Candid Style Photographer???

GastroBoy

Hi,

Does anyone know or have experience of a candid, photo journalistic style wedding photographer.
Been to a few weddings now and I'm fed with with photographers setting up shots with people jumping in the air, pretending to be in rugby scrums etc...
No offense to anyone who has had that, its just not my cup of tea.

Many thanks in advance, GB

Acoshla

Just to make it easier to find them that natural style is called reportage photography.

GastroBoy

Acoshla wrote: »

Just to make it easier to find them that natural style is called reportage photography.

Thats good to know, thank you!:)

To be honest, I'm pretty sure most (any) photographer will cut out the posed shots for you, if you request them to.

Posing people can be the hardest part of photography in general (in my opinion), if you take that aspect out of it I'd imagine most pros will happily do your wedding void of poses (but ask yourself, do you REALLY want to not have any posed shots? In 10-20 years time, if you dust off the album and take a flick through, are you gonna say "ah, i wish i did get a few like that).

Worth thinking about.

Acoshla

I know at least one photographer who refuses to cut out posed shots, very old fashioned, set in his ways, and quite frankly a horrible person to deal with, very bossy towards guests and the couple. A couple of posed ones are fine for looking back on but more than that is just boring.

lazygal

We had Magda Lukas (based in Cork but travels). We requested some posed shots for our parents, but these were the bare minimum and she just took reportage shots on the day. Would highly recommend based on the style, quality and price of the service. She won't do any posed shots if you don't fancy them, in fact she prefers to do her own thing. Have also heard very good things about Give Us a Goo photography.

Sleepy

Do remember: a huge amount of reportage photography is luck.

Yes, there's skill to it, mainly being extremely observant, patient and fast with your camera but no matter how observant and quick you are, there are only so many times during a day when a couple will naturally be well-lit, both holding flattering posture with nice smiles etc.

As an amateur, I do reportage style photos at pretty much every wedding I go to. Some have been outstanding, there's been a few times the brides have preferred my pictures to some of the professional ones but sometimes you just don't get the shots, whether it's because you don't see them, you're not quick enough to adjust your camera settings (shouldn't be the case for a pro though tbh), someone happens to wander into your frame / you don't notice something awful in the background etc or simply some couples are more photogenic than others. Even on my best days, I've managed maybe 10 - 20 shots I'm 100% happy with. Sure, a professional will have a higher hit rate than me but they may just get unlucky at your wedding.

I'd always advise at least getting some posed shots. You don't need to do anything OTT or that you find clichéd maybe even just go to the main bar of the hotel and sit and banter with the photographer for a bit / allow the photographer to be a fly on the wall for some of your private moments together during the day with permission to ask you to hold a particular pose or to suggest you stand 'slightly to the left' etc.

LisaLee

We've booked Phil Voon at Give us a Goo photography, he specialises in reportage photography. Definitely worth a look.

Rew

Were using www.kohweddings.com there both photo journalists in fact one of them just won journalist of the year.

lily09

lazygal wrote: »

We had Magda Lukas (based in Cork but travels). We requested some posed shots for our parents, but these were the bare minimum and she just took reportage shots on the day. Would highly recommend based on the style, quality and price of the service. She won't do any posed shots if you don't fancy them, in fact she prefers to do her own thing. Have also heard very good things about Give Us a Goo photography.

We have also her booked for our wedding. She did the most beautiful work for a friend of mine. I mainly would like reportage but feel there is a couple posed ones that will be needed, family ones for the granny to hang on the wall you know what I mean!

P.s her website (if i allowed to post is www.momentsandmemories.com

lily09

lily09 wrote: »

P.s her website (if i allowed to post is www.momentsandmemories.ie

The only photos I can see on that site are on the main page (like a slideshow of images?), and the vast majority of them look posed (I seen two that looked candid).




When people here are saying they don't want posed shots, are they actually saying "I do want posed shots, but I just don't want to be running at the camera or jumping in the air shots"?

Just very curious now (as people so far have recommended that woman on her ability to produce natural/candid photographs, yet they all look posed, so I'm a bit confused, to be completely honest. Unless there are more photographs on the site that I can't see?).

lazygal

Deleted User wrote: »

The only photos I can see on that site are on the main page (like a slideshow of images?), and the vast majority of them look posed (I seen two that looked candid).




When people here are saying they don't want posed shots, are they actually saying "I do want posed shots, but I just don't want to be running at the camera or jumping in the air shots"?

Just very curious now (as people so far have recommended that woman on her ability to produce natural/candid photographs, yet they all look posed, so I'm a bit confused, to be completely honest. Unless there are more photographs on the site that I can't see?).

