Your wedding day is one of those that stays with you for the rest of your life, a kind of touchstone, a rite of passage even. Many newlyweds often exclaim, wishing that this special day could somehow last forever. Hence, it’s no big surprise that wedding photography has always been one of the most desirable, lucrative, and in-demand fields practically since the invention of the modern camera.
These photographers don’t just have their hands full; they also get to play with a wider variety of tools and a greater diversity in subjects and themes than ever before.
As weddings get more elaborate, complex, and visually creative, so does the work of the best wedding photographers in the world. And their fascinating images are going to be the focus of today’s article!
The Art of Wedding Photography
Photographing weddings is one of the oldest forms of portraiture in the medium, which makes sense given the huge symbolic and aesthetic value that the ceremony provides to so many people.
As you can imagine, it’s a highly personal affair, with a lot of factors that can change radically from person to person. No assignment is quite the same, as each person’s preferences vary, as do environmental conditions and the capabilities of each individual.
The Balance Between Posed and Documentary Storytelling
Most couples want ‘authentic’ photos, as they really were in those special moments. At the same time, the ceremonies are inherently staged and coordinated affairs.
Balancing the need for real moments and a candid feel with the need for posing and setting up your scenes properly is tricky. So, it is important to master this balancing act and have an innate sense for what works best in any location and with any kind of couple.
Finding the Right Style for Your Wedding
Especially today, there are more wedding styles and aesthetics than you could count. From the Victorian aristocratic look to the Wild West, and extending to all sorts of casual, themed, or event-based weddings, you definitely have no shortage of visual styles at your disposal.
Knowing what you’re looking for aesthetically can also give you a great advantage when looking for a suitable candidate, as you can consult their portfolio to see whether they have worked with anything similar in the past.
Top Wedding Photographers Around the World
Now, let us finally begin with my roundup of photographers! Do note, however, that because of the huge variety inherent in modern wedding photography, as we discussed above, many of the below experts work with a huge number of different kinds of styles, not just the ones they’re most famous for.
Jose Villa
Jose Villa has been published in countless high-profile magazines such as Vogue and The Knot. His timeless images have had great influence on fine art and fashion photography trends, making him an institution within the genre.
Villa’s signature style includes lots of natural light, gentle posing, and an emphasis on classic beauty with a timeless quality.
Erich McVey
Erich McVey is one of the most prolific in the world, with an awe-inspiring portfolio going back nearly two decades and a hugely diverse client list.
His unique style and approach can best be described as a fusion of the fine art and lifestyle photographer, combining an eye for high aesthetics with a sensitivity for genuine moments of pure emotion and innocence.
Rebecca Yale
Rebecca Yale excels through impeccable staging and posing, a razor-sharp eye for composition, and a distinctive style that prizes candidness and authenticity.
Building on years of experience as a professional photojournalist, Yale combines her emotional touch with an exceptional aptitude for storytelling to create moving pictures that last long after the first viewing.
Samuel Lippke
Samuel Lippke and his studio have been around the world, from star-studded events at Palm Beach to intimate events in small, picturesque hamlets in the countryside.
As diverse as his subjects often are, the trademark Lippke style is ever-present, consisting of tight compositions, natural posing, candid execution, and documentary-like coverage.
Every now and then, Lippke’s editorial chops shine through as well, in particular in his awe-inspiring close-up portraits.
Robert Marcillas
A cosmopolitan photographer based in Spain, Robert Marcillas and his private studio are active around the globe.
He is particularly known for his narrative wedding weekend series, following his subjects closely to string together impactful images while maintaining a relaxed atmosphere.
KT Merry
KT Merry is famous for capturing some of the most luxurious, exclusive weddings in the world, including many celebrity weddings and destination events.
Working primarily with film, Merry places a strong focus on expressing her subjects through clothing, scenery, and posing. That’s not a coincidence, as she herself began her career working in the fashion photography industry.
Elizabeth Messina
Intimate, precise, and artfully crafted is how I would best describe the work of Elizabeth Messina. A fine art photographer through and through, her timeless imagery goes far beyond the genre constraints of ‘pure’ wedding photography.
