As a documentary wedding photographer, capturing images that have a story-telling feel to them is vital. But how do you tell the story of a single moment with a still picture? The answer is to include as much context to the image as possible, and one of the best ways to achieve this is by using something I call Foreground Creation.
Creating a foreground that adds context to your image is actually quite simple. All you need to do is position yourself such that there is something that adds context to the moment you are capturing between you and your subject, and then apply this principle to some of the crucial and predictable parts of any wedding day.
Consider the two images below. The picture on the left has been heavily cropped (out of camera) to show how it would have looked had I just filled my frame with Leandri as she came walking down the aisle. Not a terrible picture, but there is no context. Specifically, what is her gaze set on? By positioning myself behind the groom Sebastian, so that he is between me and my subject Leandri, and widening my angle, I can now capture the moment that she locks eyes with her soon-to-be groom, and there is no having to guess at what she is looking at! When the bride is being walked down the aisle is a great time to use this technique. Just position yourself behind and slightly to the side of the groom. In my experience, the bride will often look at guests along the aisle before making eye contact with the groom as she approaches him, so stay patient in this moment and don’t miss the shot!
Another great time to use this technique of Foreground Creation is when speeches are being delivered during the wedding reception. The obvious choice is to create the foreground using the guests looking at the speech-maker, such as the below shot of Craig delivering his speech. It is a great way to create an image showing the guest’s point-of-view.
But my favourite shots to look for during speeches, using foreground creation, are pictures of the bride or guests as the subject listening and reacting to the speaker, whom I use as my foreground. In the example below you can see how much more context is captured with Craig in the foreground of the picture as opposed to if I had filled my frame with only Leanne in this moment.
A really nice consequence of using this technique is that soft foreground immediately directs the viewer’s eyes to the sharpest point of the picture, which is your subject, and often creates a framing effect on your subject.
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