There
are many ways to take the same picture. In over 10 years of photographing weddings,
Peter James has experimented with many, and always comes back to the same one.
He calls it “Get all the action, with low distraction”.
Your guests have not come to your wedding to watch a photojournalist documenting an event like it’s a press conference. They came to take part in a sacred ceremony. Photographers often draw too much attention to themselves, which can distract from the ceremony and lessen the sanctity of those precious moments.
On the other hand, after the ceremony is over the guests have left and your dress is put away, all you will have left are your memories and the photos Peter James will take for you. From that perspective, who cares if the guests were distracted, I want my beautiful memories!
Peter
James’ photographic style is the happy medium. He examines the site of
the ceremony ahead of time and creates a plan for how to move around as unobtrusively
as possible. He speaks to the minister or officiant and others who are involved
with the orchestration of the ceremony, to gauge the length and details of the
service. During the ceremony, he moves as little as possible, while getting
the greatest variety of angles as possible. He stays near the back if possible.
When he must get close to get the photo, such as putting the ring on the finger,
he stays low and out of the way until the precise moment when he confidently
stands, gets the shot, and gets out of the way in a matter of seconds. During
prayers and other moments of silence, Peter refrains from taking pictures and
joins in as part of the solemn moment.
The result is a combination of artistic and photojournalistic photographs that were collected in perfect flow with and respect for you most memorable occasion.
Please browse the Gallery section of this website to get a better idea of visual photographic style of Peter James.