Messina’s passion for portraying genuine emotions and candid moments of affection between lovers shines through the bulk of her work. Beyond being remarkably well-executed in terms of composition and lighting, that gives her editorial style a sort of romantic edge.
Agnes Black
Unlike many of her contemporaries, Agnes Black counts on her informal, candid approach to realize her lofty aesthetic goals.
Fusing glamour with everyday life, and combining some tricks from the editorial landscape with the trade secrets of famous photographers, Black shoots some of the most impressive and acclaimed wedding photography out there today.
Corbin Gurkin
Corbin Gurkin is a versatile artist with an impressive professional portfolio and an eye for classic, timeless compositions.
Effortlessly composed and exposed, Gurkin’s work straddles the line between a contemporary look and almost painterly scenes that delight with their simplicity and refinement.
Benj Haisch
With the candid, raw style of classic street photography, Benj Haisch crafts fascinating mementos of some of the most unique weddings in the world.
His distinctive style, which owes a lot to both film and documentary photography, lends itself nicely to the extravagant destination weddings he tends to cover. It’s no wonder that many consider Haisch one of the best in his niche!
Angelika Dupuis
Zurich-based Angelika Dupuis is a versatile editorial photographer who frequently entertains her fascination with glamorous high fashion by documenting truly star-studded weddings.
Dupuis relishes in understated elegance and luxury. Some might say that’s par for the course in her native Switzerland. Others may point to her years honing her craft in the fashion industry throughout Europe.
But in any case, her ability to express the fine nature of beauty like this and create timeless photographs while she’s at it.
Joy Zamora
Joy Zamora’s distinctive style takes its heaviest cues from classic cinematography, with a truly extravagant portfolio.
There’s hardly a frame in sight without a strong sense of motion and narrative, and that’s definitely no coincidence. Zamora spends a lot of time working out the details of each shot, and it shows in his work.
Oliver Fly
Oliver Fly is a destination wedding expert par excellence who spares no expense in his work.
From wedding day series to editorial work and in particular his engagement session photographs, Fly is a versatile artist with a great understanding of color and composition.
He definitely takes care to make each of his exposures the most picturesque it can be, and it shows!
Thanos Asfis
Renowned in Greece and Europe at large, Thanos Asfis spent years honing his craft primarily as a fashion photographer working with some of the greatest names in Greek high society.
Transferring the skills he gained to international wedding photography meant embracing the elegance, beauty, and visual harmony that he studied so deeply.
Today, Asfis mostly works through his studio Ratta, which he leads together with Anna Roussos.
Ashley Ludaescher
Ashley Ludaescher is one of the major figures in the genre today, especially in North America.
With a visual legacy derived from photographing fashion and glamour, her studio prides itself on its distinctive style, combining carefully coordinated locations and composition with a highly personal atmosphere.
The resulting images are professional and refined enough to appear in VOGUE, whilst communicating something meaningful about the lovers that made it possible.
Nina Wernicke
Above all else, Nina Wernicke finds herself most inspired by the compositional beauty of cinema and the glamorous intimacy of high fashion. Noticing a pattern there?
Her aim is to concentrate on timeless scenes, to create images that nod to the glory and beauty of the past without getting mired in it. At the same time, Wernicke strongly avoids committing to aesthetic trends.
Her goal, after all, is to allow her images to remain cherished mementos decades into the future.
Lei Lei Clavey
Australian native Lei Lei Clavey shoots a limited number of exclusive weddings year-round. Her style draws from classic fashion and glamour in art and cinema throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
No wonder, then, that she has found plenty of editorial success with the likes of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar!
Marta Ilardo
With the sensibility of fine art and the sharp eye for candid moments of joy that would make good photojournalists blush, London-based Marta Ilardo excels at portraying genuine emotions and intimacy through her work.
Instead of thoroughly posing her subjects and preparing each shot well in advance, Ilardo prefers to tag along and stay in the background, documenting events as they unfold.
Her hands-off approach may be unique within the genre, but nobody can fault the results, which speak for themselves with their authenticity and simple beauty.
