General Questions To The Photographer
Prague is beautiful at any time of the year, but it's best to take pictures when it's warm outside. Depending on your preferences, I would advise you to choose the period from April to the end of October. In the spring trees bloom in the city very beautifully, but it can be slightly cool. Summer is warm with a lot of sunny days, but the tourist season is in full swing, so there is much more people in the streets. In the middle of autumn, the tourist flow becomes not so intensive, it is not so hot in the street and the city gradually begins to get dressed up in autumn mottled colors.
I advise you not to choose weekends and public holidays, because in this case there will be much less people in the streets.
Early morning at dawn and before sunset.
Yes! This will help us to diversify our shooting. As an inspiration, you can refer to my collection on Pinterest. If there are any things important for the two of you, take them with you too.
The most ideal variant is to postpone the shooting to another day. Therefore, if possible, try to allocate for a trip to Prague at least 3-5 days.It happens rarely that it rains cats and dogs all day. Therefore, we either take a break and transfer the shooting to another time, or while it rains, we make photos in a hotel or a cafe.
Depending on the weather conditions, I will be either alone or with an assistant. Assistant helps me with the photo equipment and during the shooting, when you need something to fix, hold and perform other small orders. My assistant does not help you to carry your things, in case this would be necessity, you need to order an additional assistant.
I recommend to choose a hotel or apartment near the Prague Bridge, the main landmarks are the streets of Karlova and Mostecka. If for some reasons you cannot do this, then choose accommodation in the walking distance from the Old Town Square.
No, I deal with photography only. But I can advise excellent teams of videographers who will be happy to make a film for you.
Payment and organizational questions
It is desirable, but not necessary. If you have comfortable shoes and you are ready to walk a lot, you can do without transport. If you still decide to take the car, then you need to book a transfer with the driver, since parking in most places where we are going to shoot is prohibited. The cost of transport with the driver is about ~ 20 euros per hour.
Yes. Or I can help you with this by ordering a transfer at the transportation company. The approximate cost of a trip to the Hluboká Castle (the furthest one) is 200 euros.
Only if we make photos in places where you need to pay for an entrance or a photo shoot. As a rule, these are beautiful gardens with a view of the city. The cost is from 20 to 40 euros.
To reserve a date, you need to sign the agreement online and make an advance payment. Usually it's about 30% of the package cost. You can make an advance payment by bank transfer or by using the PayPal service. The down payment is non-refundable.
The whole amount minus the advance payment is paid in cash on the day of shooting.
No need. All instructions regarding shooting and posing I will give you on the day of the photo session. All other possible questions can be discussed by correspondence.
Photo-shoot and schedule related questions
Yes, of course. Usually we shoot for 5-6 hours in Prague, and for 2-3 hours in the castle or castles. An example of such a photo shoot you can see here, and also at this link.
Photo shoots inside the castles are not officially permitted and must be agreed with the castle authorities in advance, plus usually such a photo session is worth a lot of money. Usually shooting on the territory of the castles is quite enough. Photoshoot in the Hluboká Castle is free, in other castles there is a small fee for entering the park.
A lot of! Regardless of the chosen package, we will move around and take photos almost continuously. Of course, the more shooting hours we have, the more different places we can cover, but even with a minimum package you will have a lot of different photos in interesting locations.
We will take photos in the old city, in the most picturesque places of Prague. During the shooting I will also show you a lot of interesting and beautiful corners, about which only the local citizens know. If the shooting takes place in the daytime, then I choose places where there are few people, but which are no less beautiful than the famous Prague sights.
You can also choose photos with places that you would like to see on your pictures.
Unfortunately, not anymore. Since August 2016 the St. Nicholas church has forbidden wedding photo-shoots. Shooting in the cathedral is possible only if you have a ceremony. I can recommend you a wedding planner, who will help you with the organization.
Due to religious reasons no other church is possible.
Early in the morning the stylist comes to your room. Recommendations on how to prepare for his arrival, you can find in a separate block. Bride's makeup and hair style usually take about two hours. Next, you dress up and go out into the street.
