Really??!! The rest of the ingredients were minced meat, onions, beans, etc. How could you possibly fit sugar in that mix? We looked at each other for a moment, shock our heads dismissively, and decided not to include it. Then we started cooking!

Once we finished all the steps, we had a taste. It was awful! We had another taste to figure out what went wrong. It was still awful, and we couldn’t figure out why. So we added the sugar. We reasoned; we are throwing this out anyway, why not see what the teaspoon of sugar will do.

It was as though we had performed an act of alchemy. That Chili turned into one of the best dishes we had tasted, and we could not get enough of it. Next time we are trying the variation suggested; adding dark chocolate instead of the sugar.

By now you’re probably wondering how this relates to photography. Well it kind of does! Metaphorically that is!

Like any great dish, a great photograph is the result of a well thought of recipe. Every photographer has his/her own methods to achieve the results desired. Some of these might sound odd (same as the teaspoon of sugar we encountered), but if you are dealing with a professional, you need to trust their judgement and follow their lead.

When we photograph, we look at a few different elements, and we match those together. For a photograph to tell a deep and meaningful story, you need to match the pose and expression to the background, and make sure that it is lit accordingly. Mixing all the elements together correctly is where the art of photography comes into play. There are no set rules, it is all up to the photographer’s imagination and creativity.

We started as wedding photographers just after the beginning of the digital age. Must admit that we were part of the first wave of weekender/hobbyist photographers to crash into the fairly exclusive professional wedding photography scene. Not long after that though, it became our full time job.

There were casualties on both sides. Many of the over excited and enthusiastic beginners just fizzled away, and just as many established studios packed up and moved to Ibiza for a well earned retirement (not really, they had to find other means to make money). The ones that survived and prospered were the ones who were able to offer something new to the industry.

Before the digital age, the general public’s perception was that to be a professional photographer meant that you were able to produce sharp, colourful images. This perception carries on to this day. But producing such images is not as hard as it used to be. At this point of time you can purchase cameras that recognize what you are photographing and adjust themselves accordingly. You can get those for under a $1000. So all of a sudden, everybody can achieve those colourful and sharp images that only the professionals could do. This has resulted in a big influx of weekenders, hobbyists and Uncle Bobs. But there is a major change on the way.

Earlier this week, while perusing through one of the popular wedding photography forums, we came across a post by a disgruntled photographer who was complaining that there are too many Uncle Bobs taking work away from us. By the way, in the professional photography circles, an “Uncle Bob” is a relative of the bride or groom who has “a really nice camera” and has been trusted with capturing the wedding. Reading that thread, we hit a point of realization, the Uncle bobs, weekenders and hobbyists are here to stay (and every pro photographer was once just that, it is just how the industry works), and no amount of complaining will stop the trend. So we replied with the point that as full time professional photographers, we need to take a hard look at ourselves and the images we produce. To survive and prosper, we need to be producing work that an Uncle Bob can not produce.

Interestingly, this point, which just came to mind out of the blue, was raised in an article printed in a professional photography magazine that is published in the UK, we found that article a couple of days later. We also came across this point in other places, made by photographers from around the world. It was as though the whole industry reached a point of realization at the same time. All those unconnected photographers everywhere were saying the same thing.

So what does this mean for the future?

In general, expect to see some serious innovation and artistry as photographers push themselves further and further to establish a point of difference. For future brides and grooms, expect better products and better service at great prices.

We read somewhere, that soon we will have two types of photographers. At one end there will be the boutique and personalized, and at the other end there will be those who produce the standard run of the mill images at really low rates. So at this point of time, every wedding photographer around the world, is standing at the same cross road as everyone of their peers. Personally, we have made our decision. We decided to follow the path of the boutique and personalized. We wanted to work with couples who appreciate the contribution we make to their everlasting memories. So expect some serious innovation and artistry from us.

Your budget plays a major role in the final decision. You can get a photographer for as little as $500, but they would be either a beginner trying to learn the craft, or a weekend shooter making some extra money on the side. Don’t expect too much in the way of creative photography or processing. Many of them don’t even offer printing or albums. Just the images on CD. Then you have the single shooter home based studios who offer the complete package, with a fairly personalized service, but at a price range of $2000 to $4000. At the top end are the major studios who serve you champagne during your initial consultation and charge over $5000 a wedding. So the biggest tip here is know what you are getting for what you are paying.

Another point to keep in mind is that every photographer has a different shooting style. Some create collections that are photo journalistic, while others create glamorous collections with more posed shots. The best way to decide on this point is to take the time to peruse through a whole collection of images from a recent wedding that the photographer has done. That way you’ll have a better idea of what you’ll get at the end. Don’t just go by the portfolio that is on the website or the prints hanging in their studio.

we’d love to be the perfect photographers for every couple. But in reality there is no such thing. Every photographer has a distinct working style and it is not possible to be everything that every couple needs. So make sure that you do your research and find the photographer that can best fulfill your expectations. After all, it is the memories of the most important day of your life that are at stake.

Following are the general steps we take to better the chances of creating photo collections that are unique and special for every one of our couples. We can’t go into too much details as we would be giving away our trade secrets.

The very first step is to get to know the couple. We ask many questions to understand exactly what they are planning and hoping for. We are constantly receiving emails, messages and phone calls from brides and grooms updating us on aspects of their wedding that relate and affect the photography. They do that based on our invitation to share with us all that is relevant, because we found that the better we are informed, the better the shots are.

A major discussion point is in relation to the style and the theme of the wedding. This is where originality and individuality comes into play, and is a major factor in the approach that we will take to photographing the wedding.