We saw a lot of her albums before we booked her. We also had her for our wedding last year. We did some posed shots (at our specific request for our parents and some for us) and the rest of the shots from getting ready to out first dance were unposed. If you meet with her to consider booking she'll show you a full range of her work and explain how her style worked. I think we spent about 15 minutes on posed shots on the wedding day, the rest of the time we hardly noticed her in action.

annersinoz

Hi, we have booked Phillip Bourke from Cork. He is travelling to Waterford for our wedding.

http://philipbourke.com/

We really liked the look of his work and i think the FAQ are very funny as you can see one of his comments is that he wont have you peeking around trees with so called posing!

He could be the type of photographer you are looking for and reasonably priced too!

annersinoz

annersinoz wrote: »

Hi, we have booked Phillip Bourke from Cork. He is travelling to Waterford for our wedding.

http://philipbourke.com/

We really liked the look of his work and i think the FAQ are very funny as you can see one of his comments is that he wont have you peeking around trees with so called posing!

He could be the type of photographer you are looking for and reasonably priced too!

I just read that FAQ page. What a horrible thing to put on a site. Fair enough if he doesn't like the overly posed shots, that's grand, to each their own, but he's practically belittling everyone else who actually might, dare I say it, like that stuff.

I've never been one for the "peek around the tree" look myself, but I'd happily do it as best I could if it were requested of me. The Bride/Groom are the bosses, not the photographer.


Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that he has to tell people he doesn't do candid stuff, but surely a line saying "I do not do any posed photographs" would be better than trying to imply that photographers who do posed shots are going to give bad images ("...the couple look so awkward in the subsequent photographs. I was horrified...").


I'd agree with him that awards and such aren't much use in photography. His portfolio seems pretty good, too, but I do find his FAQ page way over the top.

I’ve seen photographers getting the wedding guests to wave their hands at the end of the ceremony, what’s that all about?

That’s common filler material for the very lazy and bog standard wedding photographer.

I've never seen that done myself, but dear lord, what a horrible thing to write! Pretty much a case of "If you don't like what I like then you're wrong".

Maybe he's just trying to be funny or sarcastic, but if I were a bride and I had a few posed images in my head, I think i'd feel borderline insulted having read that.

Borderfox

I actually enjoyed the faq on his site, gives a good explanation of what he does and I would imagine its there to get exactly the clients he wants.

Reportage photography isnt luck also, its about experience and knowing where to place yourself along with the eye and technical expertise to capture whats on front of you.

Deleted User wrote: »

I just read that FAQ page. What a horrible thing to put on a site. Fair enough if he doesn't like the overly posed shots, that's grand, to each their own, but he's practically belittling everyone else who actually might, dare I say it, like that stuff.

I've never been one for the "peek around the tree" look myself, but I'd happily do it as best I could if it were requested of me. The Bride/Groom are the bosses, not the photographer.


Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that he has to tell people he doesn't do candid stuff, but surely a line saying "I do not do any posed photographs" would be better than trying to imply that photographers who do posed shots are going to give bad images ("...the couple look so awkward in the subsequent photographs. I was horrified...").


I'd agree with him that awards and such aren't much use in photography. His portfolio seems pretty good, too, but I do find his FAQ page way over the top.




I've never seen that done myself, but dear lord, what a horrible thing to write! Pretty much a case of "If you don't like what I like then you're wrong".

Maybe he's just trying to be funny or sarcastic, but if I were a bride and I had a few posed images in my head, I think i'd feel borderline insulted having read that.

annersinoz

I personally enjoyed his FAQ too which is one of the reasons that i picked up the phone and called him and ended up booking him for our wedding!

i think you really do need to not take it too seriously and i think there is a hint of sarcasm and humour! I spoke to him and he was polite, happy to discuss what we want but also to the point explaining how he does work. Of course he will take some family photos but as he mentions there are over and done in 15 minutes. Reportage photography is not for everyone but i think his works speaks for itself!

Borderfox

Borderfox wrote: »

I actually enjoyed the faq on his site, gives a good explanation of what he does and I would imagine its there to get exactly the clients he wants.

Reportage photography isnt luck also, its about experience and knowing where to place yourself along with the eye and technical expertise to capture whats on front of you.

Definitely a style of photography that requires a lot of effort and a very keen eye for composition, but who is he to say that guests waving is only done by a photographer who is "lazy and bog standard"?

As I say, I've never seen the 'guests waving' thing done myself, but what if you were a bride who wanted that shot (or who already had it and really liked it)?

I'd feel very uncomfortable hiring someone who comes across so stern and opinionated. Is he gonna start going on about how 'bog standard' the videographer you hired is because he's doing something that's been done before, too?

