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4 Things Wedding Photographers Should Always Prepare For

  • Wedding rings on shoes

 

Wedding Day Preparations Every Photographer Should Make

Wedding photography is entirely different from studio photography. At a wedding, you can’t tell your bride and groom to redo their poses if you messed up your shot. You’re dealing with live moments, and you need to act fast.

A good wedding photographer knows how to adapt to any situation, and they know what to do when something goes wrong with their initial plan. This is a list of a few things that wedding photographers should always prepare for, but it isnt a list of common sense items like extra batteries or a second or third camera body as backups.

This is more of a list of things wedding photographers should prepare for that you might not have thought of yet.

4 Things Wedding Photographers Should Always Prepare For

  1. Outdoor photoshoot using natural lighting

As a wedding photographer, you should know when is the best time to do outdoor wedding photoshoots. Taking outdoor photos is more complicated than staying indoors as you will never know how much light or how good or bad the weather is on the day of the wedding.

I always hope for a little bit of cloud cover making the outdoors closer to being inside, but when it’s super sunny – as it so often is in Australia – I like to use the shade a lot.

Most non-photographers don’t know that taking photos at noon is not ideal since the sunlight is very bright and harsh. Unlike during the golden hour, the light is more flattering for the couples. If you can, talk to the bridal couple beforehand and request to take the photoshoot at a specified time of the day.

To help you out, here is a detailed comparison between midday and golden hour that you can share with your client:

Midday – the sun’s peak

  • Shadow is not flattering to the body
  • Creates shadows in the surroundings
  • Overhead light creates a strong shadow on the face
  • Hot temperature leads to sweaty and shiny skin
  • Light is strong and harsh, making the couple squint
  • Overall: awkward, over-exposed, and unflattering images

Golden Hour – one to two hours before sunset

  • Soft light keeps the face free of harsh shadows
  • Lower temperature relaxes the couple
  • Less intense sky is flattering to the face and body
  • Warmer tone light creates an intimate and romantic look
  • Overall: relaxed, flattering, and romantic images
Inglewood Inn wedding photo at the cottage
  1. Bad weather conditions

Weather is unpredictable, so you must always anticipate possible scenarios. Having a back-up plan for bad weather is one of the things wedding photographers should always prepare for. It is crucial that you know how to shoot in all weather and are prepared to get a bit wet sometimes.

Here are some things that you should have, in case of unwanted weather disasters:

During warm seasons

  • It’s going to be bright outside so try using an ND filter to keep your depth of field soft
  • If you have an assistant, carry a reflector to direct some light to the harsh shadows
  • A drink bottle to hydrate!

During colder seasons

  • Lighting equipment for dimmer locations
  • Bring umbrellas for the birde and groom and possibly your camera
  • Extra batteries as the cold weather drain the battery faster – but you should be doing that anyway.
Lightning
  1. Camera angles

Before the ceremony begins, make sure to check on the location regardless of whether it is outdoors or indoors. Assess the place and see what position captures a good shot of the bride’s entrance, the taking of vows, the wedding kiss, and other highlights of the ceremony.

Also, consider the lighting in the area, where is the best place to get a shot of the faces of the bride and groom, etc? Plan out how you will move around the place while the ceremony is on-going. If you have a team with you, it will help if you assign designated areas to each photographer.

Burbrook forest wedding tree
  1. Use of fill-flash

Fill-flash can also be used outdoors while the sun is up. Typically, a wedding photographer would not recommend a shoot at midday, as this creates sharp shadows in the face. However, the light from the flash will help fill out the under-eye shadows of the bride and groom. It also helps balance images that have backlighting.

As a wedding photographer, you should know when to use fill-flash to balance out the light to your images. It is not always necessary, in fact I try not to use it during the day as much as possible, but it is better to equip yourself with knowledge and proper gear in case it is needed.

Under a weeping willow

Wedding photography is a hard task because you are dealing with real-life events. If you messed up or missed a good moment, you will never get a chance to capture it again. Thus, wedding photographers are skilled and experienced professionals that anticipate every scenario to make sure that everything is in their control.

Hopefully this list of things wedding photographers should always prepare for has alerted you to some of the things you may not have thought of yet before heading out to shoot a wedding. I’ve tried to include points that arent in other, similar lists, so hopefully it was some help 🙂

If you or you know someone who is looking for an Adelaide-based wedding photographer, contact us at SvenStudios today – we can help capture precious and intimate moments on wedding days!

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7 Different Wedding Photography Styles

Wedding Photography Styles

Aside from the wedding programme, dress, cake, buffet, and décor, you should also invest money and time in hiring a wedding photographer that will help relive your special day through the photographic art they create. More than anything, wedding photos are something you can keep years after the wedding that will help you reminisce your special day. They narrate the important scenarios in your wedding and capture intimate moments.

