Composition in wedding photography
The world of wedding photography has changed a lot over the past 10 years. Thanks to the help of technology and continuous research, in a rather short time we have gone from a pose photograph, useful only as a testimony, to a documentary photograph, capable of capturing the moment and making it relive every time you look at it.
The quality of photographers, especially in Italy, has risen and from a lot. Now the bride and groom can choose from many styles, almost all with one feature in common: capturing the moment. But is it possible to do it without neglecting the artistic aspect?
Anyone who knows me a little, knows that I have always had a very strong passion for cinema, being born and raised in Cinecittà, maybe it was in my destiny! I discovered it as a child, cultivated as a teenager and studied in depth at university. And one of the things that has always fascinated me about movies are the shots. I have studied the masterpieces of the great masters of cinema so much that it is now natural for me to think of them when I take a photograph.
Dividing the image in half means that our gaze is immediately placed in one of the two portions of the photograph and can tell a contrast.
Symmetry is one of the components that I consider fundamental for my photography and that I have always loved in cinema and beyond. I like that a photo is clean and minimal, without too many distractions that can take your eyes away from what we want to highlight. Some directors like the master Stanley Kubrick and especially the brilliant Wes Anderson, have made it a real trademark.
In the following photo you can see how the subject is placed exactly in the center of the frame and how the image is thus divided into two portions practically identical to each other.
Another thing I love to do is frame the subject by exploiting in my favor the elements I find in the environment in which I am shooting. This way you will not only give it importance, but will give that aura of mystery to the shot.
Changing the point of view can be another weapon in our favor. The shot from above, for example, allows the viewer to immerse himself totally in the scene.
To have a perfect photo, in a split second you have to agree on 3 main factors: moment, light and composition. This as you can imagine is not always possible but this is not necessarily a bad thing, quite the contrary. Even a dirty photo and against all rules can communicate a lot.
To conclude, however, we must go back to the beginning. Is it possible to photograph the moment without neglecting the artistic aspect? With a little study, a lot of practice and a bit of risk … I say yes!
If you liked this article on photographic composition, I leave you with a list of the 20 films that most impressed me in this regard:
Drive (2011) – Blade Runner (1982) – Barry Lyndon (1975) – Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – The Fabulous World of Amelie (2001) – Joker (2019) – The Hateful Eight (2015) -Parasite (2019) – 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968) – Hate (1995) – No Country for Old Men (2007) – The Tree of life (2011) – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) – Dunkirk (2017) – Apocalypse Now (1979) – La La Land (2016) – Taxi Driver (1976) – Full Metal Jacket (1987) – Fourth Estate (1941).
If you are looking for presets that can give your photographs a cinematic look, check out my Cinematic Collection. If you want to get to know me and my work better, you can take a tour of my Portfolio.
