This FAQ is split up into two different sections: For Brides/Grooms, and for Photographers.

For Brides/Grooms

Are all the photographers on this site 100% documentary/reportage-style?

No, not at all – although a few will be, the vast majority will still do some portraits/groups (if you want them to, of course!). What we’re doing on the site is simply featuring – and celebrating – the documentary aspect of each photographer’s work. They are only on this site, though, if they cover the vast majority of a wedding in a documentary style, and do so at a very high standard, of course!

What do you think are the main benefits of hiring a documentary wedding photographer?

What a great question! Here are 10 reasons why we think documentary wedding photography is the style to go for.

What is a Reportage Award?

Reportage Awards are the best-of-the-best single images, as deemed by our panel of judges (who change for each Collection). You can view collections of Awards over here, and they are also shown on a photographer’s profile if he/she has won one or more.

What are Story Awards?

Story Awards are brilliant series of images, all taken from a single wedding. If a photographer has this award, this means they’ve captured lots of different moments from a day to an incredibly high standard. Here’s an example of a Story Award.

Can you explain the judging process?

Sure can, and it’s very important we do so. Full details are over here.

How can I find a photographer for my wedding?

Simply view ‘our photographers’; enter the area where you’re getting married, and we’ll show you lots of excellent moment-capturers for you to choose from. Photographers are ranked by the number of Awards won in recent collections, with those on the same award count – or yet to receive an award – shown in a random order for each search, thus ensuring the fairest visibility system.

Can I enquire about a photographer’s availability directly through this site?

Yep, you can; simply click ‘contact’ on a photographer’s profile to send them a message. Alternatively, each photographer has a direct link through to their website; you can contact them there, if you’d prefer. If you can mention that you found them on This Is Reportage, that’d be fab – everyone likes to know where they were found, and it’s good for us too 🙂

For Photographers

Can we join as a Studio/Partnership, or must we join individually?

It is totally up to you whether you would like to join as a Studio or individually. If you join individually, then you will each get your own profile, and will each be able to submit 10 Reportage Award entries and 3 Story Award entries per Collection; so a total of 20 Reportage Award entries and 6 Story Award entries if you are a two-person Studio. Examples of a two-person Studio both having their own account can be seen here and here (they are both members of Going Bananas Photography). Another example here and here (they are both members of York Place Studios). This option means paying for an account for each member of your Studio.

Alternatively, you can join as a Studio, and thus have one account. This means a maximum of 10 Reportage Award entries and 3 Story Award entries per Collection, but is obviously cheaper, as you only have to pay for one account. Examples of Studios having just one account can be seen here and here.

If you are joining as a duo or studio, you can only submit work from a maximum of two different photographers – and these two photographers must be the same for the duration of your membership. If you have more than two photographers in your studio, and want to submit work from them all, you’ll have to have individual accounts for each photographer instead.

What sizes should the images be to look the best?

Images at 1600px on the longest side will look perfect throughout the site. We do support larger (see below), but just know that if you upload at 1600px (longest side), they will look great, so no need to upload anything at a higher resolution than that.

Landscape images: Minimum 1600 px wide / Maximum 4000 px wide
Portrait images: Minimum 1067 px height / Maximum 4000 px height

Filesize: Maximum image size is 3MB

What aspect ratio do images need to be?

Images can be any aspect ratio you wish.

How do I enter images into the Reportage Awards and Story Awards?

***An in-depth guide on how to enter the awards is over here.***

Short version: To enter images/stories into the awards, first upload them. Then click ‘Your profile’, then ‘Portfolio’ and view your galleries. Click the submit icon (top-right of an image/story) to submit it into the upcoming competition. You can submit 10 individual images, and 3 stories, per competition. If you change your mind, click the submit icon again to de-select. It is only when the deadline of a competition is reached that we will use the 10 images and/or 3 stories that are currently selected, so feel free to change your mind as much as you like until that deadline. You need to be logged in to do this, and only you can see which images(s)/stories you have submitted; this information is not made known to anyone else (including brides/grooms viewing your galleries).

What kind of images can I upload? Do they all have to be documentary?

Yes, they do. You, as a photographer, may still do portraits or ‘couple time’ with your clients – and that’s totally fab – but what we are showcasing is the documentary aspect of your work. So, yes, only images taken naturally, without any direction, are allowed on the site. That also means no images from ‘portraits’, ‘first looks’ or ‘couple time’ sessions – there are plenty of other websites and directories where you can feature those shots (see further below for more specifics on what types of images are allowed and not).

Do I have to be a 100% documentary/reportage wedding photographer to join?

Absolutely not. As I say above, we’re just featuring the documentary aspect of your work; it’s totally fine if you do some portraits, ‘couple time’, groups etc; as long as you capture the vast majority of a wedding in a documentary, pose-free way – and you’re very good at doing so! – then we’d love to have you on board.

Can you be a bit more specific about what is allowed or not?

Sure, this is from our terms and conditions, which you’ll need to accept if you want to become a member:

As we are all about reportage wedding photography, any image(s) you upload must have been taken naturally, without any posing or guidance from you. By uploading images, you are specifically agreeing that:

• You did not pose the scene, or control the action in any way.
• You did not ask people to repeat something in order to obtain the image, or ask them to be still/motionless etc.
• That the image was not taken during a ‘portrait’, ‘first look’ or ‘couple time’ session (even if you don’t pose, or the moment itself is natural, the fact that it has been taken during a specific ‘portrait’, ‘first look’ or ‘couple time’ session means the images are ineligble for This Is Reportage; there are plenty of other websites for portrait/’couple time’ imagery).
• No images from engagement shoots or styled shoots are allowed.
• It is a single-exposure (double exposures, whether in-camera, or post, are ineligible)
• There are no watermarks on your images

Can you sum it up in one sentence?