Placing wedding ring on her finger

If you are getting married soon, and you still can’t decide what kind of wedding photographs you would like to have, here is a list of sevendifferent wedding photography styles to help you narrow down your options. While a wedding photogrrapher might lean towards using mostly a single style – they are all part of a competent professional’s repatroir.

7 Different Wedding Photography Styles

Style #1: Traditional or Classic Shots

Traditional shots pertain to wedding photography that your parents or grandparents most likely had. These shots are straightforward and are typically captured at eye level. Most of the time, wedding celebrants and guests pose for this kind of photography.

Best for:

Bride and groom standing together in forest
bride and groom in the long grass
Giving each other hugs

Style #2: Photojournalistic Shots

Photojournalistic shots epitomise mordern wedding photography in my opinion. These photographs capture stories and moments in your wedding that you would most likely miss as a bride or groom, and therefore has become quite a popular way to approach wedding photography in modern times.

Best for:

  • Capturing candid and heartfelt moments
  • Telling stories through emotions or actions
  • Unfolding memories of the wedding years after
Bouquet toss
Bride and groom holding one another on driveway
Bride about to leave for wedding ceremony

Style #3: Editorial Shots

If you and your partner like to pose on cameras, this style is the best option for you. It is great for a wedding that has a specific theme, as you can use these photos on your wedding invitations, wedding favours, and thank-you and appreciation cards.

Best for:

  • Themed weddings
  • Couples who like to have prenup shoots
Paxton winery wedding 2
Bride and Groom together in the vineyard
Inglewood Inn Wedding Photo

Style #4: Landscape Shots

Many couples today take their engagement and wedding photos with landscapes. This style is great if you want to feature the location of your wedding ceremony, whether it is on a beach or mountain. The beauty of the landscape also adds drama to your photos, making it look more intimate. Not to mention that it would look great when you decide to print a photo book of your wedding.

As a former Landscape photographer of the year – I absolutely love incorporating some landscape work into my photography!

Best for:

  • Scenic wedding locations
  • Couples who love nature or adventure
Belair National Park wedding photo
Thera, Santorini Wedding
Bride and groom under a fallen tree

Style #5: Aerial Shots

As with landscape style, using modern technology like drones, a photographer is able to capture a wider view of your wedding location. Capturing your wedding from a wider perspective can make the people looking at the picture feel that they are part of your precious wedding.

Best for:

  • Featuring scenic wedding location
  • Capturing meaningful moments of the wedding such as ceremony exits
Drone shot from above
Ekhidna wines wedding at sunset
Middleton beach Wedding

Style #6: Dark and Moody Shots

As the name implies, it is dark and moody, but it does not mean that the photographs will look sad and intense. Instead, these kinds of shots can make your wedding photos look more dramatic and intimate.

Best for:

  • Couples who would love to break wedding norms
  • Wedding locations that have great lightings
Bride and groom through the window
Wedding dress hanging in window
Belair National Park wedding photo 2

Style #8: Black and White Shots

If you want to have classic-looking and elegant wedding photos, then you should do this style. With these shots, photographers focus more on capturing moments and making them look dramatic through editing.

Best for:

  • Timeless photographs
  • Highlighting emotions and actions
Bride and groom through the window at Paxton Winery
bride and groom under Gollops Bridge on their wedding day
Tieing tie in front of window

 

There are many different wedding photography styles, and this list only barely scratches the surface of them all. If you want to have classic wedding photos, you should do traditional or black and white shots. For dramatic and intimate stills, photojournalistic, landscape, and aerial styles would be best for you. You can also do fine art, dark and moody, or editorial shots if you want to have themed and creative wedding photographs.

The easy part is finding a style of photograph you like, the hard part is matching your tastes with a photographer! If you are looking for a wedding photographer, get in touch with us today. We offer high-quality photography services that can help capture and relive the precious and intimate moments on your wedding day!

Why Newborn Photography is so Important

  • baby feet

 

Importance of Newborn Photography

Welcoming a newborn to the family is a thrilling experience for many. It is a powerful experience that can send goose bumps down your spine. The joy that envelops your heart when you hold your little one’s feet and cuddle them is incomparable.

As a newborn photographer, it’s my utmost delight to help parents capture moments they can proudly look back on many years later. When you look at your little one’s baby photos, you can’t help but fall deeply in love all over again and hold them dear to your heart.

For the first few weeks after a baby is born into the family, many parents find themselves deeply engrossed in activities that show they genuinely love this little bundle of joy. You might find yourself kissing your baby’s forehead, caressing their hand, and gently stroking their feet every moment you can remember. And when your baby grabs your hand firmly as you try to caress them, it will be as though your whole heart as been captured. The feeling is truly unimaginable.

