The bride helps the ring bearer with his boutonniere.

Half the fun of photographing a wedding is capturing candid moments. This is the bride helping the ring bearer with his buttone . . . . his boutonai . . . . his flower!

Wedding photography has changed a lot over the last several decades. I have a wedding photography book from 1980 that says nothing about candid photos until the chapter on the reception. The bulk of the big is about setting up the posed portraits of the bride, groom, attendants, and family, along with a list of the traditional “must have” ceremony photos and how to capture them.

Fast forward to a 2000 wedding photography book which is mostly about candid photos and the photojournalistic style. The wedding is treated more like a “news” event with moment by moment photo coverage. Some wedding photographers advertise themselves as “Wedding Photojournalists”. Personally, I love wedding candids.

In my experience, most couples like a mixture of both. Even if the couple asks for a photojournalistic wedding, in almost every wedding I am at the families want some posed formal portraits, especially if there are family members present that are rarely all together at one time.