3 Proposal Photography Tips to Capture the Moment

Proposal Photography Tips

Photos are all about capturing perfect moments. They freeze time in place for you to recollect on the past, conjuring memories and emotions that you can look back on. Whether of your firstborn child or you graduating from school, these pictures are often priceless.

Because these photos are so valuable, you would want to ensure that they are the best they can be, especially for important milestones, like a marriage proposal. If you need help to capture the perfect surprise proposal photo, here are some proposal photography tips to keep in mind.

Capture Unforgettable Moments with These 3 Proposal Photography Tips

Plan the Perfect Proposal

Planning is key to success. While you can get away with doing everything last minute, you can get the best results if you take the time to plan. Go over as many aspects of the proposal as possible. This includes getting the ring, finding the right location for the proposal, and thinking of what you want to say when you finally do it. If you want the picture to be professional and high-quality, consider planning to hire a professional photographer as well.

Time it! Find a spot that’s memoriable and at the right time of day too! A cliff face might seem awesome, but your photos won’t look nearly as good in the middle of the day as they would during the golden hour. Your partner would appreciate the timing as more romantic too.

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Proposal

Find The Right Professional Photographer

Speaking of professional photographers, you should try to find a photographer that is knowledgeable of the area, allowing them to position themselves strategically and snap stunning photos. Don’t be afraid to have your favourite photographer travel to your favourite spot too! Every phtoographer’s style is different, so if you love one’s specific work, hire them! Even if they live on the other side of the world!

Of course this wouldnt be cheap, but photographers are always keen on shooting destination weddings or engagements!

Once you find a photographer, be sure to share your plans. This can include the location where you are going to propose, the time you are going to show up, and the signals you will give them to show that you are “ready” to propose. This can help the photographer prepare themselves for the picture-perfect moment.

Engagement

Identify the location for Your Proposal

As far as proposal photography tips are concerned, selecting a perfect location is a vital aspect of your plan for many reasons. First, different locations will have different aesthetics, meaning your pictures will look different in different areas. Second, it will affect how “secret” a photographer can be.

For instance, if you are planning to propose in a busy area, your photographer will be able to easily blend in. On the other hand, if you want to propose somewhere else more peaceful, such as a park, the photographer will have to work a little harder to stay discreet. I like to hide in tees 🙂

One Tree Hill Engagement shoot

Proposals can be an exciting but nerve-wracking moment in your life. Its success will hinge on not only your partner’s response but also how good your photographer is. With that said, try to stick to your plans as much as possible, but do not be afraid to wing it if needed.

If you are working with an experienced photographer, they will always be at the ready to capture the beautiful moment. Whether you get down on your knees and fully recite what you want to say or stumble around clumsily due to your nerves, a professional photographer will ensure that they capture the most beautiful moments on camera. They will freeze this momentous moment in time so that you and your loved one can cherish the experience and memory forever.

SvenStudios offers professional wedding photography solutions, videography, and more to help you immortalise unforgettable moments. If you are looking for engagement photographers to capture your surprise proposal, and give you more proposal photography tips, work with us today!

February 6, 2021

Wedding preview, Wedding

Botanic Gardens’ Sunken Garden Wedding – Anna & Isuru

Anna & Isuru
Botanic Gardens’ Sunken Garden Wedding

It was a delightfully sunny day for Anna and Isuru’s wedding at the Adelaide Botanic Garden‘s Sunken garden wedding ceremony venue with a small group of close friends and family in person, and plenty watching a livestream! (When Isuru’s phone worked!)

The plan was to hold a small intimate ceremony here in Adelaide, and when COVID goes away hold another interstate with more guests.

Preparation

Anna was prepared in a room of the Mayfair hotel on King William St along with two of her friends. The atmosphere in the room was one of fun and excitement for the wedding ceremony and if Anna was feeling any nerves, she hid them well!

I made use of the Mayfair hotel lobby for a couple of shots on their spiral staircase while also heading out to the intersection for a few shots on the road, which the girls seemed to find amusing 😀

Hanging wedding dress

Having makeup done

Engagement ring in middle of bouquet

Having makeup done looking out window

Makeup artist doing her thing

Smiling bride in makeup chair

Girls watching makeup be done

bride holding bouquet black and white

bride holding bouquet smiling

bridal aprty ready to go

Bridal party on stairs

bridal party walking accross Hindley st

closeup of bouquet while bride looks out window

bridal party under green trees

bridal party under green tree

Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony

The botanic Garden’s Sunken Garden Wedding venue provides for a lovely private spot to hold a ceremony in what is usually a rather busy place on a such a lovely day! The set up was lovely for me as a wedding phtoographer as the sun was right behind whre Anna and Isuru were standing which made for some lovely ethereal photos.

