From Natural Light and airy to Dark and Moody to Golden Hour, Use this guide to discover your wedding photo style
Our wedding client photos take place throughout the Phoenix area and the state of Arizona – Learn more about Wedding Services by David Orr Photography
Find your personal wedding photography style with our visual-aesthetic editing guide
Real Arizona Wedding Client Moments
by David Orr Photography, based in Phoenix, Arizona
For romantics that love creative photography, when it comes to selecting a wedding photographer, the process can often feel like a tug-of-war between opposing ideals and aesthetics. They may desire a photographer who can capture emotions in a way that is both original, but also stylized; natural, but planned; unexpected, but authentic; and with some kind of artistic direction. Of course, all of this has to happen at the same time!
As a unique couple, your wedding will have its own special design, setting, and plans. So it’s important to find a photographer team that understands your vision of your love story. But how do you communicate your vision?
What is your wedding photography style preference? Do you have more than one?
If you haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about photography, you probably don’t know how to begin answering these questions. Chances are you already have a good sense of what you like aesthetically from viewing wedding photos on social media, but you just haven’t associated a name or category to what you have seen. This can be helpful when talking about the mood and tone of your wedding day with wedding planners or your wedding party, and can really help your photographers understand the results you hope to see in the final wedding photos.
Aside from the types of cameras and equipment photographers use to capture photos, photography styles are a visual guide that helps your photographers edit and process those photos to produce the final finished result.
When we meet with couples, we delve into finding out what their photography style preferences are. This helps us focus on how we compose in camera, use natural light or supplement with flash, and how we edit the final images. This first collaborative step paves our approach to the photography process by personalizing with intention and creativity.
Here you will find a guide that will help you visualize and better communicate the type of photo style that you picture yourself in on your wedding day!
Eye Candy Alert: Read the guide below to picture your dream wedding day and learn about the many photography style options available.
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Black-and-White Wedding Photography: Timeless Elegance
Timeless, black-and-white photography
Where documentary meets film noir, the Black-and-White Wedding Photo Style minimizes distractions, allowing the viewer to focus on just raw emotions and the essence of the moment. Black-and-white imagery can also add a touch of sophistication and nostalgia to your wedding photos, capturing the depth and intensity of emotions experienced on your special day.
Natural Light Wedding Photography: Authentic Beauty
It all starts with authentic natural light
Natural Light Photography means capturing the moment within the true colors of the existing ambient light, whether it is bright, dark, cloudy, sunny, shadowy, foggy, etc. It encompasses many styles simultaneously, and has become one of our signature styles that our clients find most appealing.
Embracing natural light photography is essential to any documentary, which is a wonderful way to capture a story like your wedding day. In one moment, we can harness the soft, flattering light of the sun, capturing the true shades of daytime colors, or perhaps unveil the frame of low light with the cool shadows of night. Whether it's the gentle glow of morning or the soft hues of twilight, natural light photography can celebrate the inherent beauty of your love story in its purest form.
This is by far our favorite preferred style because it is so versatile and timeless, and is how we compose most of our images from the natural light straight into our camera.
Pro Tip: We have found that Natural Light Photography also allows flexibility in achieving various other styles of editing!
Light and Airy Wedding Photography: A Natural Glow
Bright glamour with light and airy wedding photography
The Light and Airy Style of photo editing focuses on soft, bright light, with low contrast, minimal shadows, and neutral or pastel colors. During the daylight hours, Light and Airy images look illuminated, soft and comforting. During the afternoon and sunset, Light and Airy can appear infused with a dreamy, romantic, and ethereal atmosphere, perfect for portraying the tender moments shared between you and your partner. This style evokes feelings of joy and serenity.
Bright and Clean Wedding Photo Style: en Vogue Wedding
Elevated, bright and clean photos
The Bright and Clean Photo Style is very similar to Light and Airy, but the distinction is in the pull away from color, where anything vivid is toned down, neutral brights are the hero, shadows are lighter and muted, and darker contrasts are crisp. Bright and Clean Photos look best within diffused light situations, such as under an overcast of clouds, or bright indoor areas. This modern and haute photo style adds an elevated look that is calming to the eyes and feels elegant. The Bright and Clean Wedding Photo Style is a perfect match for any couple who enjoys the art of documentary storytelling enhanced with a fashion magazine finish!
Neutral and Crème Wedding Photo Style: Beige Chic
Calm, sleek and naturally neutral!
