Elopement and Wedding photographer in Saint Petersburg Russia

I always try to help with everything related to the shooting itself, make the schedule/timing, and give recommendations on the light and the optimal time for all the key moments of the day. I also help with shooting locations and, when relevant, share my location map. Important: before booking, I can give brief recommendations, but any itinerary and planning - only after the booking.

I also try to help with some organizational details. This does not mean that I will find you an officiant-climber who is ready to make a legal wedding ceremony in an ice cave (although I'm lying, for these guys I could find such an officiant ;) ), but I will make reasonable efforts to help make your day as unique as possible. I'm really crazy about it!

At the same time, we are not wedding planners, and for some issues, such as guest transfers, restaurant reservations, make-up artists, florists, and other tasks of this kind, it is better to use the services of a wedding planner.

Despite the fact that we try to plan the shooting day in advance, we are for naturalness, and minimally interfere in the process, we capture the best live moments. We will tell you what to do, fix your hair and correct your posture if something does not seem perfect to us, but the rest of the time we try to be inconspicuous.

We always have a spare camera on set. We duplicate photos on 2 cards and save photos in 2 places: on a physical hard drive and in cloud storage. We have never had a case where someone's footage was lost.

All weddings and elopements are different and it is impossible to standardize the number of photos, so we cannot name a specific number of photos that we will send you. Usually, from a full day of elopement shooting for two, it is from 300 photos, from a wedding with guests - it can reach up to 600-1000 photos. What we can promise is that we will not delete anything that even theoretically you might like. We do not send all the photos, because we easily shoot 3000-6000 photos for a wedding, and with a second photographer, this number in some cases reaches 10,000-12,000 photos. Most of our work is precisely the selection of the best and most successful photos from all. If there are a lot of photos, for the convenience of viewing, we try to divide them into several folders.

Photos will be processed and sent within 2 months after the shooting. We give photos in full resolution through an online photo gallery. They are easy to download from any device and share with friends.
* In the contract, we have a footnote that in case of a high workload (May-October), we can delay photos for up to a month. We have never used this footnote, but we hope for your understanding in case we have to use it - every next season after the pandemic is getting busier and busier. :)

In some cases weather is unpredictable and may interfere shooting plan. We do shooting in any weather, but thunderstorm, sand storm, heavy rain or stuck on the road impose certain restrictions on movement, location and shooting comfort. In case you come to the country for the shooting, spare day can help to guarantee the result and less depend on weather factors. How does it work:

Except main day, I book for you next day too. I will have no other plans besides your shooting. We will shoot one day, but in case of unforeseen circumstances this day can be replaced by a spare and we will be insured.

Of course, in the case of the ceremony with guests, you are unlikely to be able to reschedule the date of the ceremony due to the weather last moment. But on the other hand, the shooting for you two will take place in more pleasant weather ;)

Additional shooting is shooting on one of the nearest days, most often on the next day after the booked one. For example, you want to take a photo in another location not very far from the main shooting location, or you want to completely change your look and shoot lifestyle shots.

Night photography can come in handy if you want to shoot with the stars, freezlight, catch the northern lights or, for example, Petra by Night. When shooting at night, usually will not be a lot of shots, but they all will be unique. For example (1), (2) and (3).

Additional shooting is already included in the Diamond package.

A backstage clip is a short video recording in addition to photos by a photographer at the most interesting moments and cut into a clip 30-60 seconds as a result. It is done by a photographer (therefore, it is not suitable for moments we can't repeat like a ceremony, for example), and editing into a clip is done by a videographer. Backstage sample.

A separate videographer makes a full-fledged classic wedding (or not wedding :) ) clip. Since this is a separate videographer, video shooting can take place in parallel with the photo. As the result, you are getting a clip highlights and also possible to book a long movie which includes the ceremony and speeches, for example. More videos you can find on our YouTube.

In general, at any wedding, the photographer can work alone. It is important to understand that the photographer has only 2 hands and one head, so sometimes it is difficult to catch everything you want: for example, at the first meeting, ceremony, first dance, throwing a bouquet or cutting a cake (if they are, of course), there are always more hands and camera angles, the better. In a nutshell - if the budget allows, the second photographer will always make the final result better.

In addition, moments when a second photographer is needed:

• Preparations are planned in different locations in parallel.
• Very busy schedule on the day of shooting.
• Large families, many relatives, and everyone wants a photo.
• There are many guests and they are waiting for photos.
• Religious wedding (for example, a photographer of the opposite sex).

If at least 2-3 points match, you should also think about the second photographer. :)

These are just a few real photographs that you will receive on the day of shooting :) It seems like a trifle, but it turns out to be very nice!

