Documentary Wedding Photography: Capturing Reality with Tyler Wirken

I'm trying. I am watching this at 2X speed so I can get through the giggling and rambling and then slow it down on the parts worth watching. I'll give it a thumbs up because I do like his style and the watchable parts were helpful. I respect his experience and his style. But I'm not sure why he's a wedding photographer. I get his point about canned shots not fitting his style but "he doesn't care" if he gets the first kiss, or the dress , or the.... things that may not be important to him but I would think would be to the rest of us. Very little technical info worth watching, but interesting to hear his thought processes on the style.

Tyler is not just an awesome wedding Photographer but a very good human being. Love the way he speaks, teaches and respect students and their work. I enjoyed each and every bit of this learning and learnt a lot. Thanks creative live and Tyler. Regards, Chethan Cks Photolab Melbourne|Australia

A game changer for me! I took this course before photographing a wedding and I can really see the difference in my photography. Tyler teaches how to capture real, authentic photos in a way that makes so much sense. I highly recommend this course if you are interested in capturing true emotions and moving photographs. I wish Tyler taught more courses!

I'm a HUGE fan of Neil Redfern, who loves Tyler's work. I've been in business for over 15 years using a photojournalistic approach, before studying and leaning toward an editorial style. Tyler is very transparent. This course is unique and exceptional for those wanting to incorporate photojournalism anywhere. It's not as much about technique as about a mindset to capture life's fleeting moments for future generations to feel and experience. Try to get into his head, rather than his camera bag. It takes time, and isn't a quick formula. Sit through the talk. Really listen and take notes. If you've studied the stylish photojournalistic work of Joe Buissink, Tyler's will give you yet another spin. The wonderful thing about photography is that each person behind a camera is unique. Any course giving us more to ponder is worth the investment, especially when on sale.

It's really great to be able to peer into the mind of such a great photographer. He works hard at what he does, and if you pay attention you can learn a lot from his thought process. I recommend this class to anyone who wants to upgrade from "snapshot" mode to "capturing moment" mode.

Recommend but with one big caveat. This class is useful in terms of his approach and mindset. I found it really inspiring in that respect. It's worth watching if you want to broaden your mind and make your wedding photography more interesting. Don't bother with this class if you are looking to improve technically, Tyler isn't a great technician and most of the info he provides in that respect is garbage and outdated. He also comes across as very arrogant at times and he's not a great instructor.

Absolutely inspirational!!!

I love his sense of humor, he provided so much information and made it fun!

Tyler is a great photographer. The information presented is also valuable and will certainly help my photography - however Tyler as a presenter is really hard work - the constant laughing at his own jokes and drifting off track is so unnecessary and distracting. Pity.

As a new wedding photographer, I found this class to be very helpful. I would say that Tyler is not the best speaker, but he has very valuable and helpful information. I learned so much from this class! I look forward to using it at my next wedding, which happens to be today! :D

Love, love, love Tyler's work shop. I love getting new ideas from his visions and his ability to create life long lasting memories.

I love anything that challenges the norm and makes you think beyond this is what you are "supposed" to do. Tyler does exactly that. This class equipped me to be able to analyze my work and move forward to start getting what I actually think will be meaningful to me and my clients. I'm grateful for his time and effort! I will be honest it is a little slow, but it is deliberate like everything else he does. This is how you have to learn to create art -its not a quick fix! Just find your patience and really listen to what he is trying to pound into your head ;) Also, the critique videos are fabulous educational sessions!

Highly recommend this course. This course was amazing for those who are interested in improving composition and shooting in the style of a photojournalist. For me the real value and meat of this workshop is watching the session of the live shoot and afterwards. Prior to that I was like, meh. Watching Tyler work, on the live shoot, and then follow his thought process though the edits and onwards was a big eyeopener. Wow!!!

'All I know is that I used to be blind but now I can see' - this best describes how much I have learned from this workshop. I can just hope some day I will see the world through the viewfinder the way Tyler does. I wish there could be more stuff about 'HOW' especially when it comes to lighting. Anyway this course changed me and the way I look at the photography so much, thanks Tyler!!!

I loved this course from Tyler. I've always preferred to shoot weddings unconventionally, but taking Tyler's course I feel like gave me "permission" to shoot exclusively photojournalistically, and taught me that clients do value the moments over everything else, even if they don't realize it up front. Since taking the course, I feel that my wedding photography has really started to stand out among the sea of other photographers in my market. I've booked several clients since taking this course, laying out expectations as Tyler describes he does with his business, and have had some very happy clients!

i love that workshop.

