I read an article the other day that got me thinking. It basically was the writer's "hall of shame" of techniques used in weddings and romance sessions. His list included adding textures to an image, selective coloring and placing an image of the couple into a brandy sniffer. I do agree that some of these techniques are from different decades and not ones that I would use all the time or ever.
What I do not agree with is just taking all these ideas and never using them. Two years ago I started having brides ask about selective coloring and if I would do it. While you might not know what selective coloring is, I am guessing you have seen examples of it. The images of a bride in B&W but her flowers are in full color would be selective coloring. I had one bride tell me that she always like it , her mom and dad had a picture of their wedding where it was used. She also told me that one photographer told her he would not do it because he thought it was tacky. You might understand why she was still interviewing with other photographers. Now I am not saying that each wedding should have many examples of it or even 3 but if the bride & groom want it, I do not see the problem with it. I always liked the idea of "having it your way".
I feel that a bride's wedding day is very special to her and her groom and is something she has been imagining sense she was a child. I am guessing that some fantasy was part of those thoughts. I have always thought that a wedding day should be 90% reality and 10% fantasy ( adjust as you will for the couple).
I try and capture the fantasy with special lighting techniques and posing but I do use photoshop to achieve some of the fantasy. I can hear it now" OH MY GOD YOU USE PHOTOSHOP TO MANIPULATE AN IMAGE". Yes I do and I have been known to add light with flashes, isn't that manipulating an image?
I am not saying every image or even half of them but I would say about 1-2 images a wedding out of close to a thousand images.
Sometimes we create the fantasy by using a flash light outside at night to give a kind of story book light to a shot. Why would I not add a glow to an image with PS? Some of my images are in B&W, they were not B&W when I took them, they were in full color. But we think that is ok.
All I am saying is like most things use it in moderation it can add to the fantasy, add to the romance and make the bride and groom remember their special day with a smile. If that is not part of the reason you do this then you" ain't got no heart" and it will show in your work. Below are some examples, each of these images were included in an album or bought as a print.
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| Lit by Flashlight at 11PM |
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| Processed in B&W |
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| Added Glow to window light |
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| Blurred background |
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| Added a torn look to edges and slight glow |
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| Added a glow to both images Above and Below |
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| Added texture to wall and boosted colors |
(click on image to see enlarged image)
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