If your hotel is not located within the walking distance from the location, order a taxi for a specific time in the evening. As a rule, we meet with you at dawn, just at the first location and start a photo shoot. Depending on the chosen package, we either shoot for several hours on end, or after a while (usually 3-5 hours) take a break for lunch and rest. At this time, depending on the package chosen, either the stylist comes to your hotel and does his job, or you enjoy free time and relax. Closer to sunset, we again meet in the place of shooting and continue the photo shoot
Available upon requests and booking in advance. The rental prices start from 10000 CZK per hour.
Questions about outfit choices
No, but I can advise wedding salons where you can do it. In case the girl is "classic" Asian size, then I recommend bringing the dresses with you. Firstly, it will cost you cheaper, and secondly, you will be able to pick up your size (European girls are bigger and taller, so dresses for them are sewn appropriately). Thirdly, you will have more time to choose the right style and you will not need to spend the long-awaited vacation in the wedding salons instead of walking around the beautiful city.
Any dresses, that accentuate your good point and hide the weaknesses.
If you have heavy hands, it is better to refrain from dresses that are held on the chest due to the corset and choose the styles where the shoulders and arms to the elbow will be covered.
For plump and rounded girls, I do not recommend lush dresses, especially with extra decor, as these dresses will only add extra pounds to you.
The most important condition is that you must feel comfortable in your dress, and not only while standing, but also while moving quite intensively.
Make sure that you can walk freely in the dress, without holding it with your hands or stepping on the hem. The optimum length is from 2 to 4 centimeters from the floor. All my photo shoots are going on in motion, so do not think that you will beautifully pose in the pre-set position. No! You will move: walk, run, spin. And the longer and heavier is your dress, the more boring will be your photos.
Also, I do not recommend dresses with a long train. In fact, in 5 minutes after you come out into the street, it will in the best case be grey, and in the worst case - dirty.
And the last, the most important thing. You invest so much money for that photo-shoot, therefore don't spoil everything with the way how you will look. Because your looks is the only thing that can't be changed and fixed. Instead of bringing three cheap rented wedding dresses, that look very "second-handy", bring one. But that one should look amazing on you!
Here is my Pinterest board to illustrate what dresses are the best for pre-wedding photo-shoots.
Long, ideally not less than 2 meters and it should be at least 1.5 meters wide. It must be without lace and attached on the crest, so that it can be easily put on and removed. Please don’t forget to iron the veil on the eve of the photo session. The tumbled lump of cloth looks very untidy in the photographs.
I've done another inspiration board for you with the bridal accessories that are more than welcomed.
I won't stop repeating: the way how you look is THE MOST IMPORTANT.
Any that suits you. Try to refrain from red and black, because the first color attracts too much attention and the red dress in the photo becomes the brightest object, distracting attention from the two of you. Black dress turns on the photo into one continuous dark mass without any details. An exception may be simple tight fitting elegant black dresses that favorably set off the beautiful inflections of the female body.
Shoes should be comfortable and either completely without a heel, or on a very stable thick heel. If you really want, you can take your high-heeled shoes, but they will only be needed for several shots. Therefore, it is better to spend time searching for a comfortable and beautiful looking shoes of the appropriate shade. Please, believe me, pink sneakers or black street shoes, look very bad on the photos in combination with a wedding dress. And as I have mentioned above, the photo shoot would be going on dynamically and in the motion, so it is not always possible to cover your inappropriate shoes.
There are several options. I describe them in the descending order of priorities.
1) You book a hotel in the old town, ideally close to the Charles Bridge, and then we can return to your hotel where you can change.
2) You may book a car with a driver for the time of the photo session, which will wait for us and carry us from one location to another and in which you will leave your clothes.
3) You need to agree in advance with administration of the hotels, which are on the route of our photo shoot and leave your outfits there on the eve of the photo shoot (small tip in this case is very desirable).