“If that moment would have happened even if you – the photographer – weren’t there, then it’s allowed“. There, one sentence 🙂 Basically (to add another sentence to it!) we just want to show images that are totally natural (portraits, or even moments in-between a ‘couple time’ session, where the couple may just be walking back to the venue, for example, or to a different location, are not allowed, because those moments only happened because you – the photographer – were there (taking images during a set portrait/couple-time session). They wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t have taken them for that particular portrait session; and so they’re ineligible. (There are plenty of other websites that feature those images!).

How many images can I enter per contest?

10 individual images for our Reportage Awards, and 3 stories for our Story Awards, per contest. These entries are included in your subscription fee. We have six contests per year, so this means a total of 60 Reportage Award entries, and 18 Story Award entries, per year – all included in your membership fee.

Can I pay extra to enter more images/Stories to the contests?

No – we think its vitally important that every photographer is on the same level playing field, and can thus only enter the same number of images/Stories. This means that photographers with deeper pockets do not have any advantage, as they can not pay to enter more images/Stories, and thus everyone can enter the same amount. We think this is the fairest system.

So there are two different types of Awards?

Yes; we want to showcase and celebrate both individually excellent frames (our Reportage Awards), but also the power of great storytelling with our Story Awards (series of images from a single wedding).

How many images should a Story contain?

At least 15; maximum 20 – all from the same wedding.

What image formats do you accept?

JPG, GIF or PNG formats

What’s the max filesize I can upload per image?

The maximum image size is 4mb.

Can images be entered that have been taken from any year?

Yes, images submitted to our contest can be taken from any time.

Do you have any badges/logos I could use on my own website to say I’m a member?

We sure do: Feel free to use any of the logos/badges over here – they’re all PNG files so you can overlay them easily on to your website/images (just right-click them to save).

There are black borders on my banner pic, what’s up?

The site’s been designed for images in the 3:2 format, so photos wouldn’t be cropped; therefore, if you upload a banner pic that has been cropped by yourself a bit, then it’ll add black borders. So we definitely suggest using a standard, un-cropped 3:2 image for your banner pic. For the images you upload into galleries/enter the awards, these can be any kind of crops you want, and they will be displayed without any black borders – it is only for your banner pic that the borders will appear if your image isn’t 3:2.

Can you explain the judging process?

Sure can, and it’s very important we do so. Full details are over here.

Why is my profile not showing in search results?

To be found in search results, you have to upload at least a profile photo *and* a banner photo. Once you have uploaded those two things, you will be shown in search results.

Who are the judges?

We will have different judges for each collection (so that it’s not just the same people’s opinions/tastes giving the awards). We announce on our blog around a week or so before deadline who the current judges are.

What are the judges looking for when curating the Awards?

We have different judges for every collection, and each judge has their own criteria for what makes an award-winning image/Story – one of the best things about wedding photography is it is art, and is therefore incredibly subjective. However, you may be interested to read some of our Collection One Judges’ thoughts and insights on what they were personally looking for when judging our first collection.

How frequently will you be having contests?

Every two months; so six times a year. This is for both our Reportage Awards, and our Story Awards.

What’s included in my subscription, and how much does it cost?

We want to provide as much value for money as possible with our memberships, so you can see the full details of what’s included, as well as the cost, over here.

How many galleries can I upload to my profile?

You can upload as many galleries to your profile as you want.

How many images per gallery can I have?

Galleries can have as many images in them as you want.

What size minimum (in pixel width) should my selfie/profile pic be?

As long as you keep to the filesize limit (4000 px wide max; 4 MB max) we’ll resize your profile image – just keep in mind it will be cropped to 1:1 and will be framed in a circle.

Do I have to upload new images/stories per contest?

Totally up to you. One of the great things about the way we’ve designed our gallery system, is that, once images/Stories have been uploaded, you simply click on each image/story that you want to be eligible for each competition. So, for instance, you may decide that, for the next contest, you want to submit a few images that you entered last competition; you simply click those images, no need to re-upload them. Of course, you may want to enter some new images/Stories; you can do that, too, by uploading them and selecting them.

Do I get notified when my listing is approved, and how long does it take?

When your account is approved you’ll receive an email; you’ll then be able to login to your account, create your profile, galleries, and enter the awards. Your account will usually be assessed within 12 hours, but please give us up to 48 hours before contacting us.

Help, I haven’t received an email to say I’ve registered/been approved…

There’s a possibility that the emails may have gone into your spam/junk account, so please do check there before contacting us.

What happens if I’m not approved?

We’ll send you an email explaining why and we’ll refund you your subscription straight away.

What payment system do you use?

We accept all major credit and debit cards, or you can use Paypal if you prefer.

Can photographers based in any country join?

Yes indeed!

How does the directory sort/rank photographers?

Photographers are ranked by the number of Awards won in recent collections, with those on the same number of awards – or those who have yet to receive an award – displayed in a random order with each search. This works when viewing all members, searching by country, or by region. This ensures the fairest system for photographer visibility.

Is it an annual subscription?

Yes, but not one of those auto-renewing things; we hate those! You’ll simply get a couple of reminders near the time your membership is due to expire, with the option of renewing for another year, if you’d like to. If not, your account is simply deactivated. There will never be a payment going out without you knowing about it!

What is Reportage?

This is Reportage 😉