What Exactly Do You Want From Your Wedding Photos?

When searching for your New Orleans wedding photographer there are many things to consider.  Before visiting their websites read the information provided below. It might assist you with deciding which of these New Orleans wedding photographers might best meet your expectations

Our recommendations:

Julia Bailey Photography

Bob Bradford Photography

Charlotte Latham Photography 

Jeff Pounds Photography 

Michael Caswell Photography

MQ Photography

RISING ABOVE CLICHE:  CREATING TIMELESS IMAGES

Weddings provide timeless memories, and everyone would agree that the best wedding photojournalism should do the same. After all, it's only fitting that one of the most important days in someone's life should be preserved for eternity with imagery that will always be emotionally and visually resonant to its viewers.

But what makes a truly timeless image, and what sets it apart from the cliche shots that we've all seen over an over again? 

TIMELESS, OR SIMPLY ICONIC?

There are certain standard wedding images that have been captured again and again throughout the decades. We all know what they are: the bride and her bridesmaids preparing for the ceremony, the father kissing the bride, the walk down the aisle, the married couple's first kiss and many others. These images are iconic in that they're instantly recognizable and steeped in tradition.

But many of these pictures are also clichés. They've been done and redone almost to the point of yawning boredom. They have been seen so many times, in one slight variation or another, that they flirt with meaninglessness, having lost so much emotional "oomph" as we've all become desensitized to the same imagery over time.

The quality of true timelessness, photographs that look as though they could have been created yesterday or 50 years ago, occupies another level altogether. Such images require anticipation, patience, recognition and photojournalistic skill on the part of the wedding photographer.

New York City-based WPJA member Jacek Wiesnowski believes that the difference between "cliche" and "timeless" is wrapped up in how you capture the moment, whether in the action, the expression of the faces or the gestures of the hands.

"In wedding photography, what's important is not just capturing the iconic image, but how you capture it," he says. "You need to capture emotion at the same time-not just the scene but also emotion in the face. This is what is going to make the image not only iconic, but also elegant."

TIMELESSNESS = SIMPLE ELEGANCE

When all is said and done, timelessness in wedding photojournalism often can be reduced to simplifying an image down to a classic emotional moment that by its very nature transcends the passage of time. "As a photographer you have to recognize those moments, little slices of life, where everything at once is happening for an incredible emotional impact," says Hall.

To her, a timeless image is when you're truly capturing the moment in a traditional way, making sure that you're getting what's there in the first place. "With all of the image manipulation tools today, people are getting very trigger-happy in terms of overworking their images and overdoing things for special effects. I would hate to see a bride's wedding captured and made to look ˜fantastic' now with all of these new effects, but then 10 years down the road when the novelty of the effects fades, there's not much left there."

The truly timeless images, those that transcend cliche, are inevitably captured rather than staged, with the wedding photojournalist staying true to the action. The best image you can capture is going to happen by itself; you just have to be ready for it, and the authenticity of the moment will make it timeless.

"It's an image that you can look at today and be moved by it, and one that you can look at in 20 years and it will have the same effect on you, regardless of styles changes and current trends," Anderson states. "The emotional impact is going to be the same when their grandkids look at their albums."

-by Michael Roney for the Wedding Photojournalist Association

After the Wedding - "Step Outside the Box"

Just recently some brides that didn't plan on heirlooming their wedding dresses have be taken the opportunity to request photo shoots that they wouldn't have the chance to do "pre-wedding day".  These sessions allow them to have some fun and create some fabulous photo opportunities.

This session took place "down on the bayou"  Photographer Julia Bailey and Studio Vieux collaborated to create this piece...