Candid - Traditional - Contemporary - Cinematic - Documentary - Who all and how many? Confused much? This shall help!

Candid Photography


Candid photography is the reason why many a photography brands exist today. It started the boom in Wedding Photography Business, worldwide. Gone were the days where you just hired a photographer who would document the whole event from start to end and break the bread with you at the wedding dinner table. Suddenly there are all types of different hitting pictures that a standard photographer wouldn't be able to capture - thus, creating the need for a Candid Photographer.


A candid photograph is a photograph captured without creating a posed appearance. The candid nature of photographs is mainly the fact that the couple do not know when their photographs are being taken. This helps the photographer get the very natural and RAW essence of the day. Intricate details during the ceremony and moments between the bride and groom are the key goals for the candid photographer. 20-30 mins are required from the couple for the photo session, non-negotiable. The goal of the portrait session with a candid photographer is not to have posed pictures but intimate happy moments at their wedding day. Though the candid photographer might subtly interrupt and make correction with respect to posture and to aid overall composition of the picture.


Getting ready for the bride and the groom is key starting point for a candid photographer. Strictly limited to only covering the bride and the groom i.e, Family pictures are avoided during the getting ready session. Incase you have a traditional photographer booked too, they can handle the family portrait session. Candid pictures during the ceremonies are their second goal. No posed or group photos will be captured by the candid photographer. Again, the traditional photographer can take all the posed efforts. Couple Portraits after the ceremony and few staged photos with speciality lights contribute their third goal for the wedding day. Lastly all the real and uninterrupted moments! - The usual ratio to capture is 70% of the couple and 30% of the family and friends 


One candid photographer can easily manage a medium sized family. However if you have a huge family, we recommend having an additional candid photographer. The scenarios with two candid photographer can be understood better here:

  • During a sangeet, the main candid photographer can cover the bride, groom and immediate family reactions. While the second candid photographer can cover the dances and the high paced moments.
  • During other ceremonies, we can have multiple angles and more candid pictures.
  • During wedding ceremony, the main candid photographer could be on the stage covering the moments in the ceremony. The second candid photographer can cover the family members portraits.
  • During reception, the main candid photographer could be near the stage capturing the happy expressions of the guests greeting the couple. The second candid photographer could either do the portraits of the close family members - or they could capture candid moments of the high scale audience, making sure everyone is captured.

Cinematic Videography/Wedding Cinematographer


Along with dying breed of standard/studio photographers that led to rise of candid photographers, there also has been a decline of really long wedding videos (2-3 hours at times per day) with gaudy transitions, basic and static shots, shots of the dinner area and a really long reception part that people watch maybe once a year.


What a cinematographer offers is a movie like approach to the wedding, shortening the long days into mere minutes. A 2 days event could now be a 20 min film which would otherwise be a 6 hour long video. This approximately 20 min video is guaranteed to cover all the key highlights of the wedding. The shooting approach is very similar to a candid photographer. Intricate details, emotions, less of poses, more of natural expressions - the works. The footage is also slowed down most of the times, so that the millisecond of expressions aren't missed. The video is then set to a track, either opted by the couple or the team of editors who hunt for the latest and greatest in music.


The getting ready for the bride and the groom is key starting point for a cinematographer. Couple Portraits after the ceremony and few staged videos with speciality lights are shot for either the opening of the video with or ending off. The usual ratio to capture is 70% of the couple and 30% of the family and friends 


The result is film, not short of a commercial movie. Set with the cutest emotions captured and played in harmony with the music. This can later be used on social media platforms and it's something to brag about. The Wedding Episode also keeps posting some of the greatest clips from the cinematic film from time to time.


Some key concerns we usually hear related to cinematic video is that, " Will it be enough to capture everything like the traditional video?". The answer to this is that The Wedding Episode believes in relentlessly capturing the entire day and as much as possible. If you ask for a RAW Uncut Cinematic Video, it is as long as 4 hours at times. That is as long as the traditional video and long enough to make a documentary out of. So rest assured everything is captured well enough and nothing is missed.



Traditional Photography and Videography


A traditional photographer and videographer will give the coverage a backbone. The candid photographer and cinematographer can cover the aforementioned emotions once they know the standard coverage is also being taken by the traditional team. This releases them of tremendous pressure and allow them to work more creatively. The traditional team (photographer and videographer) are programmed to document the entirety of the day. They don't miss out on capturing ceremonies in full, which is the key reason they are preferred by lot of clients/client's family.

The following is how a typical day for the traditional team looks like:

  • The decor and venue shots are the keystone as they establish the scene in the viewers mind of where the event is set.
  • Later, once the couple is free from the candid/cinematic shots, they can abide by a few "must have" shots by the traditional team. This is fully optional and only recommended if the couple wants it to be done.
  • Family portraits is the main duty of the traditional team. This is important and needs to be done before the start of ceremonies as the makeup is fresh and intact.
  • Entirety of the ceremony is captured by the traditional team. For traditional videography, if the client requires live audio to be captured (during ceremonies or sangeet), they need to inform the team beforehand.
  • The wedding reception is where the traditional team does the most work. Entire meet and greet (reception) is orchestrated by them, at times cycling through crowds of 1000s. They work in unison and make sure all the guest families are captured.


The final video consists of a montage of these clips, along with instrumental tracks played in the background. For weddings its usually shehnai, for Sangeet it is usually live audio with all the crowd cheering and for reception it is usually soft instrumental. The range is usually between 1 to 2 hours.


Incase you have a bigger family and they would want their portraits, an additional traditional photographer is recommended to capture them at a dedicated photo-booth setup or somewhere picturesque around the venue.

Traditional Video Highlight and Uncut Cinematic Video


Traditional Video Highlight is a service by The Wedding Episode wherein the long traditional video is cut down into a 5-8 min (based on the songs and client preference) highlight video. It summarises the entire event and it is made to look as close to a cinematic video. This is a paid service and its usually opted when cinematic videographer is not opted, yet a cinematic summary is needed.


An Uncut Cinematic Video is an exclusive service provided by The Wedding Episode that basically provided all the video clips that were shot for making the Cinematic Film. We believe in capturing a-lot so that we don't miss out on any moments - resulting in a lot of clips. The same extensive amount of clips sometimes make up for really good uncut version that clients love. This is also a paid service which is usually opted when traditional videographer is not opted, yet a full length video is needed.

Fusion Photographer


A Fusion Photographer is The Wedding Episode's unique service that can take multiple roles for a smaller event. It is an intelligent switching of traditional photography and candid photography, depending on the event. For small events where one dedicated candid photographer won't be enough as some traditional shots would be also needed, the fusion photographer switches from the service and caters what is needed. However, this is only appropriate for smaller functions and does not apply to big weddings.