The history of wedding photography started with the traditional style approach from its roots in painted portraits. This is the style that you’ve probably seen time and time again offered by a variety of photographers.
Examples of this style are carefully posed photographs of the key moments. Sometimes the photographs are taken in advance or after the event. The benefits of this approach are that traditional photographers usually use a planned “shot list”, in order to get all the important images. When this style is chosen exclusively the photographer virtually becomes a “wedding official,” directing the wedding party and guests according to a pre-planned list.
This “wedding album” look is attractive, but common. We recommend this to couples that value posed photographs of their family and friends but if they also want to see emotions then we suggest a mix of styles.
Traditional style of wedding photography show bridal parties in the best possible light. Having the ability to tell the people about facial expressions, hand jesters and positioning them for the best composition based on input from the bridal party and an experienced photographer yields great results.
Unfortunately the traditional photography approach can become a hassle and halt the flow of the wedding; furthermore the mood of the event can be lost in the photographs that do not really tell the story of the day. Some may say it slows things down but a well-organized photographer will keep the flow going.