Johannes Leistner

this is my first attempt with such kind of shots (long "bridal veil"). In the beginning it has not been easy to convince the bridal couple to do a "fancy photo". they were the kind of people who wanted no unusual photos, in terms of no jumping, running, tossing and not even kissing (just joking) - they only wanted a few classical settings. what ever a couple likes is perfectly fine with me, though it surprised me a bit as you don’t hear this very often.

so they were not really in a "play-mood" and I had to “teach” them exactly what to do. once again I found out how difficult it is do direct people with "spoken instructions" - as I was standing on a balcony to photograph from above. additionally to that, they were distracted by their guests and friends.

After all the result is not too bad, but I definitely have to work on this idea much more to develop it further (i.e. I dislike that you don’t see much of her hands). A general problem with this kind of shots also is, that there aren’t many locations with a balcony I could use…

Every new wedding season I try to do something different, try to learn new techniques and experiment with stuff I read in blogs or saw on the Internet. As one can imagine, the possibilities are endless. There are millions of photographers out there, billions of ideas and an unmanageable number of books and good advices… Often it is exciting and sometimes only frustrating, because it takes a huge amount of effort to separate the good from the bad - digging deeper into the material only to find out that it doesn’t work. For me time is the limiting factor since I only work part time as a photographer…

This spring I got inspired by a book called “The Hot Shoe Diaries - Big Light From Small Flashes” (by Joe McNally). A lot of books about photography techniques are written like a manual, boring and “dry” to read, whereas Joe uses a very funny and lively way of writing which makes you stick to his stories. But most important, he only uses normal Nikon Speedlights for his set ups and of course does a great job with it! The message is: you don’t need big studio equipment to generate interesting lighting scenarios - use the small flashes which you already carry around!

I also attended a workshop earlier this year, it was about fashion and glamor in wedding photography and took place in an industrial area, a school campus, car park and a Chinese restaurant. You might wonder what kind of shots you can do there, especially fashion and glamor style? The answer was easy, because all the instructor looked for was to find interesting backgrounds or surfaces. This way you won’t have disturbing objects ruining your photos.
We arranged all poses and set-ups very carefully and did things you normally cannot do during a wedding day and the average 60 minutes you have for the “official” wedding photos. It only works when the bridal couple is willing to do a shooting separately - fully dressed of course, including hair and makeup…

Would you sit down with your dress on the ground?

Would you even lay down on the streets?

Or trying something completely different and non-wedding-like, such as holding guns?

Most of my clients always ask for non-posed photography, of course they also should be non-cliché but somehow different, interesting and special. Often they say it should come out of “normal situations” and most of them won’t want to feel photographed. Of course it is not possible to do everything completely without posing, so I often manage to find the best way in the middle. It always helps if you arrange a bit here and there, but also photograph the non posed, often funny party in between two settings.
So was it an useless workshop? Not, not at all of course! It inspired me a lot and I will try to arrange a different pose every now and then, to making small changes here and there BUT I am already looking forward to the first couple asking for a after-wedding-shooting in fashion and glamor style!

follow me through the wedding season 2009 on Twitter

Hallo Johannes,

ein großes Dankeschön für die tollen Bilder von unserer Hochzeit am 06. September 2008! Der Name “Hochzeitsdokumentation” ist wirklich zutreffend, denn mit über 1100 Bildern hast Du sehr viele Momente unserer Hochzeitsfeier eingefangen. Die Bilder sind klasse!
Unsere Gäste und wir waren sehr zufrieden mit Deiner Arbeit. Du warst immer dezent im Hintergrund da, ohne dass man sich zu Fotoaufnahmen gezwungen gefühlt hat. Ich denke, dass sieht man den Bildern auch an.
Vielen Dank für Deine professionelle Arbeit und viele Grüße,

Aleks und Stephan

Today I received a lovely letter with a very kind testimonial (unfortunately written in German) from Sandra and Johannes:

Lieber Johannes,

wir möchten uns noch einmal ganz herzlich bei Dir bedanken für Deine geniale Unterstützung an unserem besonderen Tag. Du hast wirklich klasse Fotos gemacht. Alle Gäste waren begeistert von der Art und Weise, wie Du Dich in die Feier integriert hast. Du hast wirklich geschafft diese ganz besonderen Momente für uns festzuhalten.

Ganz liebe Grüße
Sandra & Johannes

P.S.: Dankeschön, daß Du uns an diesem Tag in so vielem begleitet, unterstützt und uns durch liebe Worte immer wieder große Freude bereitet hast. Wir waren überwältigt von den vielen Bildern, die mit so viel Professionalität und Hingabe für uns gemacht worden sind. Es ist auch dies, was die Zeit so einzigartig und besonders für uns hat werden lassen.

We asked Johannes to take the photographs at our wedding this summer and were really happy with everything he did. He was professional and very friendly throughout. He gave clear, but polite instructions when needed for the various portraits. The rest of the time though we hardly noticed him, he was so unobtrusive. And yet he was obviously working away all the time.
We ended up with a great range of photos covering everything from the ceremony and reception, to the dinner and dancing. Indoors or outdoors, posed or natural, day or night, he captured the mood perfectly. We liked all the hundreds of pictures we received afterwards, and found that everything we wanted was there, plus quite a few interesting and fun shots we wouldn’t have thought of ourselves. And he had no problems communicating with a mixed German and English crowd. A great job!

Antony and Martina
(view another photo of them)

Another nice feedback from last Friday’s wedding shooting in a lighthouse by the Baltic Sea:

Hi Johannes!

Wow, der absolute Wahnsinn! Ich bin schon von dem anderen Bild absolut geplättet. Bei Gelegenheit musst Du mir mal zeigen wie man Farben so schön darstellen kann

Uns hat es auch sehr viel Spaß gemacht und wir hätten uns keinen anderen Fotografen als Dich vorstellen könne. Tina meinte direkt nach der Abfahrt zum Hotel “Man hatte gar nicht das Gefühl fotografiert zu werden!”. Ging mir genauso.

Wir warten also gespannt auf weitere Bilder!

Ciao,
Christian

Another perfect party location in Hamburg: the Old Town Hall. The specialty for this location is that you can bring your own catering. I can highly recommend the Party All In catering company (ask for Kay Brock), with its very friendly staff and fair pricing. As the name says it already: all inclusive!

Johannes,

we wanted to let you know that we have received our wedding documentation. And we LOVE IT! We all look so happy and relaxed (even if we weren’t). Frankly, all the photos are truly beautiful and perfectly reflect the ambience of our wedding day!

Though we haven’t met before, it felt we knew you already for a long time. As a matter of fact I asked you to find my wedding accessories (which were spread all over the place) or to read the iron instructions for my wedding gown during my morning preparations. You did not hesitate!

We find you have a very nice style, discreet and relaxed, and we want to thank you for accommodating all our wishes on this very special day! Arthur and I had great fun having you and your camera around us all day. With great joy we look at all the timeless images and memories.

All the best from Singapore
Christiane & Arthur