What is Documentary Style Wedding Photography & Why Do You Want It?
As wedding photographers, how we approach capturing a wedding day is integral to our process. Ultimately, we believe that everyone is unique and every love story is worth telling, so we come to a wedding with the sole objective of observing and telling the beautiful story that is unfolding as it is. This is why documentary style wedding photography is our bread and butter. We really believe and trust that there are so many moments worthy of documenting and remembering. Often it's more about observing and waiting and watching carefully to catch those unrepeatable, amazing moments that together tell the story. Documentary style wedding photography allows us to have evidence of the way life was lived in that moment, and that is the most worthwhile for us!
Our experience and evolution as photographers has informed our love and passion for documentary style wedding photography. Glen started photographing weddings in 2011, we started We are the Richards in 2015 capturing weddings together, and it wasn’t until about 2020 that we really settled into the groove of documentary style for our weddings.
Erica Dietz, a friend and photographer we absolutely admire, helped us recognize that what we were doing is documentary style. We didn’t realize that that was what we did until she helped us see it, as a fellow documentary style photographer.
Something that traditional wedding photography isn’t able to capture that documentary style wedding photography can are the little, in between moments. Especially when it comes to the guests! The love story is, of course, about the two people getting married, but they also invited all of the people that they care most for. Being able to show the joy and the fun of the people that they love and they often miss on the day of their wedding because they are busy getting married is such a gift. One of our couples recently told us in a review: "The photos turned out incredible, and they even captured numerous moments we either forgot about or missed, which made going through the final gallery so heartwarming."
As a pair, we are able to achieve this in a way other photographers often cannot. We are both so deeply interested in providing this documentary experience and we fully trust each other to be capturing the moments and the in-between moments, even when we’re not together. There are times where one of us is with the couple and one of us is observing the guests. This is different from having a lead photographer and a hired hand as a second photographer as we are both lead photographers. We work so closely together and know each other so well, that we’re aware of what the other is capturing, allowing us to get the appropriate companion photographs. It’s a unique aspect to working with a husband and wife team like us that our clients all benefit from!
Some people want to be able to have really incredible photos of their wedding, but they don't want the experience of their wedding to be about "taking photos." That is something we are super great at! We love working with people who aren’t concerned about Pinterest perfect poses or recreating or copying or fabricating false moments. Documentary style wedding photography really is all about valuing presence and being all in in the moment.
So if you are someone who is looking for their wedding story to be told in a beautiful and artful way, reach out! We’d love to work with you and capture your love through our documentary style wedding photography.