WITH COLORS OR WITHOUT THEM by the WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Because of photographs taken while the bride was getting ready for her wedding day at the Convento do Espinheiro in Évora
- Pode ler este artigo em Português.
The Dilemma of Colour in Wedding Photography
When I first started my journey in photography, many years ago, I never imagined that this passion would eventually become my profession — and even less that I would become a wedding photographer.
My relationship with photography began with black and white. For a long time, whenever I had the opportunity, that was the visual language I chose. There is something about black and white that has always attracted me: its ability to remove what is secondary and allow light, shapes, gestures and emotions to take centre stage.
I even have an older article where I tell the story of that journey and explain the importance that black and white photography has had, and continues to have, in the way I see.
But photography became a career; I began working with clients and, naturally, my choices started to change. Colour photography gradually took up more space, partly because it was what clients were looking for and what dominated the market.
Over time, black and white appeared less and less in my deliveries. Even during wedding sessions, which have always been an important space for experimentation and interpretation, this visual language was no longer such a regular choice.
When black and white returned to weddings
Entering the world of weddings changed that relationship with colour.
I started photographing weddings almost by chance. There was no clear plan, at first, for this genre to become such an important part of my work. But something happened along the way: I became increasingly involved in the experience of photographing people, stories and moments that can never be repeated.
And it was precisely in this context that black and white returned.
Without deliberately looking for it, I began finding space for it again in my wedding photography. Gestures, embraces, the looks shared between the groom and bride, the emotion of the wedding ceremony, or a more intimate moment during the day often seemed to call for a different interpretation.
As a wedding photographer, I realised that black and white could be more than a reference to the past. It could still be a contemporary, personal language, deeply connected to the way I like to photograph.
Black and white allows attention to remain focused on what is happening inside the image. Without the information provided by colour, light, contrast, expression and movement gain another kind of presence. And in many moments of a wedding day, that simplicity can make a photograph particularly powerful.
Between colour and black and white
For years, my work found a balance between these two languages.
Black and white became an important presence, while selected colour photographs introduced other possibilities. It was almost like an imaginary tree, built mainly in shades of black and white, with a few touches of colour.
I liked that balance.
But over time, I began to feel that I needed to rethink the approach. A wedding photographer also needs to challenge himself and question the things he has come to do simply out of habit.
That led to a simple but important decision: instead of mixing the two languages within the same delivery, I would start treating them as two distinct possibilities.
A different choice for wedding photography
From now on, I want to clearly separate black and white photography from colour photography.
When couples choose their wedding photographer, they can also choose how they want to remember their wedding day: through a predominantly black and white photographic story or through colour photography.
This decision is not simply an aesthetic change. For me, it means giving each language enough space to be explored with greater consistency.
Black and white has a very particular relationship with memory. The absence of colour can bring us closer to gestures, expressions and atmosphere, creating images with a more classical and timeless quality.
Colour, on the other hand, preserves the full chromatic dimension of the day: the flowers, the decoration, the tones of the venue, the clothes, the light and all those small details that contribute to the identity of each wedding.
They are two different ways of looking at the same story.
How does the choice between colour and black and white work?
The decision now becomes part of the experience of the couple themselves.
When choosing their wedding photographer, they can think not only about the style of the images, but also about the visual language that best reflects their personality and the way they want to preserve their memories.
In simple terms:
- Black and white photography focuses on light, gestures, expressions, emotions, and a more classical, timeless feeling.
- Colour photography preserves the visual richness of the wedding day and all the energy associated with the venue, decoration, flowers, and different moments.
- The choice belongs to the couple, according to what feels closest to their personality and the way they imagine their wedding album.
- The role of the wedding photographer is also to help with that decision, explaining the characteristics of each approach and showing how the same story can be told in different ways.
There is not only one correct way to photograph a wedding. There is the way that best reflects the experience the couple wants to preserve.
What changes in the experience of photographing a wedding?
Separating these two languages also represents an opportunity for me to continue evolving as a photographer.
When an aesthetic choice is no longer automatic, we start looking at every photograph with greater attention. Light is observed differently. Contrast becomes more important. Colour gains meaning when we choose to work with it, while its absence also becomes a conscious decision when we choose black and white.
Ultimately, I am still looking for the same thing I have always looked for: to photograph people honestly and to find, within a wedding day, those moments that have enough strength to remain.
The difference lies in the language used to preserve them.
Two languages, the same story
For me, this change does not represent a break with what I have done until now. It is a natural evolution of a journey that began with black and white, moved through colour photography, and eventually rediscovered black and white as an important part of my identity as a photographer.
I still believe that wedding photographs should be more than a collection of beautiful images.
They should preserve the atmosphere, gestures, people and emotions that made that particular day what it was.
Whether in black and white or in colour, that authenticity is what I want to continue looking for.
Shall we talk?
If you are planning your wedding and still unsure whether you prefer a colour or black-and-white photographic story, we can talk through both options and see which makes the most sense for the story you want to preserve.
What matters most is that, when you look back at your photographs many years from now, you can still recognise your wedding day in them.
- The photos in the post were taken at Convento do Espinheiro in Évora, Portugal, during the bride’s getting-ready.