Tyler Wirken clearly has a lot to say, a point of view worth hearing, and a photographic talent worthy of our admiration. He is not a classroom instructor. His whole three day presentation could have been done in a day, maybe a day and a half, with spectacular results by a talented instructor . In a course about visual results he uses mostly redundant words, missing repeated opportunities to get his good points across by visual example. His video showing him shooting the couple and family in a reconfirmation ceremony was excellent and the points well reinforced by an interview with the couple while reviewing their pictures. The three sessions in which he was joined by Ben Chrisman to critique submitted photos was also informative and valuable as Chrisman added a crispness to the presentation that Wirken most often lacks. Even in these thirty minutes sessions, they could have included more photos. It may well have helped, if they'd prepared rather than ad-libbed those sections. Prior to the joint sessions, Wirken critiques the work of selected members of the live CL audience in 30 minute segments. His comments while valid, instructive and worthwhile became too harsh and even a bit petty as he spent too much time on a very small sample of the work. That section would have been more valuable had he been more selective in his critique so we students would walk away with one or maybe two memorable items from each photo. As a CL fan and owner of many of their courses, I have to say this is one of the more poorly presented. To the interested student, watch the free example and what you see is what you will get for three days. Yes, the subject is a valuable one and the results of the photojournalistic approach are wonderful, but you'll fast forward the last day and miss all the salient points.

I will say firstly that I love Tyler Wirken's work and I love his approach to his work and to his clients. I learned a lot from these videos but many many times I found myself fast forwarding the videos to get to the point of what he was saying. I found he goes off on unnecessary tangents and takes a long time to say something which could have been said in half the time, and I found this frustrating at times. BUT the positives did outweigh the negatives :)

For anyone interested in shooting a wedding from a true documentary style approach, this class is for you. Tyler's style may not be for everyone, but I seriously loved this class so much and found it so inspiring. I've attended many in person wedding workshops that were heavily focused on shooting editorial style and capturing the details more so than real moments, because thats what seems to get you published in the wedding industry these days, but I find so much of that lacking heart. Tyler's approach on the other hand is all about capturing the real moments that unfold during the day. His images are so full of heart, emotional and tell a beautiful story.

Tyler calls 'em like he sees'em. He gets it: capture the emotion, the expression, the feelings of a wedding without preoccupation with perfect posing, perfect lighting, perfect camera settings. An image of a father's expression seeing is daughter in her dress for the first time is far more important than trying to get it framed just right. Anticipate. Watch. Don't interrupt a moment. This is a great series to refocus on the true meaning of why we shoot weddings.

I feel I must respond to pablohill's comment and say that although Tyler says things like "I don't care about that shot," ultimately he is far from arrogant. His heart is on his sleeve in this series and in his work. He wants to capture moments that are real, that are emotional, and at the end of the day he wants to deliver photographs that are meaningful to his clients and show them the beauty in the moments, and create something that will live on. The reason he ignores certain photographs is because people think they know what they want, but he is driven to show them what they don't know yet that they want. He can';t do his job, capturing the real stuff, if he's getting caught up in what everyone else wants. It's not arrogance, it's defending your approach and protecting the fragility of the real situation when a camera + photographer is around. I think his point and his approach was utterly lost on pablohill and I think it's sad that other people might read your comment and think that Tyler and photographers like him are ultimately not shooting for their clients. You have to stay true to your course, everyone wants to be a director out there, and you can't be swayed by that. I think this course was well worth the money, I paid a LOT more to get a workshop in person by the Chrismans, and Tyler has a ton of good advice and sayings that can quickly become a mantra while I'm shooting. Even watching snippets of the course (I';m watching while I edit) has changed the way I shoot. Now that I' finished watching most of the course I know that I'll start watching it over and over again because there is just so much to absorb. I wish the students hadn't been beginners, because some of the critique and advice is pretty basic, but overall it';s just chalk full of goodness. Thanks Tyler for being so damn honest.

Thank you so much! I have avoided shooting weddings for years because I dislike all the cutsie and posed images that seem popular. I try to capture who people really are and this workshop told me it was ok to shoot for me and capture reality as it unfolded.( I now shoot almost all back camera focus too in the wide variety of things I do.) The closing piece was like a light went on for me.... my practice session for the wedding was the day a female evangelical pastor came out to her congregation. So... I want to tell more real stories. Thanks Tyler. ps. for my first wedding, my wife and I were flown first class to Napa for a week. With the workshop fresh in mind, I'd say the first go was a terrific success. ;-) Kirk Donaldson/ Ann Arbor, Mi.

It seems people love or hate this course. I found it worth my investment and I have moved the focus lock from the camera top bottom to the back. There is much you can learn from Tyler if you give him a try.

I love your carefree approach to the clients Tyler! Your honesty and approach was a refreshing touch.

One of the better workshops I've seen in a while.