As I recently moved house and desired a place to showcase my work in front of my clients, I decided to convert the lounge room in my new house into a home cinema of sorts that doubles as my client preview room. If you’re thinking of choosing me as your wedding or portrait photographer, rest assured you’re going to be pleased with the images I present you in my new preview room. The benefit of having a preview room like this is that my clients now have a far better understanding of the quality and overall aesthetic of the images I produce and show them. I’m also able to show new prospective clients my previous work in detail far surpassing anything I was able to earlier.
SvenStudios client preview room
SvenStudios preview room
I invite anyone who would like to have a look at my work, both potential and prior clients, to come visit and I will utilize my new client preview room. I can even set up some music if you like. 🙂
As part of my continued quest to provide better wedding photography services to my clients, SvenStudios has become an ABIA accredited supplier. The Australian Bridal Industry Academy (ABIA) was founded in 1997 to protect the bridal customer and promote the bridal supplier. Their goal is to provide prospective brides with first hand accounts and reliable reviews regarding wedding suppliers they may consider hiring for their wedding.
I have attained the status of a first year ‘appointed bridal industry associate’ due to recent brides and grooms who have reviewed me on the ABIA portal. Almost every wedding that takes place is registered with ABIA, and after the day the organisation invites the newly weds to review any suppliers they may have employed on their day. My ABIA Accredited status is a representation of clients who have rated, reviewed and recommended my business. In fact, despite only joining ABIA in the last 2 months, according to my ABIA listing I have achieved a rating from previous brides of 94% and was a nominee for the 2016 South Australian wedding photographer of the year.
I am very much looking forward to the opportunity that ABIA represents in providing a national, transparent portal for new clients to read about the quality of service I provide my clients. I also look forward to being a nominee next year! The ABIA awards are unique in that they are awarded solely on the reviews of wedded couples after their wedding day based on 4 criteria – Quality of Product, Quality of Service, Value for Money and Attitude of Staff. So the awards are given out not by merit of technical photographic prowess like the AIPP awards, but more the service side of weddings, which I believe to be just as important! I am already a multiple award winning photographer for my technical ability, so I’m looking forward to being recognised for my service!
Just imagine your wedding day, about to walk down the aisle to the arms of the man of your dreams, or you’re standing there at the altar waiting 20mins after your ceremony was supposed to start, and wondering if your fiancée is going to show up at all…
View from behind bride
A lot of planning has gone in to today. A lot of work. A lot of energy and emotion. You’ve had a great morning getting ready and you know this will be the best day of your life… then why are you about to choomp your nails off from the knuckle? You stomach feels as though it’s down by the beach and you’d love to join it.
If the world ran on logic, you know this day will run well, you’ll be partying about at your reception in about 3 hours time after having had your wedding photography taken by the best wedding photographer in Adelaide, so what is there to worry about?
Overcoming wedding nerves
All of this is a good thing and is completely natural. Being nervous keeps us alive and wedding nerves just show us that your senses are on overdrive! you notice that little bird singing that annoying song, your heartbeat, the tick of the giant grandfather clock in the entrance way to the church. You notice things you wouldn’t normally.
Your nerves are what have enabled you to get everything the way it is, the way you’ve dreamt it should be and the way it’s going down today. You’re not nervous you are EXCITED. Tell yourself that. Your body has no way of telling the difference between “I am nervous!” and “I am excited!” So instead of getting anxious, try to train yourself to tell yourself how excited you are instead, as it’s all the same thing neurologically speaking.
You have nothing to be nervous about, your wedding nerves are just you being excited about all your hard work coming into fruition. Get out there and marry your life partner!
Each wedding is different, however somethings at wedding just don’t change. This is a general rundown on how I approach my wedding photography on any given wedding day.
Generally speaking, depending on the time of your ceremony, the way I like to approach my wedding photography is that I will start at the groomsmen house first for around 30-45 minutes and start taking photos of the preparations going on there. Often the men will be milling about waiting for something to happen, so I can be that something, if you’re looking for preparation photos of course. Usually the traditional shots taken here are the rings being exchanged between the groom and best man, adjustment of ties by family members, the party together doing something, possibly heckling the groom, or standing together, jumping, etc. This serves as a bit of a warm-up for the rest of your day really, getting used to me being there taking photos in a relaxed environment is something to take the nerves off.
Bride holding bouquet
After, I head to the bridal party’s place hopefully before the dress gets put on, as I like to take a photo of it draped over some furniture or a bed. This often happens 1-2 hours before we head out to the ceremony. As it’s being put on, photos of little things like makeup, baby photos, something old, new, borrowed, blue, etc are taken. Then the big reveal and the girls together, etc. Much like the groomsmen photos, but I usually have much more time with the bridal party.
I then follow the cars to the ceremony where I try to turn as invisible as possible, can be difficult depending on the venue. For instance a church has very limited areas to move about in, where as a beach I could run about as much as I like without getting in the way. The traditional shots like you two together at the altar, speeches, vows, exchanging of rings, first kiss are taken then. After, depending on where you are going to be signing the marriage certificate, photos of this, or shots of you walking back down the aisle with people congratulating you/throwing petals/rice, etc then the certificate. All depends, each wedding is unique, but the same in their own ways.
