Wedding FAQs
What is your style of cinematography and photography?
From the work on this site, you will see we follow a non-intrusive, natural style, better known as the photojournalistic or candid style. We tell our clients to go on and live the moment - have fun! We keep a low profile throughout - a "fly-on-the-wall" approach, observing and documenting what unfolds before us.
What is wedding photojournalism?
Wedding PJ follows the same traditions of news photojournalism you see in your newspapers and magazines. True PJ requires the photojournalist to never interfere in the scene unfolding before him or his subjects.
In a wedding situation, a wedding photojournalist will seek to take images as they happen, without becoming a "director" of proceedings.
What about posed shots?
Wedding PJ involves minimal "posed shots". But we understand the need for a few group shots. For this, we have one session for group shots of around 15 minutes. In addition to this, we encourage couples to have a couple portrait session, usually at a select location - a beach, river, hill-top, lighthouse etc. This session is pre-scheduled, for some time during the course of the day and is generally around 30 to 45 minutes.
This is the only time you and your guests will pose for the camera. In fact, even in this session, couple portraits are created in natural surroundings, using natural light and by simply allowing you and your partner to interact with each other naturally.
Will you photograph the receiving line?
We capture the essence of your wedding. This means we shoot what's necessary to tell the story of the day. We will not shoot all guests in a receiving line or table shots as these take up valuable time away from more creative work. Since you are hiring our services for our creativity, we recommend engaging another photographer for the receiving line / table shots. Alternatively, we could suggest creative alternatives to the receiving line / table shots if you wish.
Will we see every guest at our wedding in the photos / video?
Our style is to capture the essence of your wedding and the moments as they present themselves. We approach a wedding as photojournalists covering an event, capturing moments not documenting each guest at your wedding.
What about other significant moments?
Every moment of the wedding, other than the pre-scheduled group/couple portrait session, occurs naturally. We urge our couples not to bother about the cinematographers/photographers and carry on having fun, living in each moment.
And we suggest you tell your guests likewise. So, do not expect a "smile, look this way" directive from us! It's your wedding and we want you to have fun, while we do our job of documenting the emotions, naturally and un-obtrusively.
I am camera shy and uncomfortable with photography. How can you help?
We normally schedule at least one personal meeting with the bride and groom prior to the wedding. We use this opportunity to "break the ice", getting to know each other and also discussing details of the wedding. We find, once couples interact informally in this way, they are more free in letting down the guard and baring their emotions before us on the wedding day. Our biggest compliment comes when a bride tells us she didn't even notice us at the wedding!
What does your coverage include?
Our basic coverage is of course the photography/cinematography itself and the duration depends on the package chosen. We personally prefer to begin with bridal preparations, staying with the bride through the various stages of prep and dressing, on to pre-ceremony, the ceremony and finally the reception. All images captured in RAW format and are yours in high resolution on DVD, in all packages. Additionally, film packages include a slickly edited film. We also have a number of options for you.
Do you include black & white images in the coverage?
Yes, we use b&w as a tool for bringing out emotion in stills. So a lot of images are B&W and we love clients who appreciate B&W.
What about image re-touching?
This is an absolute No! Other than basic colour / exposure corrections and cropping, we do not re-touch images. This includes cloning to remove that spot of ice-cream on the bride's lip or that beer can on the dance floor. If it actually happened, it stays in the shot. Our clients appreciate the purity of such storytelling images.
But I'm afraid I won't look good!
As most brides find out later, if they are truly enjoying themselves, they WILL LOOK GOOD! Trust us!
Do you offer print options?
Yes we offer a range of print products from textured paper prints, canvass and big blow-ups for framing. Besides this, the perfect way to present our documentary style images is with an exclusively designed storybook of the images of the day in a coffee table book format. This is the ultimate way of using the hundreds of images captured as each book tells the "Story of the Day", in contemporary design. Check out all of our options for you.
Can we select the images for the Wedding Storybook?
Besides the fact that this would be a long-drawn out process, we believe you hire our services not just as photographers but as storytellers. We draw on our experience in journalism to tell the story of your day, using the most powerful storytelling images we capture. These images go into the Wedding Storybook - our interpretation of your Big Day. You will always have all images on DVD in high resolution and could print those anytime you like with any printer. The Storybook on the other hand, is our story of your Day.
What about your Wedding Films? Do we get to tell you how to tell the story?
For the same reasons we do the Wedding Storybook ourselves, your film is also our interpretation of your Big Day. We appreciate your faith in hiring us as storytellers and not just photographers or videographers. We go to great lengths to try and understand you as a couple before the wedding - your likes & dislikes, your personalities etc. We do this through mandatory personal sessions with you over coffee. We meet most clients at least twice before the wedding and several emails.