Lisa and Lynn

bdcolen

sweet caroline

I love the shot on the stairs and the hands.

bdcolen

Thanks, Caroline

Qarik

Not bad for an old guy! As I expected no formal bridal shots and all that,,good PJ style. The hand shot is great.

bdcolen

There are some groups, and portraits, Quarik, just not posted.;-) Also, I don't do PJ or documentary style weddings - I do documentary weddings; there's a difference.

divamum

I love these - wonderful catches of emotion and being "in the moment" of the experience. I also LOVE that lace dress!!

bdcolen

Thanks, Divamum - Wasn't that gorgeous? As was that bride, who to my eye had a very 50's model look.

Matthew Saville

bdcolen wrote: »

There are some groups, and portraits, Quarik, just not posted.;-) Also, I don't do PJ or documentary style weddings - I do documentary weddings; there's a difference.

What then do you think is the difference between "PJ or documentary style" and "documentary"? Just curious...

bdcolen

"PJ or Documentary style" wedding photography involves making traditional wedding photography look like pj/documentary photography. Much of it is posed, and most of it has little or nothing to do with the documentary/pj ethos. What I do is document weddings. I tell my brides that I simply will be there for their day. I will not create a Cinderella version of their day. What is, is. If they insist I group shots, I tell them to select a cat herder, pull the people into groups, and I will shoot them. No fancy arrangements, no goofy poses. Just bam; next. And then back to the wedding. (Yes, I have on rare occasion set up something silly, simply because it was too good to resist. But that really is not what I do.) As I tell brides, if Mom and Dad are divorced, and Dad brings his girl friend and Mom freaks out, I will shoot that. If, as was the case once, the bride throws up all over her dress, I will photograph that. If the couple want a book, I will not include the Mom brawl or the vomit in the book, but I will give them the images.
But I will not screw around with color balance and saturation. I will not do HDR scenes. I will not create things. What is, is. And so I shoot a limited number of weddings each year because I need clients who understand and appreciate traditional documentary photography, not simply people who want wedding photography that looks like something else. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :-)

Matthew Saville

bdcolen wrote: »

"PJ or Documentary style" wedding photography involves making traditional wedding photography look like pj/documentary photography. Much of it is posed, and most of it has little or nothing to do with the documentary/pj ethos. What I do is document weddings. I tell my brides that I simply will be there for their day. I will not create a Cinderella version of their day. What is, is. If they insist I group shots, I tell them to select a cat herder, pull the people into groups, and I will shoot them. No fancy arrangements, no goofy poses. Just bam; next. And then back to the wedding. (Yes, I have on rare occasion set up something silly, simply because it was too good to resist. But that really is not what I do.) As I tell brides, if Mom and Dad are divorced, and Dad brings his girl friend and Mom freaks out, I will shoot that. If, as was the case once, the bride throws up all over her dress, I will photograph that. If the couple want a book, I will not include the Mom brawl or the vomit in the book, but I will give them the images.
But I will not screw around with color balance and saturation. I will not do HDR scenes. I will not create things. What is, is. And so I shoot a limited number of weddings each year because I need clients who understand and appreciate traditional documentary photography, not simply people who want wedding photography that looks like something else. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :-)

I see. I feel just as passionate as you do about documenting weddings from a photojournalistic perspective. If a bride asked me to do nothing but shoot what I see, then I'd be thrilled. However neither do I restrict myself. I shoot an HDR if I have to. If I see a gorgeous scene and I know there's not a chance in the world the couple will ever just randomly happen to enter that scene, I ask for the shot. To me, there is something just as beautiful about "creation" as there is about simply "seeing"...

bdcolen

I'm not judging, Mathew, just answering your question. I do not create scenes because those created scenes cross the line from non-fiction to fiction, and I am not a photographic novelist. Similarly, I don't do HDR. When I shot Lisa and Lynn's wedding the event planner at the venue proudly pointed to the hooks where I could hang their wedding dress - I thanked her and shot them where they were Lisa and Lynn had chosen to hang their dresses, capturing the setting and dresses as they were. Similarly, when she pulled me aside to tell me about a courtyard that makes an ideal setting for posing the brides, I politely thanked her and went back to shooting the wedding - and have numerous gorgeous portraits of the brides. And when all was said and done, Lisa said "AH-MAZ-ING! I am so happy with them!!!." And Lynn then put a https://www.facebook.com/lzlotkowski/media_set?set=a.676150013311.1073741826.52002045&type=1"]gallery of 154 of the photos online with a link to my website.
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But is the market for what I do limited? Sadly, yes.