The Neutral and Crème Wedding Photo Style brings a natural hint of warmth to images with hushed tones and pale monochromatic hues. The final look is clean and lifted, be it in bright light or diffused light. To evoke the feeling of fresh and serene moments, this photo editing style subdues scenic settings, desaturates close-up details to appear soothing and calm, and naturally diffuses skin tones with a matte finish. Compositions are gently dimmed, and darker contrasts are lifted to show more earthy undertones. For couples who bask in the comforts of tranquil nature and simple living, the Neutral and Crème Photo Style is the perfect match!
Warm-Toned Golden Hour Wedding Photo Style: Capturing Sunset
Golden hour is pure photo magic
There's something magical about the golden hour—the fleeting moments before sunset when the world is bathed in a warm, golden glow. Capturing your wedding during this time infuses your photos with a radiant amber warmth, and soft, flattering light. Depending on the time of year, the golden hour can reasonably last anywhere from ten minutes up to a half hour. Images photographed during golden hour can take on many forms, such as backlit lighting, saturated ambience, diffused soft skin glow, or darker silhouette vignettes against radiant skies. The Warm-Toned Golden Hour aesthetic naturally adds a touch of romance and drama to your images, creating stunning visual narratives that reflect the beauty of your love.
Lavender Haze Hour Wedding Photo Style: Sunset Wedding Splendor
Wowzer, it is lavender haze hour
In Arizona, we have some of the most amazing sunsets. Capturing wedding couples in a Lavender Haze Hour is dependent on weather and how color reflects from the sky. Imagine the dance of a warm and cool atmosphere after an ethereal purple rain. This photo style truly relies on natural lighting conditions, such as time of year, amount of clouds and moisture in the sky, and how light is captured within the shade as the earth turns. This sublime light tends to happen just as the sun dips below the horizon, so adding extra time for your newlywed photos after the ceremony is key to obtain this special result!
Rose-Gold Wedding Photo Style: Soft Daylight and Pink Sunsets
A dusting of rose-gold photo style
As an alternative to Golden Hour, a Rose-Gold Wedding Photo Style is a perfect combo for passionate souls who love a dash of marvel! This photo style adds a soft pink blush to bright daylight images, a pink coppery hue to midday photos in the shade, and a deep copper-rose tint to cloudy or darker sunset portraits. This style creates a blooming romantic vibe that compliments any floral essence, giving your images an elevated grace and delicate warmth evocative of affection and tenderness!
Dark and Moody Wedding Photo Style: Dramatic Intensity
Alluring, dark and moody photography
If you are a couple who are drawn to drama and intensity, Dark and Moody Wedding Photography offers a captivating alternative to the norm. Rich, deep shadows and dramatic contrasts create a sense of mystery and intrigue, amplifying suspense, drama and romance in your wedding photos. Colors are still present, but darkened, gently saturated or muted, while skin tones are neutral. This style can work in either warm or cool imagery, and is perfect for couples who want to infuse their images with a sense of cinematic flair and artistic expression.
Moody Fog Wedding Photo Style: Low Lighting All Day
Hey avant garde, meet fog photo style
Think a winter-feel—a dark morning after an all-night rain, where there is thick mist in the air, and the smallest hints of color declare themselves! The Moody Fog Photo Style is a way to embrace those unexpected gray skies, and evoke dramatic imagery in low-light situations. The Fog Photo Style works well in outdoor settings during early morning or late afternoons going into evenings, perfect for dark cloudy or rainy days, where dim grays, minimal contrasts and muted colors create dramatic storytelling. For those who embrace the unpredictable nature of misty weather and enjoy a bit of mystique and drama, the Fog Photo Style is a head-turning approach to the final edit.
Moody Brown Wedding Photo Style: Cocoa, Chestnut and Umber
Moody brown to warm your soul
New to the scene, with an atmosphere of warm browns of natural tones, the Moody Brown Photo Style delights the eye with tones of umber wood, chocolate chestnut, toasted caramel and walnut, and mahogany maple within the shadows. This luscious and moody style adds a new depth to the sepia family of imagery. Traditional colors are subdued, and neutral dark, warm tones become the main focus. There are glimpses of warm caramel, sorrel, and dark amber, but the overall vibe is natural and modern, with hues ideal for Autumn-equinox, Fall, or the coming of Spring.
Moody Green Wedding Photo Style: Rain Forest, Moss and Deep Emeralds
That happy, moody green feeling
Embracing the dark hues to create cinematic storytelling within a natural green setting, Moody Green Wedding Photo Style celebrates select warm and cool hues and bold contrasts, but the hero is the natural green highlights and shades that dominate the scene when true greenery is captured in the camera. Garden settings feel transformed into tropical scenes, with vibrant sunny greens appearing darker and richer to create a lush jungle vibe in low-lit images. Fall, winter and spring weddings are ideal for creating an alluring moody green wedding style that is perfect for modern nature lovers!
