For me, being a documentary style wedding photographer is pretty simple. I let people be people.

I don’t want to turn your wedding into a photoshoot or spend the day setting things up to make them look natural. I want the real stuff.

The laughs, tears, hugs, nerves, terrible jokes, kids causing chaos and your mate who’s somehow found the tequila before dinner.

That’s what candid wedding photography is all about for me.

I don’t create the moments. I watch, listen and wait for them to happen.

I approach every wedding wanting to tell the whole bloody story.

Think of me as your witness. After a few drinks, there’s a fair chance you’ll need one.

You can’t be everywhere on your wedding day, but I can be watching everything happening around you.

Your mum having a little cry. Your dad absolutely going for it on the dance floor. Your best mate laughing so hard they can barely breathe.

As a documentary wedding photographer, those little moments are just as important to me as the big ones.

Put them all together and you’ve got a collection of photographs that actually shows what your wedding felt like — not just what it looked like.

Photographing a wedding this way is bloody hard work.

I could make life easier by moving people into better light, asking someone to repeat a hug or telling you to look lovingly at each other while pretending I’m not there.

But where’s the fun in that?

I’d rather let the day flow and photograph the real, honest stuff as it happens.

And I’m not hiding at the back of the room with a massive lens either.

I like being close. I’ll chat with your guests, listen to the jokes and get involved. By the end of the day, I hopefully feel less like the photographer and more like one of your mates who happens to have a camera.

That’s how I work as a documentary style wedding photographer.

People relax around me, forget about the camera and get on with enjoying themselves.

That’s when the good stuff happens.

Yes, we’ll still get some bloody lovely photos of the two of you.

I normally recommend around 15–20 minutes together. I’ll find some good light, a decent background and maybe ask you to go for a walk.

Then I’ll leave you alone.

Have a chat. Hold hands. Get closer. Take in the fact you’ve actually just got married.

Natural wedding photography doesn’t mean I can’t give you a little direction. It means I’m not going to spend an hour putting you into awkward poses or recreating something I’ve seen on Pinterest.

I’ll put you in the right place.

You two do the rest.