Announcing the SvenStudios 2023 Wedding Photo of the year winner!
I’m pleased to say that after another year of shooting weddings in Adelaide and around Australia, I can announce the people’s choice 2023 wedding photo of the year as shot by SvenStudios!
The photographs that were in conntention this year here were captured by SvenStudios during various weddings in 2022. The featured couples selected these specific images as their top favorites from all of the images we provided and the photograph that received the highest votes is entitled to a product voucher worth $500 towards printing some of their photos!
This competition is a way for us to express our gratitude to all the bridal couples we have worked with during the year, while also gathering feedback on how others perceive our photography beyond our own perspective.
Please note that these photographs may or may not align with our personal favorites from the weddings – which is kind of the point of running this contest – it’s all about learning what people like! While feedback and reviews are fantastic – there nothing like having a favourite image from each wedding given to us to understand what people see in our work!
The 2023 Wedding Photo of the year winner is –
Congratulations to Sash and Dan for winning the 2023 Wedding Photo of the year! You should have now recieved a $500 voucher to go towards some prints! I’d love to see what you choose!
Sash + Dan
The winner of the $100 cash prize for voting is –
Of course I also give out $100 cash each year to all those who cast a vote. 524 people cast their vote this year – that’;s pretty good odds! Please check your email if your (abbreviated) name is below!
A. Crisp
Thankyou to all those who voted and took part in this year’s Photo of the Year contest! Looking forward to what we see for 2024!
Every year, I hold a contest for all the married couples whose weddings I covered in the previous year (2022). I request each couple to choose their favorite photo from the wedding photos I took on their big day and nominate it for the ‘SvenStudios 2022 wedding photo of the year’ title. The winning couple receives a $500 voucher to use in their personal cloud-based store to produce and print whatever products they want.
I maintain a hands-off approach with the selection of the images, leaving it entirely to the couples to choose their favorite pictures, even if they differ from my personal selection. I have created a slideshow video of my favorite images from each wedding I covered in 2022, in case anyone is interested.
To encourage more participation, I offer a cash prize of AU$100 to a randomly chosen voter after the voting period ends. To maintain fairness, I have an anti-duplicate detection system in place to deter any cheating or duplicate voting. This year, I am also adding an extra entry to the draw for anyone who shares their vote on social media.
Please note that sharing on social media is not mandatory to submit a vote, as not everyone has social media accounts. However, in past contests, the winning image has been the most voted and shared on social media. Therefore, every individual vote and share counts and goes into the draw to win the cash prize.
So, vote for your favorite photo and share it on Facebook to show your support. Remember, each vote and share is a chance to win the AU$100 cash prize.
You may have noticed on my socials, or on my website a new logo popping up about the place? Well this is part of the SvenStudios Rebrand – a simple refresh on what SvenStudios is all about and how we go about things.
I have been shooting weddings for over 16 years now – I’ve shot over 350 in Australia and around the world and over this time I’ve developed a bit of a unique mentality when it comes to shooting weddings. More recently my wife, Luisa has joined me primarily shooting the videography while I’m taking the photos – which is a bit of a change on how I would otherwise operate.
With a clear vision on what SvenStudios is all about when it comes to wedding photography and videography, and the changes in our underlying business model, the ‘SvenStudios rebrand’ was born!
First up is the new SvenStudios Logo – our new logo is representative of all the things that SvenStudios believes in and gives an insight into our goals when shooting at a wedding in an abstract way.
Old Logo
OLD LOGO
The old SvenStudios logo was modelled on the typical ‘camera iris’ motif that was quite common to use as a photographer’s logo back when I made it about 16 years ago. Back then my primary focus was landscape and travel photography – so I transformed the iris into a bit of a landscape scene.
If you look closely you can see me on the lower right standing with a tripod on a beach. Directly behind is a lighthouse, then a bird makes up the top of the logo, and finally a wave crashing into the beach where I’m standing. This creates a bit of a narrative for the viewer based loosely on how the fibonacci spiral works in the composition of photography – telling a story within an image.
As you can see the logo has undergone a radical simplification – making it more modern and simplified – but hidden in it’s simplicity is still quite a bit of meaning, just a bit more abstract than my old logo.
SvenStudios Logo Meaning
New Logo
NEW LOGO
I wanted the new SvenStudios logo to represent our past, but also what we are all about now. The past is represented in the new logo by keeping the circular shape – representing the camera iris. The center of the new logo is also still white showing that the attention to detail and development of stunning works of art in our photography is paramount.
