So you want to be a documentary wedding photographer? This video is my honest overview of what that actually means in practice, beyond the label.

I talk about my approach and why emotion is the centre of everything. Not forced emotion, not staged reactions, but real human behaviour. The kind of moments that don’t repeat, and don’t happen on command. I also get into how to weave a story through a wedding day, because documentary work isn’t just “shooting candid”. It’s building a narrative from small details, interactions, and the rhythm of the day, so the final set feels like a complete piece rather than a highlight reel.

A big part of the video is the fundamentals I come back to constantly: light, composition and moment. If you understand those three, you can walk into almost any situation and make photographs that feel intentional. If you don’t, you end up relying on luck, or you end up distracting people by trying too hard.

There’s a montage section in the video as well, showing the ideas in action, followed by a short wrap-up. If you’re thinking about moving into documentary wedding photography, or you want to refine what you’re already doing, this is a good one to watch when you’ve got a bit of time and you want the bigger picture rather than quick hacks.