We must say, however, that by the definition given by the Wedding Photojournalist Association (wpja.com) we cannot fully call ourselves staunch wedding photojournalists. For example, in order to join this association, we cannot have any images on our website that use posed photographs, traditional portraiture, detail shots, etc. These are not true journalsim aparently, because they are taking things out of element and posing them for photographs. Okay, that makes sense. But we LOVE taking these kinds of shots too! Some of our favorite images from weddings are the romantic moments we capture during the bride & groom's "portrait time" or all those detail photographs of shoe buckles, cupcake flowers, and hand crafted place seattings.
We will still consider ourselves photojournalists, however, because the mass amount of photographs we take at weddings are defined as "unplanned" and in the moment. When deciding whether to make a photograph of two girls dancing at the reception, or to pull them aside and take a side-by-side portrait, we will always opt for the candid moment. The hands down best pictures from weddings are the ones of tears and laughs and hugs and moments that aren't staged or posed but are genuine, real, and lasting. That is what makes true artisitc imagery.
