San Francisco Wedding Photography, Bay Area Photographer

Authentic, artistic and emotive—Halbright Photography will capture the whole story of your
wedding, your child´s bat mitzah or bar mitzah, or other special occasion.

Wedding photography and B'nai Mitzvah photography in the San Francisco Bay Area by photographer Rudi Halbright

For years to come, your photos will re-tell the story of your wedding or other special occasion. When you select a wedding photographer you are making an investment that will be with you for the rest of your life. That’s why it's so important that you select a skilled, creative, and reliable san francisco wedding photographer who will partner with you to capture the memories of your wedding day.

You will be working with your wedding photographer before the wedding, planning your photography and developing a mutual understanding of what is most important to you. Your event photographer will be with you on your wedding day from the time you are getting ready, until those special end-of-day moments. It's important to pick someone who you can communicate with and who will be a pleasure to interact with on your wedding day. You may also choose to work with your bay area photographer after your wedding day to plan a special wedding album that will become a family heirloom. I personally work with my clients in the planning stages, during the event and afterwards to create one of a kind coffee table book albums that tell the story of their special day.

Here is a brief overview of wedding photography styles to give you a sense of what is available and what I offer. This will help you select the right San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer for you.

Traditional Wedding Photography Style

Wedding photography began with the use of large cameras requiring long exposures, time-consuming adjustments for each photo taken and the use of a tripod. Even as technology has improved and smaller cameras have replaced larger ones, traditional photographers continue to focus on formal staging with an emphasis on capturing well-lit portraits of the bride, groom, family, and selected guests. A traditional style will ensure that your important guests are photographed, but less emphasis is placed on capturing the spontaneous moments of your day. The long portrait sessions can take more time away from your celebration. Traditional albums generally contain matted prints with less emphasis on artistic impression or the story of your day.

Photojournalistic Wedding Photography, Wedding Photojournalism, or Documentary Wedding Photography

Over the past twenty years, photojournalism has become an extremely popular style of wedding photography. Here the focus is on covering the entire wedding day as it unfolds, unscripted and un-posed. There may be an emphasis on black and white photography with a mix of color. This style became popular around the time that wedding photographer Dennis Reggie coined the phrase "Wedding Photojournalism" around 20 years ago. This style was first popularized with 35mm film cameras and now most photojournalistic wedding photographers switched to digital cameras. Photojournalism aims ro the story of your day as it unfolds, with each wedding photographed more organically. The risk is that not all of your guests will be photographed, as generally folks who are more involved in the events of the day are the ones featured. Another drawback is the absence of a record of the important people in your family through more formal portraits.

Documentary Wedding Photography Oakland Preservation Park

Illustrative Wedding Photography

This style involves setting a scene with the two of you in a beautiful location with good lighting and with freedom for people to be themselves and connect freely in this setting. This can ensure beautiful images that are also emotionally connected and authentic.

Fashion Wedding Photography

Fashion wedding photography is the latest style on the market. Popularized by photographers such as Yervant, this style involves fashion photography and requires extended time with the bride or marrying couple either before or after the wedding ceremony. These shoots are in the style of what you see in fashion magazines. It's a chance for the bride to show off her wedding dress, the groom to show off his best, and to be photographed in a beautiful setting with controlled lighting. These shots can be beautiful additions to wedding photography but require an extensive amount of time. Rather than capturing the spontaneous moments of the day, this style works to create new, unique moments that become a part of the day.

The Halbright Photography Style

I borrow from each of the above styles to create a comprehensive photographic experience of your wedding day. My primary focus during the day is to capture the authentic and meaningful moments as they happen. Unlike strictly photojournalistic wedding photographers, I know your family is important to you and I take time to take traditional portraits of them, professionally and quickly so that you may fully participate in your wedding day. I work with you to fit these portraits into a 15-20 minute session. Either after the formal portraits, or at an earlier time in the day, I'll spend time with the two of you to take illustrative photos that show you at your best. When time is allowed and we can stay on schedule, I giving my clients the bonus gifts of fashion style wedding photography too.

Beyond, that I apecialise in Eco-Friendly Green Photography. Halbright Photography is currently in the Alameda Green Business Certification process. We do what we can reduce our environmental impact, using a hybrid vehicle, combining shopping trips into one, reusing packaging when appropriate, and providing our clients with options that are far greeners than many alternatives. We are actively working with suppliers to offer more greeen options and already are using some products contaning recycled paper. You can read about many of my lessons learned on creating my own green wedding in partnership with my wife. You can read the article at Our Green Wedding.

In short, am I a wedding photojournalist? Yes, I'm that and much more!

If my comprehensive style appeals to you, let’s talk!

Halbright Photography provides photography services throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California and Southern California. I am available for destination weddings and have traveled within the United States and overseas for special events.

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Rudi Halbright's Expertise