In all packages during the photo shoot, you are responsible for travel and food, unless we have discussed otherwise. In some cases, I can help with all transfers, check in person.

The price does not include entrance to any paid places and attractions.
There may be a surcharge for traveling outside the big cities and for staying for few days shootings in places where only LUX hotels are located.
There may also be a surcharge if neighboring dates are booked in other countries: this often happens when planning shooting in the coming months.

To book the date we take a deposit and sign a contract remotely. Write to me on WhatsApp (the fastest option) or by Email, and I will send detailed information.

By the way, you can book one day first, and if, when discussing the route, we understand that one day is not enough, and the neighboring dates are still free, you can book additional days later. ;)

For shooting raw/footage, where smooth movement without jerks is important, we use a gimbal. In those moments where it is important to show a sense of presence and greater mobility is needed, we shoot handheld. We use a drone in moments where it is important to show the scale and the landscape. Important: We only use drones where it is legal and makes sense.

When filming a highlights clip, we record important moments that could potentially be included in the clip, since its duration is 2-4 minutes. For example, we do not write down the entire speeches. We catch moments when newlyweds or guests laugh, something funny and unusual happens, which should be included in the highlights video. You can order recording of speeches separately and get this video as an additional file.

When filming a long movie (20-60 minutes), we film everything that happens, and also put a second camera on a tripod (if available) to record the ceremony. When shooting a movie and in the Diamond package, a full recording of the speeches is already included. Important: be sure to warn the videographer in advance when/where the speeches will be spoken so that he has time to turn on the sound and start recording the video.

To record the sound of the ceremony and speeches, we use a recorder connected to the DJ console (if there it is), and also use an on-camera microphone. If it is not possible to connect to the console, we can attach a lavalier microphone to one of you and/or put a recorder nearby. Since weather conditions and venues are always different, there is no one-size-fits-all way to record sound, and we always adapt to the specific situation.

Often, for part of the shooting day (for example, preparations and a love story part), we attach a lavalier microphone to the bride or groom. This allows us to record cute funny and touching moments in a conversation between you, which makes the video clip more personal, "yours".

In the process of editing the highlights clip, we do SoundDesign - work on the sound, which includes mixing the sound of all used recording devices, adding the sounds of the voice of a couple or guests, and using sound effects (the rustle of grass, the sound of a waterfall) that actually occurred or from our database sounds to make the video even more alive and voluminous.

Before the day, we send you a wedding or elopement brief, one of the points of which relates to the music for the video. We ask you to send a list of favorite songs that you would like to hear in your clip or movie. If it is difficult to choose songs, you can send us your favorite direction in music, and the genre that you definitely do not want to hear in your video. This will help us better understand your musical preferences and choose music for the video that suits you best. In this case, I choose a song from the list or similar. If you have not specified preferences before the start of editing the clip, the musical accompaniment of the clip is left to the choice of the videographer.

A clip usually needs 1-2 songs, in a long movie it depends on the length of the movie, approximately 7-10 tracks can be included.

A wedding clip is what is called highlights, a 2-4 minute dynamic video with the highlights of your wedding or elopement.

Archive (long) movie - 20-60 minute long video, edited in chronology to see the entire wedding as it was. The archive movie is a pleasure to watch over the years, it allows you to remember more of the atmosphere of this day for the future.
* Important: if the shooting is planned without a ceremony, we may not have enough raw material for a long movie and, in general, a long film movie does not make much sense. In such cases, we usually make an author's movie (below).

We also have a third option, which is usually discussed personally, for example, it is possible to replace the clip + film in the Diamond package with an author's film:

The author's movie is an 8-15 minute video. We try to make it also dynamic, in the highlights style, it contains more footage, more moments from the ceremony. It makes sense to take an author's movie for shooting 9-12 hours and/or with a second videographer.

* We do not strictly follow the specified timing, this is an approximate time, based on our experience, when a clip/movie turns out to be interesting.

Yep, sure. Write to us before the wedding or, at most, on the day of the wedding: we will upload the raw files to the cloud and they will be available for download within a week. Important: the source material from the wedding can easily take up to 300GB.

In general, at any wedding, the videographer can work alone. It is important to understand that the videographer has only 2 hands and one head, so sometimes it is difficult to catch everything you want: for example, at the first meeting, ceremony, first dance, throwing a bouquet or cutting a cake (if they are, of course), there are always more hands and camera angles, the better. In a nutshell - if the budget allows, the second videographer will always make the final result better.

In addition, moments when a second videographer is needed:

• Preparations are planned in different locations in parallel.
• Very busy schedule on the day of shooting.
• Difficult conditions for sound recording and/or many speeches planning.
• Religious wedding (for example, a cameraman of the opposite sex).

If at least 2 points match, you should also think about the second videographer. :)