue, from blue, purple, orange to red. The photographer can use the off camera speedlight to keep rich detailed color captured = and at the same time keeping the bride and groom at the right exposure.
Controlling the backlight is also an essential skill for dramatic wedding photographers. During night photo shoots, the wedding photographer would use off camera light placed behind the bride and groom, the light can illuminate the bride and groom’s silhouette.
Composition– the symmetry composition is the classic composition for dramatic photography. Photographer always bring one wide angle lens to extend the background (historian architecture) in vertical and horizonal lines, the building would then be captured in a drama effect. The bride and groom would look like they are wandering in a 18th century grandeur castle.
Props– A dramatic photographers is also a proper stylist, he can use colorful smoke bombs to bring the vivid color to the images. Also, he can bring some portable props to supplement the wedding theme.
What locations are good for dramatic wedding photo in Melbourne?
The historian building, like Parliament house in Melbourne CBD, Montsalvat in Eltham. Here is a list of the best wedding photo location for dramatic photo shoot.
How do wedding photographers edit the dramatic wedding photo?
The HDR preset is accessible for dramatic photo edit, the preset can emphasize the highlight details as well as the texture in shadow.
By changing the light and contrast, the bride and groom can stand out from the background.
Editorial
When we talk about editorial in wedding photography, the bride always thinks about the bridal model image on the front cover of a trendy fashion magazine.
In contrast to the writers who publish articles in newspaper and magazines, the editorial photographers purely use images to unfold the wedding themes and stories.
What is editorial wedding photography style?
Comparing to traditional and documentary wedding photographer, the editorial photographers think creatively, and his wedding images would reflect the bride and groom lifestyle and personality. To achieve fashion magazine styled photos, the photographers would have a more comprehensive wedding knowledge on stylist, theme and trend.
How do editorial wedding photographers shoot on the wedding day?
To gain high-end editorial photos, the wedding photographer should have a fully understanding of wedding details (wedding color theme, florist arrangement, ceremony and reception décor) as well the couple’s lifestyle and personal touch.
The photographer always arranges a pre-wedding consultation with the bride and groom few weeks before the wedding. The couple show the photographer everything about their wedding, also the photographer provides the couple with some inspirations and ideas on this meeting.
You can feel more engaged with the editorial wedding photographer on your wedding day. The photographer has lots creative idea based on his or her styling sense, they know what the best wedding location is and how to make your getting ready interior look good on the photo.
The editorial wedding photographer has a good knowledge of the interior design as well. On the wedding day, they would normally spend few minutes setting up the bride and groom’s getting ready room, the photo would then look modern and clean with a cleaner background.
The wedding accessories also act as an important element for the editorial wedding photographers, they can set the wedding accessory (shoes, jewelry, invitation card, cufflink, perfume) in an elegant layout.
The light– to achieve a minimalist and modern style of look and feel in the image, the editorial uses the natural light smartly. They keep the wedding vibe bright and fresh. The editorial photographer also uses the speedlight. Comparing to dramatic wedding photographers that use light to create dramatic contrast, the editorial photographers normally uses the flash as a fill light to create softer and dreamy mood.
The pose-the editorial wedding photographer would definitely give you some directions on your wedding day, that is why you pay this money. But it won’t be any cheesy pose, guaranteed.
An editorial wedding photographer won’t ask you to just ‘chin up, chin down’ because that way the couple would feel uncomfortable and frustrated when they get posed too much. The editorial photographer gives more natural and organic directions and they would let couples to do self-movements, so the photo won’t look like staged ones.
What are the best locations for editorial wedding photography?
A conservation in beautiful botanical garden, unknown alley way, inside of Victorian architecture, those unique wedding photo locations can be on your wish list for your editorial wedding photos.
How do wedding photographers edit the editorial wedding photo?
‘Less is more’ would be the motto for the editorial photographers. In the post work, the editing should be almost unnoticeable. A editorial photographer would not apply color too tacky or high contrast lighting in the photos. The wedding photos will look airy and romantic.
