Destination Wedding Photographers Simplified
Destination wedding photographers is new buzzword in the wedding industry, just like destination weddings. There are few celebrations more enjoyable than a destination wedding in a beautiful location. We have elaborated why you should have a destination wedding in this piece here. But do you need a destination wedding photographer when you are having a destination wedding? How are destination wedding photographers different from regular wedding photographers? Is it just a buzzword and nothing beyond that?
First lets take a look at the casual definition of a Destination Wedding Photographer.
A destination wedding photographer is one who has had experience shooting weddings across destinations, and has a good portfolio showcasing destination wedding photographs. Most likely the destination wedding photographer will have a candid or a photojournalistic style of photography, as that is what suits such locations best.
Here are some points that set apart regular photographers from destination photographers.
Fairmont Hotel, Jaipur. A spectacular location needs some great location photography to do justice to it.
1. Making best use of the beautiful location:
Destination wedding locations are selected after much deliberation over various choices followed by spending of some good money. The only visual recording of memories of that event and your location will be done by your photographer. You need someone who has the ability to see beauty in structures, walls, waterbodies & decor. You need someone who has the ability to capture and enhance the beauty of your wedding.
Burj Khalifa, Dubai. The towering Burj Khalifa makes a great backdrop, but how do you fit the worlds tallest building into your frame and make it look good too? Like this!
2. Preparedness for a remote location:
Sometimes destination weddings happen at remote locations, islands, hillstations, beaches or even the middle of the desert! An experienced destination wedding photographer will have enough storage, a laptop, backup cameras and cards & everything he needs to photograph your wedding without any hindrances. At such remote locations, the photographer might not have the chance to go buy backup memory cards or even spare batteries if he isnt prepared with enough stock. In one such wedding shoot in remote Rajasthan, we met a photographer who had forgotten to get enough memory cards. He came up to us and asked if we had spare cards. We did help him out, but still to ensure he didn’t run out of space, he shot in lower resolutions. Who suffers in the end, the client.
An experienced & seasoned destination wedding photographer worth his salt will always be prepared.
Suruchi beach, Vasai. Not all shots have to have the couple posing. A simple walk can be made to look lovely.
3. Style of photography:
Every photographer has his own style of photography. Even amongst documentary / candid photographers, there are different styles that exist. But documentary photographers differ from traditional styled photographers significantly. This is because the way both these types of photographers work is very different from each other. Almost all the destination wedding photographers we know are documentary/candid photographers.
Guruvayu, Kerala. We even managed to capture the little mosquitoes that bothered us during this shoot way down in Kerala.
4. Destination wedding films:
Destination wedding films are a delicate affair. Its not easy to make a good destination wedding film. Filmers use sliders, steady-cams and as per the latest trend drones, to capture a birds eye view of the wedding venue. A wedding filmer who has the ability to understand these concepts and has worked with them is someone who can execute it for you. A skillfully made wedding documentary film takes a lot effort to make. You need to ensure that you have hired the right person for it.
Mihirgarh, Jodhpur. This lovely picture was taken after scrambling up walls, and thinking way out of the box at the extraordinary Mihirgarh!
5. Landscape photography ability:
A good destination wedding photographer will somewhat have the ability to compose and make good landscape or architecture pictures too. You would want to have a good amount of location coverage pictures of your destination wedding too. Someone with a good sense of aesthetics, equipped with some good wide angle glass and some decent post processing skills can make some good location shots!
Miracle Gardens, Dubai. Sometimes you need to be patient and time your shots well, to make a crowded tourist attraction look deserted. No photo-shopping here!
So now you understand the term ‘Destination Wedding Photographer’ better and even know what qualities to look for in one. You can check out our other posts or navigate our site to know more about the same. For inquiries with us, do get in touch on knotsandvows@gmail.com!