That little bundle of cuteness you expected for many months has finally arrived, and the awesomeness of this tiny creature still wows you. Newborn photography is a perfect way to capture these magical moments and preserve them forever, which is why newborn photography is so important!

Happy bub

In as much as you want to cuddle this bundle of joy forever, your baby will grow very fast and turn into an adult before your eyes – all too soon. Then you will be left with these memories you have preserved, which will allow for you to cherish them even more than ever and proudly show them to your child who might have blossomed into adulthood. This is a massive reason why newborn photography is so important!

Just imagine sitting together with your kids, and grabbing your “memory book” Imagine the slowly sneaking smile that will envelop your face as you all look through a collection of photos that clearly shows how lovely they were when they were just a few weeks old. Your child will not only be happy to see these photos, but they will be happy that you took so much time and effort to preserve those priceless moments as well.

In a basket

Hire a Trained Newborn Photographer

Hiring the best hands for a newborn photography shoot is just as crucial as preserving these memories. Not every photographer can do this. And it requires someone with experience and expertise to soothe a baby and understand why newborn photography is so important.

As a newborn photographer, I have invested a lot of time and resources to become an expert and a go-to professional. Many years ago, I discovered my calling in photography, and I decided to become highly skilled in it. Directly working with young children as a registered teacher in South Australia (reg no. 601292) also helped immensely with child handling and how to work safely with children.

Newborn photography is not all about images—It’s about trust and professionalism. Sadly, many do not realise this. Before a parent hires someone to take their newborn some quality photos, they must have entrusted the safety of their baby to the person. Newborns are not as strong as toddlers. Therefore they require proper handling during a photoshoot session.

Baby Smiles

At SvenStudios, we aim to create memories of your precious little one that you will be proud to look back on with smiles all over your face. Everyone in the family will treasure such memories for generations to come.

Birthing a baby is a huge milestone in one’s life that deserves some documenting. Newborn photography is a beautiful way to save these memories for the future. Hire an expert photography service that knows how to align with these emotions to create digital images that you envisioned. We can also be put on call for maternity or birth photography if desired!

Working with an expert in the field of newborn photography has a lot of benefits. These include not having to spend the entire day trying to explain your needs. I have worked with many parents to create a dazzling newborn photography shoot. This has helped me to understand their desires and design my service to satisfy these needs.

As a father myself I turely understand why newborn photography is so important and I would like nothing more to use my skills in helping you remmeber this special moment in your lives!

If you would like to find out more about my newborn photography service, or you would like to book a time that is convenient for you to discuss your needs with me, contact me right away. I promise you will be speaking with a real human and not a robot. I will help you preserve those precious times forever.

Family Portraits and How Important they can be

  • Looking over Mum and Dad's shoulder

 

Family Portraits and How Important they can be

Many people are easily overwhelmed by the thought of preserving their family history. You may not know where to start as you stare at the family photos piled up in your living room. You are not alone in this; preserving family photos and making them heirlooms can be a daunting process for anyone.

How would you feel if you look at your family portrait ten years from now with your grownup kids and see no picture? It’s hard to imagine, but that’s what happens when you don’t make the effort to record your family in that moment of time. That is the primary goal of family portraits – to transform images into heirlooms that can be treasured forever. We all want to treasure our family as it is right now, and create memories that will last for a lifetime.

Imagine looking at your family portrait, and all you see is a special place and time you once cherished in your life. You see the memories, the connection and emotions rushing back in like the waves of the ocean. You see the ones your heartbeat for staring back at you. Yes, that is the feeling an ideal family portrait helps you to nurture.

For those that have lost their loved ones, staring at a well-captured family portrait might prompt them to say, “Each time I look at these photos, I feel dad is still with me.” Or maybe it’s all about remembering how cute and little your children were back then.

Family photographer Adelaide

Family Portraits as Heirlooms

As a professional family portrait photographer, I have a keen interest in storytelling using images and words. Family portraits can become heirlooms when there is a secure connection between the family photo and the story behind it. Years to come, as you share these portraits with other family members, you subconsciously create more stories that deepen the connection and unite the family even more.

Family portraits connect us to those who were born before us. When we go through these photos, we are reminded of the things that matter. It makes us travel back in time and discover details that were long forgotten about our family history. As we hold these photos close to our hearts, we desire to pass them on to other generations. Thus, we are preserving our family history subconsciously out of love.

Heirloom photography is not an old-fashioned phenomenon. The timeless quality they possess radiates more meaning as time passes. You can use it to capture special moments in your family history, and show it to others. So when you look back to it, you can’t help but cherish how far you all have been together as one united family.