After finding the sufficient amount of information, we discuss the PreShoot. Which is a very important step in our Creative Process. It offers the opportunity for us and the couple to get to know each other more.

Once we have asked all the questions required, and we have all the information we need. We sit down and do some serious research and development.

These are just the general points we follow in our creative process. There are many details that we go into. We take these steps so not to present a couple the exact same collection of images we had presented to their friend or relative. This is a point that we take very seriously, as it would mean a failure on our part to create something that is special and unique to the couple.

If you’d like to find out more about our Creative process, we are more than happy to make the time to meet and discuss it in details with you.

Laila & Floyd were the perfect couple, awesome and deep in love. Just the way we like our couples to be.

To us it is a simple formula: Awesomeness + Love = Fantastic Photographs.

We did mention that we tried a few different things…

Year after year, our friends at Pan International have produced a spectacular show to celebrate Australia Day, and it has always been a privilege for us to photograph it.

This year’s show, titled “What’s in your Suitcase?”, was held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Peter Mousaferiadis, the Creative Director, has always managed to bring together a fantastic array of talent from the diverse cultural backgrounds present in our greater community. He presents the colours, energy and the different stories of the many performers come together in a spectacular fashion.

We enjoyed all the performances, but the highlight for us was the shadow puppetry being performed to the sounds of the choir. Very surreal!

If you were there and loved the show, then let Pan International know how you feel.

Website: www.paninternational.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/paninternational

Towards the end of 2010, and after photographing over 50 weddings, we decided that it was time to make a change. This was driven by the desire to produce images that were of extremely high standards. It wasn’t sufficient to only produce technically good photographs, we wanted to create works of art. Image that explored the intimate nature of the couples relationship. Images that reflected their love and passion for each other.
We made some changes to our business, and because of that, the couples who ended up booking us were just as keen as us. They were willing to work closely with us to achieve the high standard of images wished for. Following are quick summaries and sample images of the weddings that helped us bring about the changes we aimed for.

2011 started off with a bang. Our first couple was Martin & Jackleen. Their wedding was all about style, and the bride wore an amazing dress. For the shoot we started off at Graffiti Lane (Hosier Lane, Melbourne), but the top shots came when we were at Federation Square. The lighting was perfect and the steel walls proved to be the perfect backdrop.

Keldo and Mary’s wedding was beautiful in it’s simplicity. They had an amazing bridal party that turned the location shoot into a big party, and we couldn’t stop snapping away as the two just stood their embracing each other lovingly. We loved the image of them at the gates next to Chapter House so much that we printed it as a canvas and hanged it on our studio wall.

It is the little things that set the tone of a wedding, and in Gabi and Alice’s case, and as funny as this might sound, it was the warmth of Gabi’s parents’ house. All this was balanced nicely by Alice and her bridesmaid’s style.

You can tell that a couple is deep in love by the way they look at each other, and we knew that Adam and Nancy were head over heels for each other. The image of them strolling in front of Victoria’s Old Army Barracks is an all time favorite.

Winter had set in at this point, and the slow season was upon us. So we took the time to reflect on the achievements of the first half of the year, and invested a lot of time in research and development. We had a very stylish couple to photograph in September, and we were not going to pass the opportunity to create something amazing; and we did it. The images from Joe and Zahra’s wedding were all that we hoped for. We had the perfect mix of fun casual shots and the artistic works that we love to produce.

A week later we photographed Richard and Mary, and their set style was vintage. Still on a high from the week before, we pressed hard on the peddle of creativity, and the results did not disappoint. They were exactly what we, and the couple hoped for.

We’ve had a very interesting and fun journey so far. It has brought us to a point where we are really enjoying what we are doing, and the biggest satisfaction comes from seeing our couples getting all excited and loving their collection of photographs. We are working with awesome couples and produce images that we are very proud of, and we are looking forward to 2012.

I started in wedding photography six years ago, and my story is no different to any other photographer; Like many others, I was influenced by my father’s interest in photography, and owned a camera from a very young age.

Before photography, I did some studies in printing, and worked with a few companies. This gave me lots of exposure to graphic design, and that is when I learned about composition, and how to put different elements together to create appealing designs.

I have always enjoyed philosophy and writing, so at one point, I took some timeout to do a couple of courses related to that. This gave me a new perspective on many matters, including the ethereal nature of humanity. I personally believe that this particular part has a big influence over the images that I produce. But more on this in a later post.

I tried many different fields of photography, but I always came back to weddings. I think I enjoy the glamour and the whole romantic notion of the event.

Sandy joined the business about two years ago, and quickly became an integral part of the operation. Her background is in multimedia, and enjoys keeping up with all the latest fashion trends. So glamour is her thing too.

We got married in March 2011, and that had a big and positive effect on Sakhi Photography as a business. So when you see “we” in the posts on this website, you know that it is referring to San and Sandy.

From the day Sakhi Photography became a two person operation, more time was allowed for research and development. We started experimenting with our photographic style to find a path to stick to. The turning point was an image that we shot at the start of 2011.

We refer to it as the Ultimate Shoe Shot. Nothing too technical, but it was a break from the norm that we were used to. It was also a shot that we worked towards, and it kind of defined our working style. From that point, we started to talk a lot more with our clients. We also did a whole lot of research, development and testing. So we started to achieve some amazing images.

Towards the end of 2011, we achieved this image. It clarified the path that we were to follow, which is fine art photography.

In a future post we will talk more about why and how different photographs defined our work.

Our journey so far has been lots of fun with many highs and lows, but it has shaped us into what we are today, and because of that we have no regrets.

Keep smiling = )