You are asked to photograph a destination wedding. How is destination wedding photography different from "normal" wedding photography? How can you be a successful destination wedding photographer or just a good one if this is not your business? Your family and friends know that you do photography, sooner or later you will be asked to shoot a wedding. What do you need to know to have a happy couple rather than one which just canceled their friendship with you? First of all, let's make some assumptions to steer us in the right direction:

1. The couple chose this destination because it is meaningful to them. They either find it beautiful or they have had great memories there. Perhaps this place has special significance to them. Either way, there is a specific reason why they chose this place for their destination wedding.

2. Destination weddings, for this reason, are not just about the wedding, they are also about the place. They love this place.

3. The couple seeks to memorialize and combine their love for each other with their love for the destination.

If this is all true then how will it shape your photography of the wedding? Let me give you a clue. Why is a landscape and wildlife photographer writing about wedding photography? By the way, I have shot many, many weddings. Given our assumptions above and given that I am a landscape photographer (I will not mention wildlife photography again just in case that would provoke a bride to through her shoe at me), here are the conclusions I reach:

1. The couple wants the images to show the destination

2. The couple wants the images to showcase them in and as part of the destination

Therefore, shoot the normal wedding images (rings, kiss, etc.) but:

1. Treat the shoot as a landscape shoot, just place them in the scene

2. Capture the essence of the place with them in it

3. Show what makes this place special to them (including them) and your images will be special to them

4. Don't be afraid to go wide angle - this is landscape photography with people in

Here are two examples: