From capturing classic poses and wedding day moments to exquisite details, traditional wedding photography methods have stood the test of time. And we don’t see them ever going out of style. While some couples like to hop on the ‘trends train’ when it comes to wedding photography styles, others still prefer traditional wedding photographs, as they make for timeless wedding photos. In this blog we explore this photography style and share some tips and inspiration that could help you create beautiful traditional wedding photos for your couples.
What Is Traditional Wedding Photography?
Traditional photography involves taking posed or staged photos of the couple, their family, friends, and other essential guests. Typically, such wedding photos have everyone looking directly into the camera lens and posing in a certain way. Traditional wedding photographers usually guide their subjects to sit or stand in a specific location or against a specific backdrop during solo and group pictures.
A proven trick to take traditional wedding photography shots is to keep things simple and document important events during a wedding, such as a ring exchange, kiss at the altar, cake cutting, first dance, group pictures, couples portraits, and other classic wedding day moments.
Traditional Wedding Photography Ideas & Tips
If your clients desire simple wedding photographs that capture all the significant moments, then traditional wedding photography might be what they’re looking for. And while this style may be classic, it doesn’t have to be boring. These tips could help you deliver exactly what they want.
1. Plan And Prepare
Effective communication is essential to make wedding photography a success, both for you as a photographer and your couple. Explain to your clients what traditional photography means and the type of photos you will be taking. It’s best to discuss with the couple and then decide which types of traditional wedding pictures they would like. It could be anything ranging from couples portraits, fine detail shots, group photos, etc. You can also ask the couple to suggest any special moments that they want documented during the wedding.
Suggested Read: Top Wedding Photography Skills To Learn And Master
2. Curate A Wedding Photography Timeline
Weddings are a rollercoaster of events, so ensure you capture every moment without impacting the schedule. Creating a wedding photography timeline with a must-have wedding photos list could help with that. Weddings take place at different times and places, with various people, moods, etc. So, it is important to understand why, where, and when you need to be present.
Work with your couple and curate a photography timeline for their wedding day. Also, remind them to make their VIPs aware of this schedule and know where they have to be and at what time. Here is a traditional wedding photos list that you can use or tweak according to your/your couple’s preference:
- Couples portraits outside the church/after the ceremony
- Family group shots
- Photo with bride’s/groom’s parents
- Photo with bride’s/groom’s siblings or cousins
- Couple with grandparents
- Bride/groom with each parent privately
- Wedding party portraits
- Friends group photos
- Couple with entire wedding party
Related Read: The Ultimate Wedding Photography Preparation Checklist
3. Capture The Wedding Day In Sequence
Traditional wedding photography involves capturing all the important wedding moments as they happen, so you can design a wedding photo album chronologically. From the couple getting ready to the ceremony and reception – keep an eye out for special moments that your couple may want to frame after receiving their wedding photos and prints.
4. Give Some Direction
It is common for couples to feel self-conscious in front of the camera. But as the wedding photographer, you could help them get comfortable and confident with just some directions. Guide them through poses, such as standing close together, hands on the hips, or a classic dip kiss pose. By capturing a combination of traditional wedding photography poses fused with your own creative posing ideas, you can deliver photographs that are both timeless and unique.
Also, if you’re shooting with a large group, it’s good to crack jokes to lighten the mood and get people in the frame laughing and smiling. It helps the couple relax, and yields perfectly posed wedding photos with natural emotions.
Read More: Posing Techniques: Bridesmaids & Groomsmen
5. Keep It Simple
It’s important to be patient with your clients and strictly stick to traditional wedding photo poses if they’ve requested a traditional wedding photography approach. Instead of asking your couple and their guests to pose in a certain way, you could simply ask them to give their best smile while looking into the camera (P.S – don’t forget to cue the famous “say cheese!” phrase. It’s a classic way to get those 1000-volt smiles).
If you think something is missing in the photograph, do not hesitate to ask the group or couple to pose for another shot. Also, ensure that everyone is looking into the camera and capture as many traditional wedding moments as possible.
Traditional Wedding Photography Inspiration
1. Breonna Wells Photography
2. Robb McCormick Photography
3. Taylor Kemp Photography
4. Brandi Allyse Photo
5. Erin Morrison Photography
Traditional wedding photography is a great choice for capturing the essence of a couple’s wedding day. This photography style still creates some of the most classic and timeless wedding photographs despite today’s more modern and trendy photography styles. Through communication with your couple, curating a wedding timeline, taking photos in sequence, and giving some simple posing directions, you can achieve stunning results that will provide a lifetime of treasured memories for your couple.
Further Read: Posing Your Couples
At ShootDotEdit, we are passionate about helping you grow your wedding photography business. A part of how we do that is by lessening your post-production workload with our professional photo editing services. To learn more about how we can help your wedding photography business, check out our pricing plans.