Gatica

There was definitely a hint of humour to the FAQ, however some of the answers in it did sound condescending to me.
He does seem confident in his work, and there may be good reason to it, but he's also looking down on the way that many photographers work. The reason that so many shots are "bog standard" is because many people actually like that, that's what has made it standard in the first place.
(It's like pop music, if it wasn't popular and many people didn't like it, it wouldn't have been pop. Simple as.)

deskgirl

We've booked IG Stidios for our wedding. Love their style and will only do the small amount of posed shoots that we want on the day.

Borderfox

I would presume that his opinion, everybody is entitled to it and especially if its your website. I wouldnt read into it as stern and opinionated and I would assume he would be professional enough to work with the videographer you have chosen.

If you want to put on your website I only want clients that want the shakey hand at the end of the wedding shots then you are free to. (I know you wouldnt but thats the point)

Deleted User wrote: »

Definitely a style of photography that requires a lot of effort and a very keen eye for composition, but who is he to say that guests waving is only done by a photographer who is "lazy and bog standard"?

As I say, I've never seen the 'guests waving' thing done myself, but what if you were a bride who wanted that shot (or who already had it and really liked it)?

I'd feel very uncomfortable hiring someone who comes across so stern and opinionated. Is he gonna start going on about how 'bog standard' the videographer you hired is because he's doing something that's been done before, too?

Borderfox

Borderfox wrote: »

I would presume that his opinion, everybody is entitled to it and especially if its your website. I wouldnt read into it as stern and opinionated and I would assume he would be professional enough to work with the videographer you have chosen.

If you want to put on your website I only want clients that want the shakey hand at the end of the wedding shots then you are free to. (I know you wouldnt but thats the point)

Ah I agree, let him do as he feels. Personally, I couldn't care less what he writes on his website (so long as it's not about me ).

I do just think that he's making a mistake by having anything on his site that could be interpreted as mean spirited, condescending, insulting etc. even if it's not intentional.

(There's no FAQ or About page on my site for this reason. When/if I do put one up, it'll be the bare bones).

Tigger

We used Gina here

http://www.clique.ie/index.php

very happy with the shots

moco

Have a look at Peter rowen's website.

Mylow

I like this guys wedding photo's

http://www.davidjduignan.com/weddings

My better half runs a flower shop so she is shown lots of photo's from brides to show how flowers looked in photo's

Shivers26

Our wedding photography was pretty much all reportage style with a few posed shots (for the mammy's) that we specifically requested. We were just told to ignore the photographers and they went about their business.

www.peterjosephpictures.com

SilverBullet

Hi,
Presently trying to get a photographer for our wedding, Cameron Boardman has been recommended as a good candid style photographer, website is good too.

Ed

Shivers26 wrote: »

Our wedding photography was pretty much all reportage style with a few posed shots (for the mammy's) that we specifically requested. We were just told to ignore the photographers and they went about their business.

www.peterjosephpictures.com

PCPhoto

Silverbullet

if KOH weddings are the two guys that I think they are then I would recommend them - I work as a press photographer and so do the two lads.

Both are very accomplished and recognised photographers - the one thing that I noticed is that they dont have a pricing or surnames on the website (not that I could find) ....both regularly feature in the awards night for the PPAI (Press photographers Association of Ireland)

..... might get the fiancee to drop them an email and see what prices/packages they offer (without letting them know I know them) .... I'm getting married August 2013.

Rew

PCPhoto wrote: »

Silverbullet

if KOH weddings are the two guys that I think they are then I would recommend them - I work as a press photographer and so do the two lads.

Both are very accomplished and recognised photographers - the one thing that I noticed is that they dont have a pricing or surnames on the website (not that I could find) ....both regularly feature in the awards night for the PPAI (Press photographers Association of Ireland)

..... might get the fiancee to drop them an email and see what prices/packages they offer (without letting them know I know them) .... I'm getting married August 2013.

They were our photographers (my brother is press as well) and there brilliant. Great guys to work with and fantastic photographers. Our engagement shoot
is going to be on a wedding site tomorrow, ill post up the link when it goes live. We don't have the wedding shots back yet but i'm expecting great things after the engagement shoot.

Here is a taster of the engagement shoot:

http://www.kohweddings.com/2012/04/24/pre-wedding-portraits-ireland/

Rew

Here is our preshoot with KOH, One Fab Day featured it today:

http://onefabday.com/circus-engagement-koh-wedding/

Shivers26

Rew wrote: »

Here is our preshoot with KOH, One Fab Day featured it today:

http://onefabday.com/circus-engagement-koh-wedding/

Cool pictures. I love the ones in the circus ring.

I went to school with that clown

Rew

Shivers26 wrote: »

Cool pictures. I love the ones in the circus ring.

I went to school with that clown

Edward, really nice guy!