Rose-Tinted Wedding Photo Style: Vintage Pinks
Romantic, rose-tinted wedding photos
Seeking a romantic vintage style with the charm of refined allure? The Rose-Tinted Wedding Photo Style adds rustic dark pink hues to your captured memories, with a dusting of muted colors. Cool shades are drawn to the warm side. For couples who value nostalgia mixed with a modern flair, the Rose-Tinted Wedding Photo Style enriches images with idyllic zeal. In love with documentary-style imagery? This image style evokes romantic sentiment, and is a wonderful choice for Spring, Summer or Fall weddings!
Blush Pink Wedding Photo Style: A Modern Pink Vibe
Behold the blush pink wedding style
Light and delicate, the Blush Pink Wedding Photo Style illuminates imagery, enhancing colorful settings or vivid subjects by softening contrasts and shadows with powdered pink and subtle peach hues. Desire a refreshing appeal? The Blush Pink Wedding Photo Style blends a modern vibe with a classic tone, creating a sophisticated collection of imagery that is calming to the gaze, warm and tranquil to the soul, and quite simply an inviting eye candy you just can’t help but adore!
Burnt Orange Boho Wedding Photo Style: Terracotta and Rustic
A cinematic Southwest flair: burnt orange portrait and wedding photo style
For those who crave a bold alternative and enjoy the vibrancy of warmer tones, but aren’t focused on the accurate rendition of the colors of nature, the Burnt Orange Boho Wedding Photo Style is definitely avant garde. As a cousin to Sepia, this style definitely doesn’t hold back on enhanced warm terracotta tones and hefty dark marmalade hues. As an eye-catching alternative to the Golden Hour or Vintage Styles, this vivid look enjoys muting down the cool tones and greens, yet lifting medium hues, and cloaking all with intense ginger-orange and rustic autumn colors. We see this style a lot with Sedona and boho Southwest weddings!
Cool Blue Wedding Photo Style: Dreamy Indigo
It’s truly cooler in blue
With the Cool Blue Photo Style, natural environments show off a cooler feel, where the midday light is captured in refreshing indigo and aqua tints, cool neutral shades enhance skin tones, and twilight time is dramatic with misty blues and navy shadows! Ideal for winter and early spring weddings, the Cool Blue Wedding Photo Style is an editing technique intended to conjure something exhilarating, uniquely daring, adventurous, and totally cool.
Vivid Color Wedding Photo Style: Bold and Vibrant
Snap, pop, vivid color time
Dare to make a statement and show off your true colors with a vibrant Vivid Color Photo Theme. Saturated hues and dynamic contrast creates imagery that is utter eye candy. Celebrate with energy and excitement, reflecting the joy and exuberance of your wedding day. This style is perfect for couples who want their photos to be as illuminating and lively as their love for each other.
Soft Pastel Wedding Photo Style: Subtle Serenity
Picture a soft pastel photo style
The Soft Pastel Wedding Photo Style features tones and delicate textures that lend a sense of serenity and tranquility to your wedding photos. This gentle, understated style focuses on capturing the tender moments and subtle nuances of your relationship with grace and elegance. Pastel and soft photography creates a timeless aesthetic that exudes romance and intimacy, perfect for couples seeking quiet beauty and ease in their wedding images.
Rustic and Vintage Wedding Photo Style: Timeless Nostalgia
Remember those vintage times?
With a touch of antiqued vintage for romantic wedding memories, today’s Rustic and Vintage Photo Style transports you to a bygone era, where love stories were etched in faded sepia tones, but this style is now enhanced with selective color vibrancy, muted darks, and antiqued greens and yellows. Definitely not shying away from film grain, creative blurs, and textured filters, this Rustic and Vintage Photo style adds a touch of old-world intrigue to your wedding album, creating an enchanting visual narrative that stands the test of time.
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We pride ourselves in putting our hearts and souls into creating beautiful photography for you.
David Orr is the main photographer behind the camera, and Amanda Orr is the photo editor and album designer.
Together, we strive to make heartfelt, artistic imagery that not only sparks joy for you, but for all of your loved ones – today and for years to come!
We’re David and Amanda, a married wedding photo duo based in Phoenix, Arizona. We also travel throughout Arizona, including Payson, Flagstaff, Tucson, the White Mountains, the Grand Canyon, and beyond!
We are proud local photographers who celebrate over 25 years as a photography team here in the Valley!
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And we like to call the style below Cotton Candy Pink!
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Photography by David Orr. Editing by Amanda Orr. Cheers!