Black and White Wedding Photography | Documentary Wedding Photography

Steph and Ben’s Richmond Hill Wedding and the power of Black and White Wedding Photography

For this blog I decided to show the story of the day using only black and white wedding photography.  I wanted to illustrate the power of black and white photography for wedding story telling. It was wonderful photographing Steph and Ben’s wedding in Richmond, London. It was such an emotional day and as such, I thought it would be great to show their wedding in black and white.

Why is Black and White Wedding Photography so powerful?

In short, a black and white photo can have more impact than the colour alternative.  The lack of colours allows the message of the photo to be communicated straight away.  Without all the colourful distractions in the back ground, the viewer is made to focus on what the picture is all about. This style is a very timeless way to photograph weddings and a such is often the chosen method for a lot of documentary wedding photographers.

Documentary Style Wedding Photos

The use of black and white enables the photographer to avoid flash and capture the natural light. This in turn, enables the photo to be more authentic, capturing the light that was already in room and not a light source added by the photographer.

Furthermore, this style of photography helps the wedding photographer accurately capture the mood and atmosphere of the day. The lack of flash enables the photographer to be less intrusive and able to capture real moments without being noticed. This all results in the capturing the wedding with a true documentary style and lets the viewer remember how the day felt and as well as what it looked like.

The wedding story

It was wonderful to photograph Steph and Ben’s wedding in London. The first part of the day was captured in and around Ealing, London followed by a wonderful reception at the Richmond Hill Hotel.
In the morning Steph was helped in to her dress by her mum and bridesmaids. Steph was then greeted by her father, followed by the giving of lots of gifts. It was amazing to be able to capture all the moments during this time. The wedding ceremony was equally emotional. I feel the use of black and white really help convey what it felt like that morning for all involved.

In between the ceremony and reception we took a walk around Richmond Park, to capture a few natural wedding portraits. Then it was time to capture lots of reportage photos of guests and also the wedding speeches. There was lots of dancing in the evening and it was fun to capture all the energy in the room. The couple ended the day with a sparkler exit and were escorted away from a cheering crowd. Thank you Steph and Ben for allowing me to be your wedding story teller.

I regularly capture weddings in colour as well and you can view more of my work on my wedding blog and galleries