Here’s a question: What should multi-ethnic couples look for in a wedding photographer?
On the surface, one would think nothing different from every other couple. It’s about photographic style. Although, style is a pivotal element in choosing your photographer, there are a few unique things to consider that are unique to multi-ethnic weddings.
Wedding Nouveau (WN) spoke with southern California-based photographer Edward Lee of Edw Lee Photography (ELP), to get his take on how professionals prepare for fusion weddings and what couples should know what picking a photographer.
Setting: Costa Mesa, CA
Heroine/ Hero: Nigerian Bride – Chioma and her Turkish Beau – Akram
Photography: Edw Lee Photography
When it comes to stunning photography, love is NOT color blind. That said, it is very important that your wedding photographer understand contrasting skin tones and how light works with certain fabrics (incase you’re going with unique traditional attire). Here’s how Edw responded to the challenges he faced:
WN – What challenges are you faced with when shooting mixed race or multi-ethnic couples?
ELP – First would be the language barrier. It is very important for a photographer to stay alert and sensitive about what’s happening around the environment, so to better anticipate and position oneself in the right place to capture the moments, to create impacting images. As the bride’s family and guest do sometimes speak in a language that I don’t understand, it makes it harder for me to do such and I have to rely on sight and gut feeling.
Second challenge will be probably the technical difficulties in getting the right exposure on both the bride and groom. In the case of Chioma and Akram, their skin tones are almost to the extreme of the spectrum, really dark and light skin. So I decided to expose the groom correctly so it won’t be overexposed and brighten up the bride on post editing. I think this strategy worked out pretty good.
WN – Do you familiarize yourself with customs before hand to know what to focus on, or do you wing it? What’s your preparation process for each shoot?
ELP – On weddings that I am the main shooter, I will definitely do some research on the customs of different ethnicity to make sure I have some expectation on what will happen and what to avoid doing. As things could be okay in one tradition and a big no no for the other. I will also go over details on the itinerary of the wedding day before the actual date with the bride/groom and coordinator if there is one to make sure we are all on the same page.
WN – You obviously go with digital photography. What advantages do you think it holds, and how do you respond to the argument of quality film vs. digital?
ELP – I actually started shooting film back 10+ years ago doing sport photography, I switched to digital probably 6 years ago, but I still do shoot film on some occasions, but not for work. I think quality wise, digital is up to par with film already with all the technological advancement. Just that digital images just don’t have the same feel that film gives, so I still shoot film sometimes.
The pros for digital for wedding is that it allows the photographer to shoot more and pick in post processing, and it’s cost is lower than film. At the end of the day, clients get more images and most want that. Also, it allows more creativity for the photographer as we can try out different or new stuff during the shoot and on post processing.
WN: What’s your fondest memory from Chioma and Akram’s wedding?
ELP: Definitely will be eye popping colorful traditional costumes that the family members and guest wore, and the 30-45 mins speech that the bride’s dad gave. The DJ had to stop him a few times as it was taking too long before he ended the speech, but its all good as it really shows how excited and proud he was for the bride.
I found Edw’s response quite accurate regarding the speech length, which brings me to an important tip: For many cultures, speeches and public speaking are considered honorable and associated with a lot of prestige. Unless you specifically tell the person speaking about your time constraints, expect a lengthy serenade. Savor each word, sip some wine and take it all in.
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{ABOVE: Photos by Edw Lee Photography}
WN -What surprised you about Chioma & Akram’s wedding?
ELP – The belly dancer. It was my first time seeing a real live performance of belly dance, and being able to shoot at such close distance and experience this up close was really memorable.
WN - What advice do you have for couples (particularly couples of mixed heritages) when choosing a photographer?
ELP – I will suggest going through websites and blogs of photographers, pick the ones that they like and contact them through email or phone, better yet setup some face-to-face time and get to know more about the photographer. It is very important that the photographer is open minded to different cultures, and connect well with the bride and groom. The photographer is the one person that’s going to be with the bride and groom almost 100% of the time on the wedding day, so it is very important that it’s a good match.
Thanks you so much to Edw Lee for sharing these images with us, and for lending his expertise on a topic that often gets overlooked when discussing wedding photography. Congrats to C & A on your beautiful wedding.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Gorgeous. Just gorgeous.
That shot of her parents walking her down the aisle is nothing short of sublime.
That’s beautiful.
Simply one word for this entire pictures-fabulous, fantastic job, all the credit goes to the photographer. He has taken all the pictures with so much grace, it looks like photographer enjoys every moment and that’s why pictures looks so natural. The most important part is to choose right person to take the pictures and most of my friends choose Dc-photographic for their Professional and classic approach.
what a seductive wedding.. the mix of Nigerian igbo traditions and african colors with turkish ones made a real splash, i especially like the bridesmaid dresses, simple yet stunning.
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