Choosing a wedding photographer is one of the most important parts of planning a wedding. Unlike the flowers which will wilt and the dresses that will be tucked away, the photographs will last forever. This is why it is so important that you have a clear idea of what kind of pictures they want before they even meet with the wedding photographer. This will help them to know right away if a photographer meets their guidelines or not.

Do not book a photographer over the phone; you must see the wedding photographer’s portfolio. Their portfolio will show you the style of work they normally shoot in. If you want strictly formal set ups and the photographer shows you several artistic photographs, it probably is not a good fit. It might be helpful to invite another friend or family member to meet the wedding photographer as well. Show them your list of guidelines so they can follow them with you. When choosing the type of photography you want, consider if you want casual shots of friends and family, or if you want only formal shots. Make a list of the groups you want to be photographed, including special photographs that might not involve the wedding party. Is an old friend coming from overseas? Is your high school badminton team coming to your wedding? If you forget photographs you want it will make the big day more stressful.

Place yourself in the photographs you see in the wedding photographer’s portfolio. If these were the photos you took home, would you be happy? Look for variety. If all the shots the wedding photographer shows you are close up this is a bad sign. Check the edges and background in the photographs and make sure the set ups are clean even. If you have photographs you like, take them in to show the photographer.

Ask the wedding photographer for their credentials and how long the have been doing wedding photography. If the wedding photographer has LBIPP, ABIPP or FBIPP after their name then they are professionally qualified. Ask about how they handle changes in weather, and find out if they are familiar with your venue. Ask about the event of your photographs being ruined and see if they have Professional Indemnity Insurance cover.

Photographs serve as our windows back to memory lane. They will allow us to look back at old and important moments through the years. Therefore, it is important to select innovative event photographer who can make a moment last a lifetime.

One of the events that require professionalism in handling cameras is your wedding. Matrimony is an important event in your life that entails great preparation. This is your first day as a wife or husband to your spous. Weddings are also an event where a reunion, which seldom happens, actually happens especially with relatives and close friends from way back. Photographs expertly taken by a San Antonio wedding photographer will be essential to capture your moments as a newly wed couple and with your dear friends and family. Only the expertise of a photographer in such a field will be able to present pictures worth looking back in time.

Choosing the perfect photographer who shall cover your wedding is one of the essential requisites in staging an ideal wedding. Turning to the Internet as your main source in finding your perfect photographer is a good idea. It comprises archives of several photographers. However, you could trim down your search into certain wedding photographers if you want to avoid trouble. Wedding photographers are famous for their extraordinary talent in handling cameras and taking the best pictures.

Once you already have a list of certain wedding photographers, you may opt to personally visit them. Before the meeting, prepare a list of the questions you would want to ask the photographers. In your meeting, you could also discuss the standards you have and the results you want.

The performance of a photographer is best seen in his breadth of ideas and viewpoints. The best photographers also have the most creative and fun photos. Know whether your prospect photographer could provide such quality pictures. Knowing the personality of the photographer is also essential because it could give you the idea on what kinds of pictures he could produce.

It is advised that you choose the photographer that has a similar personality to you. There is a greater probability that you would like the quality of the pictures he could give if both of your personalities are alike. Make sure to also take a peek to one of his portfolios. It is also vital that you see a sample of a complete wedding coverage in its correct sequence to be ensured that you are not only seeing the best of his works which you usually may see in a portfolio. Examine them closely and try to see yourself in that picture. If you can’t imagine yourself in the picture then maybe the photographer is not the one for you. You could also ask opinions from your prospect photographer’s clients and ask about the quality of the photographs. It is essential to know whether they were pleased with his performance or not, or if he was able to meet their expectations or not.

Once you made up your mind, schedule the date. Putting your wedding coverage at the hands of a photographer will put your mind at ease.

I photographed my cousin’s CA’s kitchen tea yesterday (or should I say bridal shower??) Bridal shower just sounds so much better than kitchen tea! Especially since I don’t like the kitchen and neither does my cousin Carey-Ann. It was so funny, one her friends gave her Olive Oil bath lotion – beautiful stuff – but CA at first thought she had to cook with it and was not too impressed. She said she would have given it to Shawn if it was for cooking…

She was really spoilt by all her friends and family and since they already have all the household and kitchen goodies (and she doesn’t really care much for those kinds of things) she was showered with pampering gists such as lingerie, bath and body lotions anda few naughty things too!!!

It was a really fun afternoon, spent with friends and family (and what made it even better was that Liverpool beat Man United 4 – 1!!!) Poor CA and Shawn: they are Man United supporters…. The ladies were in a real party mood and CA’s mom Mary and her bridesmaid Stacey were wonderful hosts. We played Bridal Bingo and then a sppinging game where everyone got a chance to spin and CA either got to open presents or have a drink or two!! Shame she really got nailed a few times!!!

The afternoon was ended off with 3 fine looking men dancing and entertaining the ladies and perhaps giving CA a little more attention than Shawn might approve of!!! But it was all good, clean fun in honour of the bride-to-be!!!