The heat of the day was quite powerful, as Iruru’s phone soon found out as unfortunately they had a bit of trouble keeping the livestream going – thankfully I was also recording the ceremony using 360 Virtual Reality technology as I always do so they made good use of that the next day!

Anna and Isuru’s wedding ceremony was full of personal insight into the couple’s relationship complete with in jokes and fun little things that had the entire congregation smiling and laughing along as they watched.

Grooms first look at the Sunken Garden

Botanic Gardens Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Ceremony in the Sunken Garden

laughing groom during ceremony 2

Botanic Gardens Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony 2

Smiling bride during ceremony 2

Holding hands during wedding ceremony

Holding hands during wedding ceremony under arch

Smiling groom looking at bride 2

Wedding ceremony at the SUnken Garden Botanic Gardens

Exchanging wedding bands closeup

Botanic Gardens Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony through leaves

Sunken garden First Kiss

Smiles all round with the bride and groom

Wedding bands on hands

Bride and groom exit from Sunken Garden Ceremony

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Glamour Photos

We had a short amount of time for some photos in amongst the Adelaide Boatnic Gardens after having family photos done at the Sunken Garden so we hopped right to it making a beeline to the friendship gates then walking slowly back towards the National Wine Center.

I wanted to use the lovely trees that you can find in the nearby Botanic Park for some photos before walking back through the gardens. We were lucky enough to be walking back through the gardens a little later than allowed due to having the reception at the National Wine Center as we got to capture the dying sun through some of the trees on display around the grounds.

bride and groom amongst the foliage

bride and groom amongst foliage

Walking in the trees together

Huge trees in the Botanic Park

Adelaide Botanic Park wedding photo

bride and groom leaning in some ivy

Ivy wedding photo

Adelaide Botanic Gardens wedding Photo

bride and groom togteher in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Sunset wedding

Amongst the tall trees wedding photo

Sunlight wedding phtoo

Bride and groom walking in the sunlight

Bride and groom embrace

bride and groom looking at camera on their wedding day

Bride and groom against a large tree

National Wine Center Reception

Anna and Isuru’s National Wine Center reception took place in their ‘Gallery’ room which boasts a huge glass wall overlooking the rest of the wine center’s grounds.

As their guest list was on the smaller side, only one long table was set up to make the entire setting feel quite opulent and grand! It also allowed all their guests to sit together and not have to travel a million miles to see everyone!

Adelaide WIne Center bridal entrance

Bride talking to guests at reception

Adelaide Wine Center Gallery Room

Selfy

Little girl running about

having some fun with the kids

Adelaide Wine Center Sushi

Kiss at the table

Isuru Speech

bridal hugs

I’d like to thank Anna and Isuru for having me photograph their Botanic Gardens’ Sunken Garden wedding, and I hope they enjoy their photos! Super happy to travel interstate for your other celebrations too! 😉

February 3, 2021

Interesting, ideas, Wedding

How to Keep Your Wedding Guests Entertained

Keep Your Wedding Guests Entertained

Planning a wedding can be overwhelming. This is one of the most special days in your life, and you can feel pressured to make it perfect and memorable. To ensure that your guests enjoy your special day, you must be well-prepared to run it as smoothly as possible, and one of the best ways to make things run smoothly is to keep your wedding guests entertained.

The time between your ceremony and reception is usually the most uneventful part of any wedding for your geusts. As you and your significant other have your wedding photos taken together, your guests may just hang around waiting for the next agenda at the celebration, which can bore them to death. To keep your wedding guests entertained and engaged throughout the day, here are some tips you should follow:

How to Keep Your Wedding Guests Entertained During Your Photoshoot

Serve them snacks and refreshments while waiting

While you are busy preserving your special memories during your big day with the help of your skilled wedding photographer, consider serving your guests with snacks and refreshments to fill the gap in your party if your ceremony and reception will be held at one venue. Time passes quickly when their bellies are being filled with yummy food and drinks, and this allows your friends and family to mingle with one another.

