The first “professional” photography I ever did was wedding photography. A classmate of mine in college, knowing that I was proficient with a camera, asked me to photograph his wedding. Without the slightest knowledge of how wedding photographs were traditionally done, I shot that wedding and assembled a handmade book for my friend and his bride. I remember the great satisfaction I felt in being able to make that record of their wedding almost forty years ago, and that is the same feeling I have today in being able to make a beautiful book of wedding photographs.

My approach to photographing a wedding comes out of over thirty years of photojournalism. Unlike most professional wedding photographers, I make no effort to “manage” the wedding. I treat it, instead, as a unique event which will unfold at its own pace and rhythm. My challenge is to capture the event on film, not continually interrupt the flow of the event in order to set up a succession of posed pictures.

This does not mean that I do not do any posed pictures of a wedding. Putting together family groups is a natural thing to do at a wedding, but I try to do that part of the photography quickly and with the lightest possible touch in the posing. My goal, in wedding photography, is to capture on film the essence and the spirit of the event, to record those moments that will tell the story of the wedding in the most beautiful way. Yet, when the day or the evening is done, I hope that the wedding participants would hardly remember that I was there.

Many wedding consultants and how-to books on weddings advise that, in selecting a wedding photographer, one should always be sure that he uses a medium-format camera, as opposed to a 35mm camera. The presumption is that the larger camera indicates a more professional approach and assures sharper, finer-quality prints. I totally reject that premise. Medium-format cameras, such as the Hasselblad or Mamiya, are not suited to photographing events in a quick and fluid way. That is why they are not used by photojournalists. They are much slower, more cumbersome, and cannot possibly allow for the kind of quick and free shooting that is natural with a 35mm camera. My equipment for shooting weddings is the same equipment I would use for shooting a Mexican fiesta or a sporting event: a 35mm Leica camera, a normal to wide-angle lens, and a compact flash.

Despite the smaller negative size, my prints are of quality far superior to the standard wedding photographer’s work. The quality in my prints comes from the fact that they are not mass-produced; they are not “machine prints,” like those that the wedding photographers order from their labs. Instead, I make my own finish prints. I make each print myself, color-correcting, dodging and burning, and making fine the adjustments that cannot be make in machine printing.

I also make each album to order. The papers, book cloths and leathers are chosen for each unique album. No plastics, no cheap glues or cardboard are allowed to compromise the longevity of the album. I have worked with the same custom bookbinder for years, and her handmade albums are as simple or as ornate as you want, but they are always of archival quality. With reasonable care, they will look virtually the same a hundred years from now as the day they are delivered.

Here are a few sample pages of photographs from three different wedding albums that I have made in recent years. Every wedding is different, but perhaps these photographs will give you an idea of how I might photograph your wedding or other special event. Call or e-mail me anytime for a copy of my price list and to check my availability.

Geoff Winningham
(713) 526-6175
geoffwin@rice.edu