Wedding Photography for Pravesh and Andrea
On Friday 27 January 2012 I drove through to Benvenuti Wedding & Function Venue in Johannesburg (http://www.benvenuti.co.za/) to scout the location for Pravesh and Andrea’s wedding. The venue is beautiful with a big green garden and little hideouts where great photos can be taken. The reception hall is huge with white drapes hanging from the ceiling which is great for bounced light photography.
I walked around for almost two hours taking a little over 180 test photos to see what the light and backgrounds where like. I also scouted for areas we could use in case of rain; which turned out to be good planning as we got a shower of rain on the day! It is very important that a wedding photographer visit a venue for a wedding before actually doing the photos for the wedding to check light, note settings on the camera that work best for various areas and plan a shooting path for those intimate photos after the wedding. After the ceremony you normally have an hour, maybe less, to do the family and couple photos, so you want to make sure you know what you want to do. You don’t want to run around trying to find nice background and light while under pressure!
Pravesh and Andrea arrived after I had thoroughly scouted the area and I took them along the path I suggested while repeating one or two test shots. These test shots were then later studied at home to see what settings worked and what needed adjustment. Following this process saves time on the wedding day and ensures that you as photographer don’t end up with shots that are poor because you used settings on your camera that did not work for the scene.
Pravesh and Andrea are a wonderful couple with friendly family and friends and the wedding turned out to be one of the most enjoyable events I have attended in a long time. After the ceremony a shower of rain broke out, but I was prepared and set up a mini studio under cover which gave me options of 6 different backgrounds to use which included open air and garden scenery. Many of the family shots were done under the roof, but after about 20 minutes the rain faded away and were ventured into the garden. I even repeated some of the close family shots in the garden for a different look.
This wedding turned out to be one of my favourites and another I will remember for many years.
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