Prepare a snack bar and decorate it according to your wedding theme. Pick food options that are easy to eat and light on the tummies, and diversify them as much as possible to accommodate the unique taste of all your guests. Some snack ideas you can choose from are burgers, sandwiches, hotdogs, chips, pizzas, tacos, and more.

Most reception venues offer this as an add-on to their usual meal packages so please do consider taking them up on their deals!

Food

Unleash their competitive side with games

Wedding games can fill your reception with fun and excitement and are effective in keeping your guests entertained at your wedding. Unleash their competitive side by holding outdoor wedding games or lawn games.

Meanwhile, if it rains or you don’t have a venue with an outdoor area, it’s best to have some indoor games, such as brain teasers, playing cards, puzzles, and table quizzes. Set up a corner filled with various board games to bring them together and help those who don’t know each other to get talking.

Lawn games

Prepare some entertainment options

Once you transition from the ceremony to the reception set the mood with music by hiring bands and live musicians. Songs are the perfect accompaniment as your guests mingle and delight in tasty snacks and drinks.

Taking photos is also one of the best entertainment options to pass the time and capture special moments on your wedding day. Book a fun photo booth where your guests can have their photos taken with creative backdrops and props. Opt for those that provide printed copies so every guest can bring home a precious memory immortalized through a high-quality image.

Alternatives to this include hiring a cartoonist to sit in the corner all night drawing craracatures of your guests, or even have an oil painter paint your first dance! may be expansive but makes for an incredible momento!

SvenStudios Photobooth

Your wedding is one of the most significant celebrations of your life, so you have to cherish every moment. One way to do that is to document your memories through photos on your special day after the ceremony. Keep in mind that your guests can get bored during this time, so hopefully the tips mentioned above will help out with guests from constantly watching the clock and keep them occupied during your photoshoot.

Capture your big day’s love story through photos by hiring the best wedding photographer in Australia. Book our services now!

January 31, 2021

Interesting, ideas, Wedding

3 Reasons Not to Make a Wedding Photographer Shot List

Don’t Make a Wedding Photographer Shot List

During the wedding planning, many couples do not know how to deal with wedding photographers. Having a professional cameraman running about taking photos on the most nerve wrecking day of your life is not something people do very often! This leads to a lot of Google searching and perhaps even asking family and friends who may know what to do in this unusual situation. While that is all well and good, advice can be a little behind the times.

One tip that is usually found handy is to provide a shot list for the wedding photographer. A wedding photographer shot list is exactly what it sounds like—a definitive list of shots the photographer must take before, during and after the wedding. However, that could put a lot of unnecessary pressure on the photographer, and on you.

Wedding photography can vary on the day itself given a number of reasons, such as the high probability that you and your spouse will likely be pulled in multiple directions.

Amongst the tall trees at Idyll & Co 2

With that said, a wedding photographer shot list may not be a good idea. Here are three reasons not to give your wedding photographer a shot list:

3 Reasons Not to Make a Wedding Photographer Shot List

It implies a lack of trust

If you’ve already booked a photographer, then you’ve already shown you trust them. After all, you had to go through a rather tedious process of research to find a photographer you get along with and will take incredible photos. Given all of that, you should not have any need to give this professional any specific directions.

Embrace the idea that you may not get all the shots you want, but know that you will definitely get the shots you need. Discuss things thoroughly with your photographer and make sure that you both come to an agreement on how each other expects the day to run. Being a little picky on having a few ‘must have photos’ is fine, but micro-managing someone who knows what they are doing just puts a lot of stress on everybody.

Bride and groom holding one another in the undergrowth

Weddings vary

There are so many variables during the wedding day. The weather could change, there could be adjustments or changes at the venue, the lighting will shift and more. Even the hair and outfits of the couple can change, whether it’s a last-minute style change or something brought about by wind or the general rush of things. The nature of the COVID-19 Pandemic is an excellent example of how things can change quickly!

Even if you put together all the elements to shoot a copy of the ideal images you spotted on Pinterest, something will be different. If your photographer has a shot list, they may focus on getting the exact shots you’d like instead of managing to capture a lovely candid moment which they would know will work based on their own experience and ability with the camera.

