I have to tell you all about the trials and tribulations of my photographer selection! A few of the other Buzzing Bloggers have posted about how important it is to find a great photographer, and I’m here to add my 2c worth. It’s SO important. Granted, I’m not married yet, but from all I hear, the day goes by for the bride in a kind of haze. You’re so tired from the stress of preparation, of being the focus of everyone’s attention, and from, oh, the most important day of your life, that it’s not surprising you don’t remember every bit of it. Photos are the only tangible thing you’ll have left after the wedding, so make sure they’re good ones!
I see brides with really ugly photos and I just want to cry for them. How sad is it to have a memento of such a wonderful day, and you don’t even want to look at it? One thing I’ve learned from all these recent “Beautiful Bride” competition groups on Facebook, is that it doesn’t matter how beautiful the bride is, it’s how beautiful the photo is. You can be the plainest girl in the city, but a good photographer will make you look stunning. Likewise, you can be a supermodel and just end up looking ordinary. As soon as my wedding (and possible home-purchasing, oh my goodness) is over, I’m going to think about taking a photography course. I really need to know what it is these people do that makes the ordinary look extraordinary. Besides photoshop. :-)
So back to my story. My sister got married in 2003, and I mentioned before that she organised everything for her Drakensberg wedding from Johannesburg, so she’d never met her photographer, only seen a few photos he emailed her. Anyway, he was really nice, lots of fun to work with, made us laugh, and went to a lot of trouble to deliver her album to her when he was in the area so she wouldn’t have to chance the postal system. The photos came out really nicely, and people couldn’t say enough about how great they were. I also thought they were lovely, so I thought to myself that if - and hopefully when! - I got married, I would get that guy.
BUT. There was a huge but - I had never really seen any other wedding photography, aside from one or two cousins who got married around the same time. None of my friends were married, and I have to say that my one cousin’s wedding looked like it was shot by someone’s uncle with a Pick ‘n Pay camera. So of course my sister’s photos looked great in comparison. Then one day, soon after I got engaged, I googled the wedding venue “The Cradle” because an old friend of mine was getting married there and I wanted to see what it looked like. I never did find their website! But I did find the most awesomely talented photographer, Andrea Carlyle. It linked to a wedding she’d shot at The Cradle, and I was blown away by the beauty of her images. My sister’s guy didn’t even compare, he wasn’t even in the same school, let alone the same class! Unfortunately I let Mr Honeysuckle convince me that we had to stick to a photography budget, and that we couldn’t afford her. I decided that since my sister’s photos always had looked great, we could do worse than book her photographer, and we could actually afford him. So we booked him.
Fast forward two months. Two months which I spent surreptitiously lurking on Andrea’s blog, trying to convince myself that it was ok we hadn’t booked her. (Note: This tactic does NOT work!). Eventually I came to a decision. I had some money invested that I was trying not to touch, not even for the wedding. But great photographs are worth it, right? So I told Mr HS that I would pay the difference to get the better photographer. He thought I was nuts, but agreed when he saw how important it was to me. So yay - EXCEPT Andrea was not available on that day! And it wasn’t because I’d left it too late (or I might have done myself a harm), but just that she had a prior, personal function on that day. So great, back to the drawing board. Mr HS was all for it being “a sign that we should just stick with the guy we have”, but I was having none of that! I started trawling the internet for photographers with a similar style, and for recommendations on her blog.
I have to say, there are some fantastic local wedding photographers out there, and we should be proud! On the other hand, there are some dire ones too. But I sifted through and found what I think are the good ones. Finally, after hours and hours online, and a few meetings, we found a photographer we love! Her name is Tanja Vogt, and she’s based in Johannesburg. She works with Andrea occasionally, which is how I found her name, but she is listed on some local wedding sites too. We met with her at her studio and we were very impressed with her and the quality of her photos. She has only recently started keeping a blog, so there isn’t as much on there as I’d like. These are some of my favourite pics of hers:
In my epic trawling, I found some other awesome photographers. A lot of them are in Cape Town or Natal, not Joburg, but these are a few that really struck me. What I like is a blend of photojournalism and creative, artistic photos. With the obligatory posed group shots, because you need them! I wish I could use half of these photographers for my wedding!
MARIO SALES. He is a photographic genius. Unfortunately he is more expensive than even I could afford, but if you look at his photos you can see why! I would put photos of these people up on my wall, despite not knowing them, just because he takes such a perfect photo.
MICHAEL TREE. We actually met with Michael on our shortlist, and he is really nice and friendly. His albums are beautiful and he takes a great photo. Although I chose someone else in the end, from what I saw I would totally recommend him.
JEAN-PIERRE UYS. One of SA’s top photographers, and rightly so.
JULES MORGAN. Got her name from Andrea’s blog, and her photos look great!
JAN-HENDRIK VAN DER WESTHUIZEN.
If this helps another bride to find her perfect photographic match, I will be more than pleased! There were one or two photographers who I would not recommend, based on my pre-meeting dealings with them. If you would like to know more, I can email or message you privately. Let’s not sully the board with their dodginess! :-)
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Great post Mizz HS. WOW, I just went onto Andrea’s blog and Im very impressed! Tanja is also great, I can see the similarity in style, yet they are different and both excellent photographers
I found my photographer, Justin Erasmus at a wedding show, I clicked with him straight away and after seing other photographers, Justins just spoke so much louder to me.