4) You may take the dresses with you in a suitcase and change into the restroom of the restaurant on the way of our route. This option is the most budgetary, but also the most inconvenient. Your dress will be crumpled, the groom will have to carry a suitcase over the Prague pavement (this is very difficult to do and often he will have to carry it in his hands) and changing clothes in public toilets is problematic some times.
It depends on the number of hours of shooting. On average, I advise one outfit for every 3-4 hours. And it would be great, if apart from wedding and evening dresses, you will choose at least one for everyday life.
But please remember that the time spent on changing outfits is included in the shooting hours. And it is up to you - whether you want to spend it on a photo shoot or on changing clothes.
More information on what I recommend to wear you can find here.
Outcome questions
Prague is beautiful at any time of the year, but it's best to take pictures when it's warm outside. Depending on your preferences, I would advise you to choose the period from April to the end of October. In the spring trees bloom in the city very beautifully, but it can be slightly cool. Summer is warm with a lot of sunny days, but the tourist season is in full swing, so there is much more people in the streets. In the middle of autumn, the tourist flow becomes not so intensive, it is not so hot in the street and the city gradually begins to get dressed up in autumn mottled colors.
Correction of "shortcomings" (often these features are considered disadvantages only by you and none of the others) is not included in the basic cost of packages and can be ordered additionally. The cost is negotiated individually and depends on the amount of work.
In most cases, all these minor trifles are easily corrected by properly selected clothing, haircut, hair dress and make-up.
The post-processing time is up to 2 months from the day of the photo shoot. You will get your photos by means of a link to the zip-archive. I do my best to provide the photos earlier, usually my clients get them in less than 1 month.
The number of photos depends on the selected package, but I guarantee at least 50 pictures for each full shooting hour. This means that if half an hour or an hour has been spent on changing outfits, then, perhaps, you will get a little less photos.
Post-production will be applied on every photo delivered. The concept of processing includes framing, bringing of pictures to a single color scale, light correction and basic retouching of large portraits. You will get a mix of colored and black&white (not more than 5%) photographs.
Basic editing doesn't include removing people from an image, compositing several images together, or cleaning the background. This can be done at extra fee.
You can. The size of the photos is ~ 6750 px on the long side, the resolution is 300 dpi. Some pictures may be smaller due to the framing.
Yes, at an extra charge.
Photos in RAW format can be also bought after receiving the completed JPEG. The cost is 30% of the cost of shooting.
Make-up and hair style related questions
Sure! Not one hundred brides with an Asian type of appearance passed through the hands of my stylists and at the moment they are among the most experienced stylists in Prague. Please, write to me, and I will send you a link to their portfolio so that you can see it yourself.
For sure! Smooth face and clean-cut hair style have never been undue for anyone. However, masculine the bride might look, and if he thinks that make-up is a privilege of women, it is necessary to apply a tint to the face and fix hair. The magic hands of my stylists are at your service. And for sure warn the stylists in advance (!) that you plan to put the groom in order too, so they would plan their time in a proper manner.
Of course, and it is even necessary. But not to me, but to the stylist. You can prepare photos in your dresses and style options that you think fit you and discuss it with the stylist in person.
Be sure to follow advice of a professional. If it seems to you that the make-up is too bright or the tone is too dense, then take into account the fact that it is necessary for the photographs. Makeup for everyday life and for a photo shoot are completely different things and therefore it may seem unusual to you. Especially if in life you have a naturally looking make-up, or you do not use any make-up at all.
Yes, there are eyelashes and they can be bought separately, it is better to bring your own eyelid sticker tapes, because it is a rare thing to buy in Europe.
Put your eyebrows in order beforehand (a few days before the planned shooting). Extra hairs should be plucked and the eyebrows should be shaped.
All unwanted facial hair (mustache, small hair on temples) should be eliminated.
Some days before start to moisturize the skin very well, apply a moisturizing mask on the night before. Don't forget about the groom also please. Take a proper care about his skin and lips; even the slightest exfoliation will look badly at the photos.
DO refresh the hair roots! Even 1 cm of regrown hair looks awful at the photos.
Of course, at extra charge.