Wedding Scene Setters: Telling A Story Through Use Of Space

Wedding Scene Setters: Telling A Story Through Use Of Space

Like travel writers, wedding photojournalists have to set the scene in their pictures. These shots tell a story visually from a variety of perspectives that range from extreme close-up of details to wide shots or even panoramic views.

Scene setters are an important component of any picture story, providing a sense of place to help convey the tone and mood of the wedding day. And, when placed adeptly in your visual story, they can give the viewers a tantalizing taste of what is to come, whetting their appetites for more visual memories of the day.

There are a number of choices wedding photojournalists can use to set a scene, including lens, perspective and position. The mood of the crowd dictates many of those choices, as does the relationship of people to a place. "People act a little more formal inside a church than at an outside ceremony," says Janelle Lowrance, a wedding photographer from the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, USA area. "People tend to mingle and interact more outside, and they seem to have more fun."

"I can go to the same venue for two weddings and it will have a completely different feel because the personalities are different," says Paul Johnson, a Panama City, FL, USA-based WPJA member. "Even though it may be the same location, I go to different places within the venue because the crowd is different and the relationship of people to a place varies. I follow the energy; I don't dictate it."

Johnson says that in order for him to convey through images what it was like to be there, he carries at least two camera bodies at all times, one with a wide lens and one with a long lens. "That way I can move in close and get wide, step back for an overall perspective, or grab another camera to go in tight on detail."

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