Family photography

A Family Photographer That Knows You

Are you searching for a family portrait photographer whose mission is to create memories? Then, search no more! I love heading out with a family and conducting fine art portrait sessions they will cherish. Moreover, I deliver studio portraits to families in their own homes, along with newborn and children photography if desired.

The physical products I can produce to showcase your family portraits in pride of place on your wall are second to none and are guaranteed on lasting for generations.

Because quality matters and most families will go the extra mile to get it, I strive to build a robust relationship with my clients before the actual photoshoot session begins. My job is not just to take photos but also to prepare the family in what to expect and how best to prepare for the best possible photographs.

Heirloom family portraits and photography is an investment that is worth every cent spent. I know your quest to preserve your family history is unending. You are not alone in this journey. Fortunately, I’f be happy to help out! Hire a professional family portrait photographer that will help you to preserve those precious moments forever.

 

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3 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

  • Groom picking up bride through window

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Wedding Photographer

With your big day’s date set, your bridesmaids and groomsmen chosen, venue picked out, and invitations sent, much anticipation will come in the days leading up to your wedding.

As something that you’ve probably dreamt of ever since you were young, tying the knot with the love of your life is undoubtedly an unforgettable experience that should be done right.

Now that you’ve got almost all your arrangements in order and some deposits made, you may still looking for a professional wedding photographer.

Why it matters to choose wisely and what mistakes to avoid

Among all the different parts of your wedding ceremony that need to be sorted out, the wedding photographer you hire is especially important because they’re responsible for capturing the memories you’ll want to look back on in the years to come.

From the time before you walk down to the aisle to the first dance you have as a married couple, a photographer will be there to capture everything they need, and they’ll do it well.

Unfortunately, many couples end up overlooking this important detail and end up choosing poorly, only to find out that the photos they recieved didn’t quite capture the magic of the event.

Inglewood Inn Wedding Photo

Avoid These 3 Mistakes When Choosing a Wedding Photographer

Thankfully, making sure that your wedding coverage is in the right hands doesn’t have to entail going on some adventure or spending more than half of your wedding budget on a “pro-rated” shutterbug. In this article, we will share with you three mistakes to avoid when choosing your wedding photographer:

  1. Going for the cheapest photographer

Look, I dont like to say it, because it really doesnt hold true 100% of the time, but when it comes to your wedding photography: ‘you get what you pay for’. Going cheap, or asking uncle Bill with his fancy camera to take your photos may seem like a good way to save a few thousand dollars, but you’re more than likely going to regret it after.

Seeing that a wedding is a special event that you’ll never have again in your lifetime, it should make sense that going for a cheaper option is a tragedy waiting to happen. There are stories like this almost monthly on those horrible shows like Today Tonight. It happens, and dont think it wont happen to you.

That said though, you can do your own personal vetting, and you may find some very talented individual on the cheap as they might be startingout or something. I wouldnt risk it though.

During your search, it’s important to note that you should invest a bit more money into a team that has many good reviews, positive testimonials, and engaging shots. Try not to book a photographer without having looked through an entire album of a completed wedding they have done previously.

  1. Not having a meeting before the wedding itself.

Any professional photographer knows the importance of setting up a meeting with a couple before their big day because it gives a chance to iron out any requests and considerations. As a photographer, it also allows me to guage the kind of personality of the couple and work with that in order to produce images that perfectly reflect that couple’s day.

Overlooking the need for a meeting is a mistake to avoid when choosing your wedding photographer because you’ll go into your wedding day without any coordination or proper expectation of how your shots are going to look like.

By meeting up with your chosen wedding photographer, you’ll be able to make sure that you’re both on the same page in terms of style to ensure that they’re getting the shots you’ve always wanted! You can also browse previous weddings the photographer has shot and possibly samples of albums.

  1. Not checking out reviews

An easy mistake to avoid when choosing your wedding photographer is going for the very first option they see without first considering reviews. The beauty of the internet is that you’re able to gain access to many review sources of any wedding vendor written by previous bridal couples. Be sure they are from a reputable source though as some review sites can be exploited with fake reviews.

ABIA is one such review site with a good reputation as they thoroughly vette each review they recieve.

Thanks to the Internet, you can find out everything that you need to know about a particular professional, how they work, and what experience you should expect with them. With a quick search on the web, you can learn more about the past experiences and reviews that previous clients and couples have had with a particular professional and work up from there.

Photo of the year contest JessChris
Bride and groom amongst gum trees

As one of the most important parts of your big day, the photographer that you hire can make a huge difference in how it goes. This makes it even more important to avoid common and crucial mistakes along the way.

Thinking of these mistakes to avoid when choosing your wedding photographer, you won’t have to break a sweat over worrying about whether or not you have made the right choice!

Our team of professional wedding photographers based in Adelaide also services weddings in Darwin, Canberra, and Hobart. Schedule an appointment with us today to see how we can help!