Thorngrove Manor wedding couple

Precious time gets wasted

More often than not, wedding photographer shot lists include photos that have to be staged. Considering how weddings can essentially move from beginning to end in the blink of an eye, that’s tricky. Even if it’s just a matter of standing a certain way at a certain spot, setting up the shot can take time. This takes away not just from your photographer’s capability to follow the day’s actions as they happen in a timely manner, but also your time within the day itself that could be better spent on other aspects.

Lightning wedding photo

While a wedding photgorapher shot list may seem like a good idea in theory, in the long run, it actually is not. Your photographer most certainly knows what they’re doing. More than anything, make sure to have a good sit-down talk with your photographer so things can go as smoothly as possible.

This isn’t to say that you should not make a list of certain photos you’d like taken – like for example a list of family photos. But try not to drown your photographer with photos you’ve seen elseware and say you want them done the same way – just with your faces in them. 🙂

For reliable, top-notch wedding photography, contact Sven Studios today! Nothing brings us more satisfaction than capturing precious moments.

January 28, 2021

Wedding preview, Wedding

IvyBrook Farm Wedding – Carly & Josh

Carly & Josh
Ivybrook Farm Wedding

I was delighted to have been asked to be Carly and Josh’s wedding photographer at their Ivybrook Farm wedding at the beginning of November!

Their day was one full of fun and family, and was certainly a relaxing day out with a lunch time reception and ample time to mingle with guests. The time mingling with their guests was foremost in Carly and Josh’s mind when planning their day with only a small portion dedicated to having glamour photos done, which I feel is a really nice way to look at your day.

Still, I was keen to make fulluse of the incredible scenery Ivybrook Farm has to offer!

Ivybrook Farm Wedding Ceremony

My coverage began with Carly and Josh’s Ivybrook Farm wedding ceremony under the large tree nearby the main building of the venue. Their guests were set up facing the tree on the grass, as Carly and Josh both approached the wedding arbour together from the on site bed and breakfast.

The highlight of their ceremony in my opinion was the delightful readings from a family member which detailed the love story of Carly and Josh coming together intermingled with inside jokes and fun stories that had everyone giggling.

IvyBrook Farm Wedding Ceremony

under the IvyBrook Farm Arbour

groom smiling at his bride at Ivybrook Farm

Smiling bridal couple under arbour

Bridal couple laughing during ceremony at Ivybrook farm

Bridal couple listening to reading during ceremony

Bride smiling during ceremony 2

bride and groom closeup of hands

Ivybrook farm wedding ceremony under tree

Bride and groom during wedding ceremony

Exchanging wedding rings during ceremony

First kiss at Ivybrook farm wedding

Bride laughing signing marriage documents

Wedding bands on hands closeup

bride and groom exiting under confetti

Kiss after exiting wedding ceremony

Ivybrook Farm Wedding Reception

Carly and Josh opted to hold a lunchtime reception so as to maximise the time they could spend with the firends and family. The settig at Ivybrook Farm was set up in a delightfully rustic way, complete with Australian fauna and a stunning semi-nude wedding cake set atop a barrel which just made the whole setting pop.

Guests were treated to lawn games, food platters and games for the kids while everyone enjoyed the warm weather before settling down for a pizza lunch.

Lunch was eaten, and speeches were told before we had some time to head out around the grounds to shoot some glamour photos of Carly and Josh. After which we returned for the first dance!

Wedding cake on display at Ivybrook Farm

Sloth wedding cake toppers

Ivybrook farm wedding cake display

Guests enjoying themselves at Ivybrook farm

Smiling guests at wedding

Guests talking at wedding reception

Eating the food

Talking to the bride

Simpsons pig wedding cufflinks

Boys group photo

Girls group photo

Bride and groom entrance to Ivybrook farm wedding reception

Cutting the cake

Ivybrook farm wedding reception

Carly and Josh

Wedding Pizzas

Having fun with the polaroid cameras

bride and groom speech 2

First dance at the reception

Ivybrook Farm wedding first dance

Smiles all round dancing

Glamour Photos

The great thing about hosting an Ivybrook farm wedding is the variety of spots you can head to have your photos done. The area boasts fields of long unkempt grass, or well kept grass depending on what you feel would work best. There are also lines of trees, vineyards and rustic buildings which I certainly made the most of!