Take a close look at photos of your grandparents or great grandparents from the early 1900’s, they are typically formal images, still, and devoid of emotion Why? Back in their day, film was not as sensitive as in modern times and longer shutter speeds were needed to create an image. When “making” a photograph, the photographer would instruct their subject to be still, hence the “stern” looking images of that time.

Photography has changed so much over the years, photographers at the turn of last century could not have imagined the world of photography in 2011.

I fell in love with photography more than 30 years ago, I remember discussions about photos I would have with my uncle himself a keen photographer. I would visit him and the family in Sydney in my school holidays, borrow his  Pentax K1000 and bag of prime lenses and go and do “street photography” with slide film. A drop off at the end of the day to an overnight processing service and the next evening, we would have a ” slide night” (if you are over 40, you will have memories of the dreaded family slide night, they typically went on and on). We would chat about the images I captured, composition, exposures and  the human condition displayed in my images. I was 14, catching trains, walking everywhere else, photographing around Kings Cross, the city and surrounding suburbs. Thinking about this in the 2011 world we live in, I shudder. Would I let my son do this today….I don’t think so!

I quickly fell in love with capturing the moment documenting “the human condition”. Now more than 30 years and hundreds of thousands of images later, capturing real moments is still a passion and has formed the cornerstone of my Brisbane based wedding photography business.

So just what is photojournalism or documentary wedding photography? My view is that as a documentary photographer, your role is to tell the story of the wedding day, capturing moments in a non-interventionist way. The day is not about you, your ego, how many awards you have won or the car you drive, it is about the bride and groom and the relationship they have.

You might think capturing moments sounds easy, people say to me that’s a big camera it must be able to take good photos but it can’t see moments, I do!  Go try it for yourself, grab a camera and have a go. When most people see a camera, their natural instinct is to freeze up or put on their “I’m uncomfortable in front of a camera  face”.  The skilled photographer interested in people has the ability to help people relax and stop feeling self conscious.

I reckon to be a successful wedding photographer you need to be a master of people skills and a master of photography in equal portions.  People need to trust you, feel reassured and be comfortable around you, with this trust, you can then capture amazing moments… if you can see them unfolding before your eyes. Sadly, many photographers don’t take the time to see and feel, instead following their own preconceived scripted posing routines day-in, day-out.

Probably about 80% of what I capture at a wedding, is in the photojournalistic, candid or documentary style. Almost without exception, prospective clients say to me when we meet in my studio that they want “natural, spontaneous images without a lot of posing”. I love this as it is my preferred style; of course we always include some more structured images, you know the full length happy family photos the every mum has to have and gorgeous glamorous images of each bride and her man.

Why do I love the photojournalistic documentary style so much? Thats easy to answer, it (and my images) communicate feelings, strength of relationships and connect people. How good is that!

Want to learn more about documentary photography, next time you are in a coffee shop, do some people watching, and observe the moments on show, you will be amazed.  You can do this without your camera and it costs nothing but a cup of coffee.

You might also want to come to an upcoming Reyment Unplugged Photography Seminar on documentary photography and follow Documentary Wedding Photography Brisbane on Facebook.