Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming nuptials!

You’re probably in the process of making some very difficult decisions about the biggest day of your life so we want to make choosing your photographer and photography style a little easier. Many wedding photographers in Ireland are offering a new concept in wedding photography called reportage photography. Here’s why we favour reportage photography for your wedding photographs.

What is Reportage Photography?

Reportage Photography is a specific style of wedding photography that focuses on telling the story of your day. It allows you to enjoy your entire day with your guests without sacrificing a gorgeous wedding album. When you think of wedding photos, it’s usually against a beautiful background with the bride and groom surrounded by their respective parties and smiling brightly. Reportage photography tends to be a more natural style. The photos aren’t posed or directed so your photo album will reflect the feel of your day in a more unique way.

What are the differences between directed and natural photography?

While posed photographs are a great addition to the mantelpiece, they don’t accurately reflect what you were feeling or doing on the day. When you choose reportage photography, your photographer doesn’t tell you where to go or how to stand. It allows you to fully enjoy your day with your guests in the most natural manner and your photographer will be behind the scenes capturing the most special moments without getting the way of your fun.

Benefits of Reportage Photography

Natural, unposed photos of your wedding day means you can relive the fun and excitement of your big day when looking through your wedding album. Looking at a picture of you and your other half sharing a warm smile or your parents becoming genuinely emotional watching you walk up the aisle will be so much more meaningful than a directed picture.

A common complaint from wedding couples is that they don’t get time to enjoy the reception after the ceremony as they are pulled away for a couple of hours to take photos. When you choose reportage photography the photographer mixes with your guests, taking pictures in an unobtrusive way and capturing your organic movements through your friends and family.

When you choose this type of wedding photography, you are trusting your photographer completely. You need to decide if this style is right for you and let him or her get among the action of your wedding without interrupting what’s naturally happening. It a much less structured way of capturing your wedding day.

Who is it suitable for?

Almost all wedding couples have at least one partner who is camera shy or feels awkward looking straight into a camera lens. That’s where the real skill of a reportage photographer comes into play. The unobtrusive style means you shouldn’t even notice the photos being taken. This takes away the dread of having to stand and pose over and over again and removes the feeling of self-consciousness that can sometimes cast a dark cloud over your day.

It’s ideal for those wanting to look and feel their best on their big day. After hair and make up do their magic, the natural radiance of a beautiful bride or a proud groom will come from within. It’s a lot easier to capture a person’s natural beauty when you’re not forcing them to stand in a certain way or smile on command. Reportage photography captures that all-important spark of joy from the happy couple on their big day.

It’s also a great way to capture events and feeling you may not have been able to experience in person on the day. You may have missed the special moments between Mam and Dad, Aunts and Uncles entertaining little ones or your flower girls admiring their pretty dresses in the other room. Allowing your photographer to move freely through your wedding giving them the opportunity to capture these special moments to complete your magical story.

Reportage photography can be complemented by a short, directed photoshoot for your wedding party and family so you can get the best of both worlds. If you are interested in learning more about reportage photography or want to book a wedding photographer in Ireland, Photographic Memory are happy to discuss your needs for your big day. Fill in our short contact form to learn more.

Author: My name is Tadhg Nathan and I am a wedding photographer at Photographic Memory. Ireland’s Top Reportage Wedding Photographer. Photography for me is all about connection, presence, emotion and memory.