What is Lifestyle Wedding Photography?

The main goal of lifestyle wedding photography is to capture people in their natural state as much as possible. Wedding photographers shooting in this style will make it a goal to showcase a couple’s life, love, and the big event in an authentic and realistic manner.

Lifestyle wedding photography is, in a lot of ways, like what documentary filmmakers aspire to do. For example, when you watch a nature documentary like Planet Earth, the takeaway tends to be a blend of “wow, this is really cool because this is what happens in the wild” and “wow, the filmmakers really managed to make this look really cool.”

Wedding photographers who make it their mission to capture organic, candid, and authentic moments “in the moment” are lifestyle photographers. As artists, they choose to blend their eye for moments happening in front of them with composition tricks that can make even mundane weddings look awesome.

The Wikipedia entry for “lifestyle photography” sums it up well:

Lifestyle photography is about telling a story through the lens. It’s about the legacy that is left behind because of it.

How to Capture Lifestyle Wedding Photography Shots

How any one photographer decides to approach this may vary.

Given that we are wedding photographers, we can speak openly about this topic in detail from what we have seen and done ourselves. Plus, we’ve observed a lot in the wedding industry as a whole – checking out many other photographers in the process.

The first thing that is really valuable to realize is that – a photographer can choose to exclusively shoot lifestyle photographs or could blend it with another stylistic approach like the more formal posed approach.

Whatever the approach you decide to take – here are 6 tips to make these pictures happen!

6 Tips to Take Great Lifestyle Wedding Photographs

1). Get some wedding experience.

If you are just starting out, actually going to a few weddings will help you get a sense of what you can expect.

Early on in our wedding photography career, we would second shoot and assist other photographers. Add this with some personal experiences being a guest at a wedding, and it became easier to see what was normal.

As we’ve been to upwards of 50 weddings now, there are some things that are very common to see again-and-again, while other things (particularly cultural) still can surprise.

2). Look for the good light, leading lines and shapes in the environment.

Throughout the wedding day, our approach to photography is fairly hands off and candid. We do this as much as possible.

The few things we might do is move people around to be in an area that is better lit, or is more suitable for photography. It’s amazing how getting ready photos can change when moved into an area with more natural light & natural leading lines and shapes to make for more interesting compositions.

At times, like during a wedding ceremony, having direct involvement to move people around just won’t be possible. In these moments, photography is a very candid thing – but you can take an active role to find the best compositions available in the space.

If you need more composition help, you’ll want to check out our post 101 Digital Photography Tips where we cover this pretty heavily!

3). Connect with the bride & groom.

Actually knowing the couple you will be working with will help you to better predict things that will happen on the wedding day.

Meeting with clients and getting to know about them beforehand is one way to do this.

During the wedding day, we also make an effort to have good and light conversations throughout to keep that rapport. It’s easier to capture candid lifestyle moments during the wedding day when the couple can trust you, and not feel nervous to have you around!

4). Plan ahead so you know the events that will be happening.

While some of the greatest moments will happen totally unexpectedly, a lot of moments that can be captured organically are planned for.

We put together a wedding photography timeline specifically for this reason!

Working with our couple, we go over how their day will break down. We map out everything from the getting ready photos in the morning to the last hurrah at the end of the night. Things don’t always go according to plan, but it serves as a great guideline.

One example of this you can think about:

When a bride & groom decide to have a First Look together in advanced, you can schedule this out.

You now know that at X-time, they will be seeing each other for the first time that day.

It’s a beautiful time – some couples even end up in tears.

It’s perfect for natural and candid photography, capturing all the great emotions on display, but might be more challenging if you had no idea this was the plan!

5). Know when to speak up, and when to be a ghost.

This one comes with experience.

It is also somewhat dependent on what your client wants, too.

People who work with us are often excited because they see a lot of great candid and natural looking photos in our portfolio. While this very much is our style and approach much of the time, we do also step in to adjust where necessary.

For example, we will do some posing during portraits – usually using verbal prompts as can be found in Signature Edit’s the Candid Couples Posing Prompts. While not entirely candid because of our involvement, we still get much more natural reactions than just telling people how to stand.

6). Get really comfortable with your camera.

For wedding day photography, having an experienced photographer is extremely important.

The moments that unfold throughout the day are often very quick and fleeting. A great photographer will be able to quickly tweak their settings, set up a composition, and snag a few shots. A photographer with less experience may struggle – especially when dealing with environments with difficult lighting situations.

Getting really proficient with the camera can take time. You can help speed yourself up through practice, reading educational guides, and even consider checking out some photography courses online to really get up to speed. If you need help getting started, check out our Resources page for more!