Inglewood Inn Wedding Photo
After is my time to shine, after I take any shots with family and friends you desire, I’m able to take the bridal party away into any locations you may wish to take photos in. Be it a garden you like, the beach, an old building, etc. Some locations require special permission to take photos in, so I will inform you if your location is one such place, but generally speaking any place open to the public 24/7 is ok. There are always exceptions, so I’ll make sure you know. This is the time where I take the photos you would usually hang up on your wall. I’m able to pose and direct you in ways that look natural to take the best shots possible.
Bride and groom throught the vineyards
Crozier street wedding photo
Then comes the reception. If you’re willing to feed me (because I tend to get a bit hungry by then) I can stay right throughout the night, usually up until after the first dance. I take photos of everyone there, people enjoying themselves, you cutting the cake, any traditional shots like the first dance, throwing the bouquet/garter, the entrance, etc.
first dance in blue smoke
Generally speaking the photos themselves take about 1-2 months to process, can be more depending on the season, and they arrive in a custom box. You may get somewhere between 600-800 edited photos. I will supply the original colour version, but I may have used my artistic licence to make it look vintage, or black and white. In which case you will receive all different versions on the USB.
I’m more than willing to answer any questions regarding my process, so don’t be afraid to ask. You can get in contact with me on this website.
The problem when choosing your wedding photographer is that it’s very different to shopping for your wedding dress or floral decorations as you cannot see the photos until after the day has already passed! All you have to work off in a potential photographer is their prior work and testimonials, possibly from people you had already commissioned said photographer.
Personally I receive most of my enquiries through this very method. I may have covered a friend of a friend of your’s wedding and you’ve only heard good things regarding the resulting photos, or how relatable I was during the day. This sort of feedback is invaluable to me as it reaffirms my practice as a service and product that is valued highly by my previous clients, plus of course it drives more business to my door.
Wedding dress in windows
Make sure you like your photographer’s style though, and don’t be afraid to ask for similar photos you may have seen in friend’s photos or in magazines. When choosing your wedding photographer, they should always aim to please and provide what you feel you require from their services. Your special day will be documented for all time through the eyes and talent of this photographer, so look at their professional history, their portfolio, education, associations (with for example the AIPP) and possibly how they work on the day so you feel comfortable.
Choosing your wedding photographer is important as they will be an integral part of one of the most important days of your life. Any photographer worth their salt will be nearby throughout the day to capture each precious moment that arises to best tell the story of the day through pictures, rather than simply developing a range of unlinked pictures.
Ekhidna wines wedding
It all depends on the client of course, but as an experienced wedding photographer, I’ve been involved on a wedding day in a variety of ways, not just taking photos. I’ve been asked for advice on decorations, help with setting up things, grabbing tissues for sobbing family members, etc. Not many people get married very often so I guess it’s reassuring having someone there who has seen and experienced quite a few different weddings to foresee any issues that may arise.
Once you’ve chosen a few potential wedding photographers, send off a few emails looking for further details on pricing and the possibility of meeting face-to-face. This can be important as who wants to be photographed by a tense, nervous, or even abusive photographer? You’ll be stressed enough on your wedding without the need for all that. Think about the person behind the camera and how they will work with you when choosing your wedding photographer.
Your wedding photographer should be able to outline how they will tailor their service to your day, to your timeline, and your desires. It’s what you pay them for. As a wedding photographer, the main complaint I hear from my client’s dealings with photographers in the past is the formulaic approach many tend to work by. They tend get the same shots at each wedding, and nothing is unique wedding to wedding. I feel this is boring and I try to rectify this by personalising my work to my clients. You’ll see in my gallery examples of this where for example, I take hobbies of my clients and integrate them into my work.
Finally, for heaven’s sake, don’t go on just price alone. Your cousin’s son who has a nice camera might be able to do your wedding for $100, but would it be any better than you as the bride or groom ran about with a mobile phone taking ‘selfies’ all day? It’s very short sighted and you definitely get what you pay for. That said however don’t just jump on the bandwagon of the highest price either. These photographers may or may not be worth the cash. Possibly they may be really good at marketing their work, but not so crash hot with photography. Do your research first.
Darwin’s Pride rock
The best photographer in my view is someone who genuinely enjoys what they do and treats each wedding as if it were their own. This is the mantra I go by as a wedding photographer as it seems to work. Some websites tend to quote a photographer as being 12% of your whole wedding budget as a guide. I don’t know about that, but it’s entirely up to you and what you can afford, but when choosing your wedding photographer, it’s generally advised not to go the budget route
Just remember, especially in Adelaide, Australia there are hundreds of professional wedding photographers competing for your wedding. It is the city of churches, after all. I do my best to provide what you expect on a personal basis, and so far my clients have been very happy with my work.
