wedding photography – Bronwyn Katzke Photography

27/09/2024

Wedding Photography Mistakes to Avoid

You’ll spend months planning your wedding, agonising over the smallest of details and anticipating all events of your one special day; and it’s over in the blink of an eye. Your wedding photos will be all that you’ll have from your wedding day to relive all those magical moments. That’s why choosing the right photographer for you is so important if you want beautiful photos you can treasure.

Here are mistakes to avoid, coming straight from the photographer’s perspective and backed by years of experience capturing many, many weddings.

Minimal Research & Ignoring Portfolios

Research is key when it comes to choosing the photographer to capture your wedding day. Don’t see a few curated photos on social media and jump to book a photographer as that won’t be enough of an indicator of the full quality of their work. All photographers only share the best of the best of their wedding photos on the social media channels, so you need to research beyond that.

Look at a potential photographer’s website at their online portfolio and blogs of past weddings. As portfolios tend to be heavily curated, it’s best to ask your photographer to share a full wedding album for you to view. This will give you the most accurate idea of what you can expect of your own wedding album if you book them.

Not Communicating Your Vision

When you book a photographer for your wedding, you’re booking them for their artistic style and creativity. That said, they still need your guidance on what matters most to you on your wedding day.

Perhaps you want lots of candid photos with friends and family, or you want your photographer to focus on intimate moments between just the two of you throughout your wedding day- whatever your vision is for your wedding photos, be sure to let your photographer know.

Skipping Getting to Know Your Photographer

Out of all your wedding vendors, your photographer will spend the most time with you on your wedding day, so it’s essential you get along with them. This is why those pre-wedding meetings with your photographer are so important. They give you a chance to get a real feel for your photographer’s personality and to what you can expect on the day.

Many photographers offer engagement sessions too and these can be the perfect opportunity to know what it will be like to work with your photographer on the day of your wedding. Think of an engagement session as a trial run for your wedding day couples photos; it’ll help you prepare and you won’t feel so awkward on your wedding day too. Plus capturing the excitement of being engaged makes for beautiful photos you can incorporate into your wedding day as well as have as keepsakes for the lead up to your big day.

Insisting on a Shot List

It might seem like a good idea, but giving your photographer a shot list to work from is just the opposite. Without realisizing it, you’re interrupting the creative process and the flow of your wedding day as your photographer will then be constantly checking a piece of paper instead of capturing the moments naturally unfolding in front of them. Your photographer is a professional who’s captured many weddings before and should be familiar with the flow of a wedding day and what key moments to capture.

Rushing Your Portraits

Your couples portraits are your first photos together as a married couple, and you will cherish them for many, many years to come. That’s why setting aside enough time for them is key to getting the photos you want. Whether you choose to do a first look or capture your couples photos after your ceremony, be sure to set aside at least 45 minutes so you have enough time.

Immediately Asking for the Photos

When your wedding day is all said and done, you’re probably incredibly excited to relive the experience through your wedding photos. However, your photographer’s work only truly begins after the wedding as sorting through and editing your photos takes time. Depending on the amount of photos to edit, the time of year and your photographer’s editing style, you can expect to wait anywhere from 4-12 weeks for your wedding photos to be delivered. Your photographer will communicate their editing timeline with you, so trust their process and avoid adding extra pressure that can interrupt their workflow.

26/09/2024

How to Choose a Wedding Photographer

When your wedding is all said and done, all you’ll have left is a new spouse and your wedding photos; that’s why choosing the right wedding photographer is so important if you want beautiful photos you can treasure forever.

Here are a few tips to help you choose a wedding photographer in South Africa, from setting a budget to learning about wedding styles.

Decide on Your Budget

You don’t want to set your heart on a photographer who’s work you love, only to discover they’re too far out of your budget. That’s why it’s essential to discuss with your partner how much you can spend on a wedding photographer and keep that number in mind when researching photographers.

The average 6 hour wedding package for a South African wedding photographer can be anywhere upwards of R8000. This is well within industry standard rates of R1200/hour to photograph your wedding and R500/hour for editing and retouching. Just remember that the more experienced a photographer is and if they have industry-related awards, typically the more they will charge for their services.

Don’t forget that if your wedding venue is far from where our photographer is based, you will need to pay their travel fees and if necessary, accommodation fees too. You can expect to pay upwards of R7-8.00/km for traveling fees, excluding tolls, and fees are typically based on AA rates for your photographer’s vehicle.

What is Your Vision for Your Wedding Photos

Think about your wedding day- what pops out at you as being the most important moments? Is it the ceremony, candid moments with family, your couples photos or your first dance at the reception? Narrowing down what aspects of your day are most important to you will give you clues on how much time you’ll need to look for in wedding photography packages, as well as the style of wedding photographer you should book.

You can also start a Pinterest board where you pin wedding photos that you love. This again will give you an idea of what your vision is for your photos.

Choosing a Style

In the same vein as your vision for your wedding, choosing a style for your wedding photography is important. Each photographer has their own approach to capturing a wedding; some prefer a behind-the-scenes approach, others a more traditional structure and some a blend of both. The three main styles of wedding photography are:

Documentary Photography: This is where your photographer takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to your wedding day, capturing everything as it happens for spontaneous and candid photos. This style’s authentic feel doesn’t rely on any posing to tell a real story of your wedding day.

Formal or Traditional Photography: Decades ago this was the style of wedding photos. While your finished photos will be beautifully shot and lit, they will involve plenty of direction from your photographer, lots of posing and of course, plenty of time too. Plus this style doesn’t truly tell the story of your wedding day.

Illustrative or Contemporary Photography: A blend of the previous two styles, illustrative photography is what is typically seen in wedding photography today. It involves a documentary approach for all the key moments of your wedding, capturing candid photos, and using posing and prompts for group and couples photos for a more polished look. This gives you the best of both previous styles and is my personal wedding photography style.

Recommendations & Reviews

If you have any friends and family who were married recently, ask them about their wedding photographer. They’ll be able to give you firsthand reviews of their experience to help you choose a wedding photographer.

You can also ask your venue for their preferred vendor list that will include photographers they have worked with in the past. This gives you the added advantage of booking a photographer that is already quite familiar with your wedding venue.

View Their Portfolio

If there’s one thing a wedding photographer should have, it’s a portfolio. This will typically showcase their best work and you should look for a range of images of key moments of a wedding day: getting ready, details, the ceremony, couples photos, the reception etc.

A potential wedding photographer would also be able to show you a full wedding album when asked. This will give you the best look at how they capture a wedding day and the quality you can expect from them should you book them for your wedding.

Arrange a Meeting

Out of all your wedding vendors your wedding photographer is going to spend the most time with you on the day. You should feel comfortable around them and confident in their ability to not only capture your day, but be able to handle any hiccups that may arise on the day. This is where a meeting with your short-list of photographers is vital.

Whether you meet in-person or over a video call, a meeting with your potential photographer will give you a chance to get to know them and ask any questions you may have. This could be anything to how they intend to capture your wedding day, to what their turnaround time is for delivery of your wedding photos.

Hello, I’m Bronwyn but you can call me Bron, or simply, B. I’m a Middelburg portrait photographer who looks for the positive in each day and tries to spread as much of it as I can.

I’m passionate about helping people on their journey of self discovery and self love, as they navigate their way to their truest self. It’s their stories I most love telling through portraits they can connect to. If that resonates with you, then I can’t wait to help you tell your story through artful portraits.