Intentionally Natural

Jen Huang Bogan set herself apart in the world of wedding photography early on by drawing from the professionalism and attention to detail she gleaned from her previous career. After working a fast-paced, high-stress, New York advertising agency job for several years, she began transitioning into photography around 2008, making images at weddings as a side hustle. Gradually, the wedding work picked up, somewhat in tandem with the stress levels at her advertising job, until she quit the agency world in 2009 and dove into photography headfirst.

While working in advertising, Bogan developed a particular diligence for branding, customer service, and business planning. She poured those skills into her new business, making sure her materials were well designed and well branded, and her communications were concise. When people sent an inquiry, she made sure to reply right away. As business grew, she looked to craft a distinct photographic style that appealed to a particular audience. Bogan started taking a fine-art approach, photographing on medium-format film, and creating bright imagery with a soft glow and natural-looking posing. Clients reacted swiftly and organically, elevating her to an enviable tier of wedding photography success. Bogan, a New Yorker who now operates out of Santa Barbara, California, works with upscale clients who eagerly fill her schedule with stylish events in scenic locales across multiple continents.

AN EDUCATION BY FILM

“I see film as an incredible teacher,” says Bogan. “Every time you click the shutter, it costs money. So you have to be very careful about what you capture, and how you compose it. Shooting film taught me to be very intentional about what I want to photograph. It taught me to be a better editor and, ultimately, to create better images.”

She feels that taking photos with film encourages less redundancy in wedding day captures. With digital photography, people tend to capture a lot more images, making multiple photos of the same scene in the hopes of capturing one good image. That style of capture lengthens editing time as photographers sort through multiple captures with minute differences, trying to decide which is best.

Instead, Bogan spends extra time setting up her images to make sure everything is how she wants it. She “zooms with her feet” by moving closer to subjects rather than capturing images rapid-fire from a distance with a long zoom lens. She steps in to pose and make necessary adjustments for a better composition. And she doesn’t crop too tightly so that she has more options for the final print.

INTENTIONAL POSING

Posing is critical to the success of Bogan’s approach, and something she’s worked on continually for more than 15 years. Along with a dense self-published book called “Master Guide to Fine Art Wedding Photography” in its third edition, she’s written a series of posing guides for everything from couple’s portraits to boudoir photography. The underlying philosophy is to be a careful director, even at a busy wedding. By doing so, you can produce images that actually look more natural and free-flowing.

“A lot of people think that a natural image emerges from letting people behave naturally,” says Bogan. “But as soon as you put a camera in front of someone, they tense up and act less natural. So the way you get more natural images is by providing more direction, not less. It’s almost counterintuitive, but by directing more, people focus more on what they are doing and less on being nervous in front of the camera.”

Bogan learned this lesson through experience, and by researching other photographers early in her career. Initially, she was more of a fly-on-the-wall, photojournalistic shooter. She stood at the periphery of the event, photographing from a distance with a long lens, avoiding direct interactions with people. But when she looked at her images, she wondered why she wasn’t generating the quality photographs that her higher-end competitors were producing. “That’s when I realized I needed to be more of a creative director,” she says. “I started coaching my clients on little details—what they’re wearing, where we’re shooting, and how they’re posing. The difference between a good photograph and a bad photograph comes down to very basic building blocks: perspective, composition, direction.”

BUILDING RAPPORT, INSPIRING CONFIDENCE

Effective posing, or any other interaction with subjects, requires good rapport and a high level of trust. Bogan spent years meticulously developing a pre-event communication strategy to prepare her clients for working with her on their big day, which includes advice on ways to make the entire process run smoothly.

She has an initial conversation and information-gathering call and a planning call with the wedding coordinator to go over the day’s schedule and iron out any potential issues. Closer to the wedding, she consults with the clients again to outline the sequence of events. “I am integrated into the entire planning process,” she says. “Clients appreciate that because they only get to do this day once. Of course they want their experienced vendors to help guide them.”

It also helps Bogan get a better sense of what’s needed on the wedding day and how she can help. Is she dealing with a nervous bride who needs to be calmed? Is there a shy groom who doesn’t want to be photographed? Understanding what’s coming helps her show up more prepared, even when the best-laid plans go sideways. “Everyone needs to be a little bit flexible on a wedding day,” she says. “I approach the day with a lot of kindness. First, it’s just not helpful to bring more tension to the day. And second, clients want to feel reassured, like they made the right decisions. They need that emotional support. They need that kindness around them, not a bunch of vendors who get rattled when things go wrong and make the situation worse.”

It’s critically important to inspire confidence, Brogan explains. Wedding photographers accomplish this by doing the best possible job and acting as a team with the other vendors, regardless of what is going on at the event. “People who succeed in this business are people who are really invested in being in service on the wedding day, not those who allow their ego to take over. Remember that there is so much time and expense that goes into these days. This is supposed to be the best day of your clients’ lives, and you get to experience it with them. It’s easy to lose track of that because we do this every weekend, but these are very special moments and it’s an honor to share it with them.”

PUT IN THE HOURS

Bogan looks at her business holistically. That means focusing equally on the art and the business of photography and putting in the work on both. “You have to really work hard. I cannot stress enough how important that is,” she says. “The photographers who are really making it are putting in a lot of hours behind the scenes that you don’t see. They’re committed to that level of work. Some people underrate that effort because it’s not visible on the front end,” Bogan adds. “People don’t see how I stayed up all night, days on end, working to refine my brand, but it shows in the end product. That’s what matters, and that’s what will help you reach the next level.” 

Jeff Kent is editor-at-large.