A Client’s Guide to Wedding Photography Terms 

Stones of Yarra Valley Wedding

As photographers, we use a lot of terminologies that you may not understand. This article is prepared by Lavan Photography to help you get to know some of our terms in regard to your wedding photography. 

  • Traditional – Traditional wedding photos are the standard portraits, poses, and events taken at weddings. These are the images that we get at every wedding, no matter what. For example, the bride and groom standing side by side looking at the camera, or the exchanging of rings and kiss during the ceremony. 
  • Candid – Candid images are photos that are not planned, but are taken as they happen. They are very much in the moment and are different for every single wedding. They aren’t posed or forced. 
  • Pinterest – This is when a photo is posed via a style that can be found on the popular website, Pinterest. We often have clients show us Pinterest boards they’ve created of different images they like. 
  • Romantic – These are images that are based on the couple and show them interacting with one another and being lovey toward each other. They are sweet and more natural poses. 
  • Fun – Fun photos are spontaneous, in the moment photos where the couple or bridal party acts silly and loosens up as opposed to the sometimes stiff feeling of formal photos. 
  • Details – Detail shots are just that – pictures of details, like the flowers, your rings, place settings, shoes, jewellery, etc. 
  • Formals – Formal photos are typically done after the ceremony (sometimes before) where the family and the bridal party gets together with the bride and groom and takes photos where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. There are a variety of photo groups here depending on the family bridal party sizes and with whom you want photos. 
  • RAW – This term is used to describe the files before they go through their editing process.  
  • JPEG – A JPEG is the type of file your images are converted to after they are edited and the format that most photos are printed from. 
  • Editing – This is where we adjust your photos. If we need to make them brighter or darker or enhance the colours. This is our editing process. We can also take the colour out and make the image a black and white photo.  
  • Proof – Your proofs will be an album of the best images from your wedding, but not the final version.  
  • Retouching – During our editing process, retouching is where we can remove blemishes and smooth out skin, minor adjustments, etc. 
  • Cull – This is the process where we eliminate ‘bad’ or duplicate images before you get your proofs. A bad image would be one that is way too dark, bright, blurry, someone blinked, etc. We also take out similar images so you don’t have to look through a million of the same photo over and over again, leaving you only with the best shots.  
  • Digital Images