Before we agree to cover a wedding, we always ask the client a few specific questions about what they want from the photographs of the day. It’s funny how this question is met – sometimes with a high degree of understanding followed by a grateful explanation – and other times, with a confused generic response that leaves us wondering “why would they pay all that money for us?”

We ask; Do you need a lot of posed shots? Or do you want us to disappear and document the happenings, without interruption? Or maybe a mixture of the two – get the posed shots during one specific time frame, and then slip away again to capture the day as it naturally unfolds?

In reality, the question I want to ask is shockingly self indulging and I’m almost reluctant to say it here; “How much artistic freedom will you give me in documenting your day?”

Ironically, what will sometimes create a problem is how familiar a client can be with our photos. Even before the wedding date, many clients will have visited our site so often and are so closely acquainted with the shots that they say “I feel like I know the people from the weddings you’ve photographed”. Then, when asked about the type coverage they desire, they name specific shots. The result is quite understandable – they confuse the question that I can’t ask with an entirely different question “whose pictures would you like your pictures to look like?”. They actually name poses. Sometimes we’ll see pose lists – followed soon after by the death of creativity.

What is misunderstood is that the best pictures are something that cannot be reproduced. To list out a pile of shots that need to be “posed” or “staged” is to totally misunderstand the concept and style. When backed into this corner (and it has happen), the truly sweet and special moments that would inevitably take place are missed, or even prevented, because everyone was so preoccupied with “faking it.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, those couples that were relaxed, having fun and so obviously in love and “into each other” are the ones that are most often singled out as having desirable pictures. “I want to be like them!” Yea… no kidding.

So, what do we look for? Well, quite simply, when someone tells us they want all documentary style coverage, I love it. But even better is when the couple (or even just one of them) seem to fully understand what we require from them to deliver in this situation. We’re not going to fake the story of your day if you’ll display raw emotion – if you can show those true feelings like that couple did, we won’t have to fake anything.

Real is good.

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The above shots are from Amie and Adam’s wedding in Placentia (just over a week ago) and Sonya and Shayne’s wedding in St. John’s (on the following day). Thanks to both couples for being so relaxed and enjoyable to work with.

Here’s a few more from Amie and Adam’s day.

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