There are two major factors in what we focus most on when producing our work, and that is the landscape surrounding us, and the married couple. These two factors are represented by the top section and the bottom section of the logo, which come together to make an ‘S’ for SvenStudios.
Here’s a bit of an animation illustrating this thought process.
SvenStudios Rebrand – Greener
It’s the focus on the landscape and producing works of art within the context of a wedding that has caused the development of our unique style of wedding photography – it’s an important part of why we have been so successful.
To show our connection to our surrounds and show it respect, we realised that we needed to preserve what we have.
SvenStudios has always been carbon neutral by offsetting 3 tonnes of carbon per year while also donating to the Australian disaster relief fund, while also giving discounts to members of the CFS and emergency services – but now we have become a member of 1% for the Planet.
This means that a minimum of 1% of all sales through SvenStudios is to be donated to an Earth Friendly charity.
1% for the Planet
This amazing initiative is geared towards businesses of all sizes across the globe and it’s a small price to pay for preserving what we have, and what we use to make a living – ie our surrounds! To date, the initiative has given over US$435 million in environmental solutions, and now SvenStudios – with your help, will also be contributing.
Have a look out for Ritamaree and Sydney’s wedding that was featured in the Sunday Mail today! It’s always fun to have a wedding I shot be featured in a big newspaper like the Sunday Mail!
It’s the 4th time I’ve had a Sunday Mail Feature, with the last being back in March of 2021 🙂
Sunday Mail Feature
Sunday Mail Feature – Jan 8, 2023
Ritamaree Varricchio &
Sydney Sparrow
Married at Sunnybrae Dunction Centre, followed by a celebration at the Donato Reception Centre
PEONY-loving bride Ritamaree chose the date for her marriage to Sydney based on when her favourite flower would be in bloom.
“I wanted peonies… yes, I based my entire wedding around these flowers,” she laughs.
“I also wanted a cake that would showcase some beautiful pink peonies and Rebecca (Rebecca’s Cakes) made this dream come true.”
The couple opted to have their ceremony, officiated by celebrant Annette Perry, in the pavilion at Sunnybrae Estate, which they say is a first, moving to an indoor location for their reception, sharing the special occasion with 170 guests.
Photos were taken in the garden at each venue, as well as Port Adelaide’s wool stores.
“Sydney used to live in Port Adelaide and the very first time we drove past (the wool stores) together he told me that we would take our wedding photos there.” she says.
Social Worker Ritamaree, 27, the daughter of Dernancourt’s Elisa and Silvio Varricchio, pays tribute to her sister and matron of honour Cassandra whom she says she couldn’t have done it without, in the lead-up to her specil day.
Cassandra was joined in the bridal party by bridesmaids Chelsea Marks and Medica Eliepa and Ritamaree’s godson, Miliano Di Pinto.
Sydney had two best men, Ashley Olsen and Kieran McCutcheon, accompanied by the bride’s brother, Luciano Varricchio, as a groomsman.
Draftsman Sydney, 29, proposed to Ritamaree, who he met on dating app Tinder seven years earlier, in the rose garden at the Adelaide Botanic Garden.
The couple plan to honeymoon in the US later this year.
Last night I attended the 2022 Onkaparinga Business Awards presentation event hosted at the Mclaren Vale visitor center and by the lovely ladies behind Adelady. I expected to head out there, enjoy the free food, gin and icecream, then head home after rubbing shoulders with the owners of the best businesses the Onkaparinga region has to offer.
lo and behold I actually managed to win my category! SvenStudios was crowned as the ‘best artist, musician or creator’ in the city of Onkaparinga for 2022, and it’s all thanks to everyon who voted!
The award is given to the most voted for business in any given category – SvenStudios’ category being ‘Captivating creative services’ and then all the voted for businesses are given sub categories. So thankyou everyone who voted! Means a lot!
icecream
Winner onkaparinga business awards
SvenStudios with adelady
SvenStudios was originally placed in the ‘Marketing, Design and Media’ category, but then was changed to the ‘Artist, Musician or Creator’ category, which suited what I do better as the other finalists in the formaer category seemed to cater more towards other businesses, and corperate clients, while I focus on domestic photography, for familes and of course weddings!
I believe this was the first year where the awards has a specific category for artsists, or creators so it’s pretty awesome to win it at the 2022 Onkaparinga Business Awards! I had been entering and trying to agther votes over the past few years but never got to be a finalist until last night!
These past few years have been insanely hectic and stressful in the wedding industry, but everything is coming up Milhouse today!