Each photographer has his/her own style, and when you find what you are looking for book em, before they get booked. I booked Justin about 7 months before the wedding, in fact, I booked him straight after we booked the venue :)
Another really good photographer, who’s work I only saw later is Lesley Cole
This photo of his caught my eye when he was exibiting at the Pavillion Wedding Show
Holy heck, that is beautiful! Incredibly over-photoshopped, of course, but he can get away with it because he did it so well! Some photogs don’t know how to do that and they just end up looking REALLY naff.
WOW, all of these photos is stunning…. I loved my photographer becoz she is a Photoshop Guru! Not with adding all sorts of fake things, BUT playing with your photos…. I just love photos like that. And the angles she uses.. AND BIG choice, she loves animals, wich will make it sooo much easier for my photos……
I am using http://www.dvphotography.co.za/home.htm
Melanie is an angel, and I love her work… I am keeping all photos I think is gorgeous, and will ask her to take that into consideration…
Thank you so much for this blog!
For me, the best wedding photographer in the country is Kal Danner. Check out his website at http://www.kaldanner.com. He doesn’t pose his couples. Just take a look at his images. They are so spontaneous and beautiful. every image tells a story. no other photographer can compare!
Oh my gosh, he is fantastic! Unfortunately you can google till your fingers are numb, but sometimes you just don’t find all the good people!
Mmm…interesting blog. I had a look at all the photographers work mentioned here and ieva - you’re spot on. Although the other photographers are good, Kal Danner’s work caught my eye. Spontaneous and original! Natural, artistic, stylish and fashionable. And no PhotoShop in sight. No props either. Wow! This is what real wedding photography should be. A work of art. ieva - thank you so much! I think I’ve just found MY wedding photographer. I would never have known he existed if it wasn’t for you. I just hope he’s available and willing to travel. Cross my fingers…
This is what I love about blogging - helping people find their dream wedding stuff, even though it wasn’t me that suggested Kal Danner! Thanks ieva!
Unfortunately travel costs might have dictated that I couldn’t have gone with him anyway, but that was a fact for lots of the out of town photographers for me. Sigh.
I just had a look at Kal’s website and OMG wow, I absolutely love his style! I see he’s done a lot of weddings overseas too…. Based in Durban, yet I had never heard of him until now.
Thanks for blogging this :)
Yippee! I just booked Kal Danner for my wedding. I was lucky because my wedding’s on a Friday. He wanted to meet but I insisted it wasn’t necessary. I’m over the moon. I’m so excited, I’ve got goosebumps. I can’t stop grinning.
Mizz Honeysuckle: Thank you for starting this blog.
Ieva: Thank you so much once again for recommending him.
I feel like a princess already!
Hehe fallon, I am so glad that you booked him, keep us posted and we want to see the pix :)
Wow, Fallon, you didn’t waste any time! I’m so pleased for you - I went through such a mission that I just really wanted to spare other brides the same thing. Your photos will be fantastic! When is your wedding?
my wedding’s on 20 march in cape town. a lot of family and friends recommended their “best wedding photographer” - big names apparently but i wasn’t impressed. a few good photos but no consistency overall. the normal cliche poses, couples looking awkward at times, bright flash whitewashing their faces, and oh so many posed couple pics but no real documentary of a wedding . i’m not interested in staged pictures. i’m not going to be able to witness every special moment on my wedding day so i needed someone to document my dig day for me. a wedding is not just about tons of photos of the couple and nothing much else. That’s what really impressed me about kal. He tells your wedding story from start to finish. I’ve emailed my family and friends his website address and they all say they’ve never seen anything like it. and guess what - i’ve visited those “big name” photographers’ websites and it seems like some of them are copying his work. kal is a breath of fresh air, and he has a fresh, sparkly name as well. Seems like while others are basking in the spotlight, he’s just quietly getting on with things in the background. you’re right, my photos will be fantastic. thank you.
Well said. There were a couple of “big name” photographers in JHB as well that I just didn’t see the appeal of, to be honest! I didn’t list them in my blog or anything, even though you will always see their names at wedding shows, or competition finalists and so on.
And while I want some gorgeous photos of me and my new hubby, I do want to show that other people were there enjoying themselves too!
Fallon, your wedding day is on the perfect day - my birthday haha :)
I dont think one should hire a photographer based on how “big” or popular they are but they should see how his/her photos speak to them.
Thats how I picked, mine. There were a lot of big names I wanted to meet with, but when I saw Justin’s album at a show, I was blown away. None of the people I spoke to had heard of him, but that didnt make a difference, becuase when the pics came out everyone was wowed :)
Yes, all your pics are gorgeous, no matter if they’re of you or the decor or the cake! There’s another bride on one of the Facebook groups - Deona Botes - all her photos are stunning too. A great photographer makes SUCH a difference!
[…] Bee posted some of her favourite wedding photos. While I’m still on a photography roll from last week’s blog, here are some of mine. I’ve lost a couple of the photographer details, […]