informal wedding photography

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An integral part of my photography on a wedding day is documentary. Although I ensure to get the “must have” shots and some timeless couple shots my preference is to let the day flow as much as possible and work in the background. It’s those little unseen interactions, laughs, tears etc. that make the photos extra special and black & white is so suited to documentary style as your eye isn’t distracted by colours and you focus in on the emotions.

See below for a very small selection of my documentary style.

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Megan & Paddy travelled from New York to celebrate their big day with family and friends at the wonderful Lough Rynn Castle. From start to finish this was such a laid back & fun day, the castles grounds provided the perfect backdrop for photos and we still had plenty of time to mingle before the meal call.

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Had a great time at Bloomfield House with Ciara & Aaron. They wanted a laid back and unfussed day with plenty of time to mingle with their guests and, despite the heavy rain, it didn’t dampen spirits with lots of smiles & laughs from start to finish.

After the meal, the clouds parted for a short while and we took a risk and headed down to the lake and were rewarded with some fabulous light before the showers rolled in again.

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Capture the moment is an often overused photography expression, but it describes documentary/reportage photography perfectly. These are fleeting moments, missed by many but, thanks to photography now captured forever. The day goes by so fast for each couple, it’s nice to be able to look back on those little interactions, laughs, tears & hugs that they missed or went so quickly they had forgotten about.

My style on the day is to try keep everything as documentary as possible, whereas I still get all those “must have” shots and am more than happy to try get specific shots wanted by each couple, I prefer a fly on the wall approach and capturing the day as it unfolds.

I also prefer most of my documentary shots to be in Black & White – the viewer is not distracted by colours and the focus is on the moment. Colour versions are always available if required !!

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Three sisters, three weddings !! As with all wedding suppliers, good reviews are our lifeblood, but even better are recommendations to friends or family. I figure I must be doing something right as after Siobhan received her photos her sister Ciara quickly got in touch (a big fan of relaxed photos !!) followed by their other sister Paula. It was so lovely to shoot all the weddings (each one different from the next) and spend time with such a lovely family.

Even better, starting with Siobhan, due to recommendations to their group of friends, I shot another 13 weddings (at last count). I should be paying the Fannings commission !!!!

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Aileen & Colms wedding took me away over to the Wild Atlantic Way, I had shot in the Diamond Coast but never visited Aughris and it’s always good to have a first !! I will definitely call back to Aughris, the Beach Bar was an absolute gem of a place.

Their brief was easy, lots of documentary style, fly on the wall photography of people having fun & enjoying their day, just my style so I was in my element.

From the moment I arrived till I left after the dancing I was made feel so much at home, at times I felt more like a guest than a photographer.

I was delighted to hear back from Aileen & Colm recently and so happy that they were so pleased with their photos.