Traditional and classic
I’m guessing bride and groom have heard some subjective comments on traditional and classic wedding photography. I’ll let you know the real traditional wedding photography appearance, so you can make a decision to see whether this style suits you.
What is traditional or classic wedding photography style?
The traditional and classic wedding photography tell the same thing. In contrast to the candid wedding photographer to capture the wedding in a natural and candid manner, the traditional wedding concentrates the elegance and classic glamorous portraiture photos.
How does the traditional wedding photographer shoot on your wedding day?
To achieve 100% perfect wedding photos, the traditional wedding photographer spend lots of time controlling the lighting, composition and poses.
Light-It is really common that the traditional wedding photographer use off camera flash or and tungsten spot light to create a glamour mood.
Composition-Traditional wedding photographer try to make the perfect composition by using the rules of thirds. The rule of thirds is one of the most classic compositions. Your photographer will do one or two money photos for this style, but you will feel bored and repetition if too many same composition photos are taken.
Pose-A traditional wedding photographer are always a perfectionist. You will be asked to ‘look at each other’, ‘turn your body little bit this way’ throughout your wedding day. But it is worth to take the perfect classic photos and be framed later in a copper photo frame.
How do wedding photographers edit the traditional wedding photo?
The traditional wedding photography has similar editing style as a dramatic wedding photography. The HDR color filter would be the priority setting for this style.
Who would love the traditional wedding photography?
If you don’t mind to spend time on pose to get money photo to show your friends. Your parents would like the traditional wedding photography because it was their trend when they got married.
So don’t be too panic when you heard the traditional wedding photography style, there are still lots of couples who would follow this style. Also, the photographer tag them as a contemporary wedding photographer use at least one or two traditional photography skills on the wedding day and will be nurtured the knowledge from the classic wedding photo technique.
Aerial wedding photography
Thanks for the promising technology (drone UAVs) developing in the recent 5 to 10 years, the aerial wedding photography become practicable on wedding day along with the portable size of drones.
Where we can take aerial wedding photography in Melbourne?
It is the first question that the wedding couple sand photographers shall keep in mind. As the Austrian Drone Regulation and CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) clearly claim that the drone must keep 30 meters from other people. So that means you need to check whether the area can use drone before the wedding. The clear regulation is here.
You could also download the CASA- drone safety apps to get idea where you are allowed to use drone to take the aerial wedding photography.
In a nutshell, the location like the seaside resort, the private farm and open spaces are ideal to have the aerial photography.
The good places to have an aerial wedding photography in Melbourne.
- Mornington peninsula
- Yarra valley
P.S. the national park is not allowed to use drone.
When do you use the drone?
In CASA regulation says that the drones are only allowed to fly during the day, so photographer can use drone for night shoot.
In practice, the drone can fly in a good weather, it is not advisable to use in a strong windy or rainy day.
How much does aerial wedding photography cost?
In most circumstances, the main wedding photographer need to ask his second shoot to use drone, the cost would be $500-$800 in Melbourne. You could contact us to get a price for aerial photography service.
When does aerial wedding photography excel?
Generally, the drone is good at shooting a wide angle to capture the landscape, for instance wedding location and your wedding venue.
There is no close-up shot for aerial photography because the CASA rule-keep the drone 30 meters away from people.
I am guessing you have heard more buzz work for wedding photography style in Melbourne. In fact, lots of descriptions on wedding photography genres are basically same thing. Like documentary is photojournalist, the candid wedding photography equals to natural wedding photography.
There is no ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’, ‘old school’ or ‘modern’ wedding photography. We like the Leonardo Da Vinci’ oil painting and we also like Andy Warhol’s pop art-.
After reading my blog, you have some idea which wedding photography suit you, then next step you could send few enquire to get the wedding photography package, if you want to get more inspiration, you could read our ultimate wedding photography guide in here.