The wedding is in 2 weeks time. I am really excited as Riani and and are photographing the wedding. it is at Sha-Mani in Alberton and I’ve heard that it is a beautiful wedding venue. As the wedding photographer, I guess I will have to behave myself at least until after the wedding ceremony……

After that, I think I’ll let Riani work her magic (she really is a good wedding photographer) and maybe I can be in one or two photos for a change!!! I will have to have a few glasses of champagne with my cuz and the rest of the family to celebrate this special occasion!

Watch out for the McGinley waddle – even my Uncle Tom is going to be there and he is not getting out of it…..

It’s going to be a party of note – one thing I can say about the bride and groom is that they know how to party!! And party we will…. Enjoy the day my cuz, it’s one of the most special days of your life….. And may the two of you continue to be best friends forever because that’s the glue that keeps a marriage together!!! All my love Weez

Only 8 days before christmas!!!!  I can’t believe this time next week it will be christmas eve!!

Still don’t know what to get your family or friends for christmas??  Well look no further!!  We now offer a photo shoot for no more than R600.  You can buy friends and family a photoshoot gift voucher which they could redeem until April next year.  This incredible offer includes a 30 min studio photoshoot, 18 std photo prints, 2 A5 enlargements and an A5 photo frame.

Christmas is a time for family to celebrate together and what better way than memorable photos??

For more details emil us on info@louisedieselphotography.co.za

I actually can’t believe it – Demi-Leigh turned 1 yesterday!! Our baby girl is already one year old!! I can’t believe how time flies…. Well, of course, we had a huge party for Demi’s first birthday (we were going to have a small little party but I couldn’t help myself….)

I photographed a party in Bedfordview the other day for a 4 year old little girl and her mom had a company called Crazy Chameleon do all the decorations and it was so beautiful – I came straight home after the party and told Ryan we were getting them to do our decorations!

You must understand that I have organised so many spiderman, superman, power rangers, pirates, cars, ben 10 and all the super hero parties for my boys in the last 6 years, that I was so excited to do butterflies and flowers in pink and pink and pink!!! Yes, I will admit it – the decorations were more for me than Demi but that is the joy of having a little girl to spoil (I get to be a little girl all over again too…) I think I was more excited about Demi’s beautiful presents and gifts than she was….

So we had a butterfly theme and it was so special! We had so many friends and family come and visit and Demi just loved all the attention – she really loves children and had so much fun with all her friends and cousins!! Her brothers had even more fun -we hired a 10m slippy slide and so they were either on the slide or in the pool the entire day! It was fantastic! It was so nice to have a summer party for a change ( Mikey and Jamie are both winter babies – they have always wanted a slippy slide for their party but it’s not feasible in the middle of winter – so I got it for them now and it was great fun!) We even had Uncle Duncan and Uncle Ben and Dad go on the slide a few times!!!

Riani came to visit and so between the two of us, we took over 600 photos!! But it’s so special to have – our daughter’s first birthday party only ever happens once and we want as many photos as we have memories of this special day! It is definitely worth getting someone to take photos at your birthday party as often you are so bust you don’t get to capture all those special moments!

All in all, it was a beautidul day and everyone had a wonderful time! I will treasure the memories forever and hope that every birthday is that special for Demi-Leigh! We love you baby girl! Thank you for filling our lives with so much joy – your brothers have always filled our lives with love and laughter but you bring a different, softer energy to our family and we are so grateful to have you! Mwah! Mom, dad, Jamie and Mikey D!!

We went to “On the Night” at Jamies school(St Johns College) last night and wow! what a night it was!!! The boys had a fantastic time. The fireworks show was really amazing and I had great fun photographing all of them. It was really special and there was one moment where Jamie was sitting on his dad’s lap with wonder and excitement and awe on his face and I just felt so grateful that I got a tear in my eye (well actually a few tears but I am really sentimental and soppy sometimes…)

It was a really professional show and I can’t wait for next year (it is an anual event) and this time I will take all my friends and family with. I am really proud to have my boys at such a wonderful school and I realised last night that that is what I work for – to give my children wonderful experiences like that….

So if any of you are frieworks enthusiasts, I would definitely recommend “on the night” at st john’s college (SJC) next year. Take a picnic basket and a blanket and you are set for a magical evening……

It’s the little things that make life so special!!

Okay so this blog has absolutely nothing to do with photography…. I have been slightly under the weather for the last few days and so had some time to stay in bed and read a good book. The book in question is called (you guessed it) “For one more day” by Mitch Albom. He has written a couple of other books (none of which I have read) but one is quite well-known called “Tuesdays with morrie”.

Anyway, the book also has nothing to do with photography, or photoshoots, photography tips or any of that photo stuff…. It is a book about relationships and loving and appreciating the people in our lives – especially those closest to us whom we most often take for granted. This guy gets to spend one more day with his mom (who actually died 8 years before) and he gets to make peace with her and more importantly, with himself.

It’s a short little book with a powerful message – if you could have one more day with someone you have loved and lost, who would it be? and more importantly, what would you say? and what if you decided to say those things to the people you love who are still around? Would you have the courage? This book helps a little….

So to all my friends and family, especially my mom and dad, I want to say thank you – thank you for always loving me, for always believing in me, for making so many sacrifices for me and for loving me unconditionally…. You mean more to me than you will ever know and I am so grateful to have you in my life!!! I love you always – weez