Memory or photo?

I wonder if you can remember a time when you were a toddler that had some special importance to you; for example, being on holiday at the beach with your family? You probably don’t remember it so much as the memory that’s been triggered from an actual photograph.

The value of the printed photograph

I get an incredible feeling when my daughter holds printed photographs from when I was a boy. I know one day she’ll show her kids and that will be their grandfather, who one day will be their kids’ great grandfather and on and on. I have images I remember viewing as a child with my grandparents and we held the same print. They’re no longer with us and I’m still holding the print - and there’s still that connection.

For generations to come

That is the importance of what we produce for you, as photographers. Photography accurately documents history. It also memorialises our lives for future generations and therefore connects us with the past. Finally, it's a means to share ourt lives and our loves with the next generation.

Pictures as stories

As authors use words to tell a story, we as photographers use pictures. At the end of the day, we’re not there just to produce pretty pictures - it’s more than that. We’re there to memorialise events and sometimes a major event in a couple’s life.

The wedding is the beginning of your family’s history

Up until now, your wedding is probably the biggest event where the most amount of people from your families will be coming together. It’s important you have that documented well. The wedding really is the beginning of that family’s history because that generation typically has children and it goes on and on. It’s not a responsibility we take lightly and we’re given a great privilege as wedding photographers to be able to capture your special moments and capture your story.

Why risk it?

Your wedding is a huge day in which you’ll be investing a significant amount of money. Would you risk capturing that memory for someone with less experience? You only have one shot (pardon the pun) at your wedding in one very limited space of time to get it right and no, there’s no take two. As a professional wedding photographer, I would hate to think what it would cost you again, to do your whole wedding. I don’t say this to scare you, but rather based on clients of other wedding photographers who have come to me asking to salvage amateur photography from people with professional cameras (uncle Bobs we like to call them) who thought capturing a wedding would be easy. I say this also to impress upon you the importance of picking a real professional who is able to deal with the various changing factors of the day; for example, weather, time constraints, issues with your location.

Photography is ungoverned

As you most likely already know, photography is largely an ungoverned profession. There are no apprenticeships, trade certificates or universities and even then, many of these students lack the real-world experience, trial and error that comes with a seasoned wedding photographer.

Evoking emotions

It’s about evoking emotion with our imagery with the use of light, composition and direction. For example, I don’t want you to do your first dance like people usually do it. Hug, embrace each other and enjoy the moment.

Being in tune with the moment

As professional photographers, part of our skill lies in seeing something that is about to happen and giving our clients the permission for those moments to happen. This involves using our peripheral vision and being in tune with our surroundings to react quickly when things happen and decide what to include in the frame.