Luke Bell
Luke Bell stands out for his modern, forward-thinking style. While his portfolio does, of course, feature plenty of the classy, formal portraits that would please any major magazine’s editorial board, Bell’s true specialty lies in the road less traveled.
That includes unusual close-ups, still lifes, street candids, and experimentation with such techniques as intentional camera shake, soft focus, or extreme depth of field.
Erin Neale
The best way to describe Erin Neale’s stellar wedding photography would be something like classy, refined, and full of narrative action.
An expert in making even small scenes stand out meaningfully through composition, Neale’s work is a real class act.
Sebastian Paynter
An all-round fashion, lifestyle, and editorial photographer, Sebastian Paynter uses a versatile approach grounded in editorial style but with some techniques from documentary photography mixed in.
As his work easily proves, this is a fine combination that results in timeless images time and time again!
What Makes a Photographer the Perfect Fit?
As we can see, there is no shortage of talented wedding photographers out there. Being slick with the camera, though, is no sure ticket to great photography.
For that, you also need to make sure that there is a sort of innate fit between the photographer and the clients, bride and groom, that is. Finding this fit is a bit of an elusive issue that confuses and frustrates many, often leading to underwhelming photos.
To avoid this, it’s good to focus seriously on the planning process and to try and resolve the aesthetic and contextual aims of the session. This way, both sides can feel more certain in their approach, minimizing the risk for disappointments.
The Relationship Between the Couple and the Photographer
Special attention needs to be paid to the intuitive connection between the couple and the photographer. Many wrongly assume that there is an inherent awkwardness to this. After all, it means inviting a stranger to take pictures of some of the most precious moments of your life.
However, the right professional can capture those timeless memories and immortalize your big day without creating any emotional tensions. This is, of course, a highly intuitive and personal issue, but that’s exactly why it deserves more attention and should be a primary factor in matching photographers with their clients.
Key Qualities Beyond Technical Skill
Being good with the camera is one of the most important requirements, but it’s far from the only one! Personal qualities, as difficult to quantify as they may be, can also make or break an assignment.
For instance, adaptability and personal flexibility often come into play, as the clients may throughout the planning process express wishes or expectations that go beyond the photographer’s established experience.
Emotional intelligence and communication skills should also not be overlooked, either. Many think that good photographers are simply experts at staying hidden in the background and making themselves unnoticed so as to allow the couple to remain natural.
While there is a kernel of truth to this, it is actually very difficult to generate this kind of fly-on-the-wall shoot spontaneously. A much better approach is to establish a relationship and get to know each other first, and this is where the photographer’s personality and their emotional intelligence become most relevant.
Finally, they should also be trustworthy and reliable professionals who act confidently and always with the utmost respect.
How to Assess a Photographer’s Fit for You
Knowing what to watch out for is one thing, but how do you make sure whether a certain photographer ticks all the right boxes?
While I wouldn’t recommend inviting prospects to a kind of formal job interview, there are some things you can do to screen potential professionals for the right candidate.
Of course, an initial meeting, with no strings attached, is the minimum you can do for starters. No matter how well they may present themselves on their own website, there is no way to know for sure what they’re like without meeting them in person! In fact, many high-profile celebrity weddings go through rounds and rounds of various meetings and interviews with each potential photographer before a decision is made!
It is also a wise idea to consult some prior testimonials or reviews from past clients and reaching out to someone and talking to them one-on-one about their experiences can fill in a lot of crucial details.
Conclusion
Truly great photographers are those who can immortalize life’s most precious moments. After all, isn’t doing just that what drove many of us to photography to begin with?
I hope that today’s feature helped you better understand the work of the best wedding photographers. Armed with this knowledge, you should feel confident during your next encounter, whether that’s in front of or behind the camera, of course!
Take Away
Wedding photography is both highly technical and highly intuitive, relying on equal parts theoretical understanding, practical experience, and emotional intelligence. It’s not for everybody, but as today’s article has shown, those who strike gold in this genre can expect a rewarding career full of variety!
