I am here for you. I take very responsible approach to weddings, but it has to be fun at the same time. I am member of ISPWP (International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers), which accepts only the most experienced, talented and professional wedding photographers in the world — only 5 members are in the Czech republic (2023).
About me and my approach to photography (click here)
I like chocolate, movie dramas, visual art, new technologies, jogging and music. A wedding combines all these things together :-)
In the field of photography, I specialize directly in weddings. I also photograph other genres:
- portraits
- pregnancy and family photos
- celebrations, company parties
- art photography for sale
- and other
…but weddings are the genre I focus on.
Thrill, tears of emotion, joy, laughter, hugs. The wedding day is a day of strong emotions for me. A day full of expectations, friendly meetings and farewells. Even in today’s world, it continues to be a significant moment of our life.
My goal is to capture all these emotions and the mood of the wedding day, unrepeatable moments. Photos are meant to remind us the love of our loved ones even after years. Sometimes we take it for granted, but unfortunately we realize its fleeting rarity after time…
Every amateur photographer can more or less take pictures of people who come to a wedding. But I consider more important that the photos also tell about feelings. Such photographs have far more value to us over time than just documentary images. Wedding photos from me are vivid memories, they tell the story of the two of you, what you experienced at the wedding and how the wedding guests felt.
I build wedding photos on four base pillars:
- Emotions (tension, tears, hugs, friendship, family bonds, joy and sadness)
- Love (the relationship of the groom and the bride, but also of all the wedding guests)
- Elegance (people like a representative appearance, I avoid infantile humorous depictions)
- Details (there is more hidden in seemingly insignificant little things than we realize at first glance)
My wedding photos are all about people. I always try to make you look your best in photos: women beautiful and elegant, men strong and representative. The most important thing for me is the relationship between the two of you, bride and groom. As a photographer, I return to some wedding venues again and again. However, every wedding is different because the people and their relationships are what make every wedding unique. In my opinion, people, expressions of love and friendship are the most important things that will make you return to your wedding photos with enthusiasm even years after your wedding day.
Just for fun, what and who have I already photographed?
- I photographed the bride’s 2 weddings with different grooms — the best proof of client’s satisfaction :-)
- On International Women’s Day, I photographed a registered partnership for two gentlemen — why not :-)
- I photographed Europeans, Americans, Asians and Africans — when there was no Covid-19 :-)
- I photographed Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians and atheists — photography does not care about religion :-)
- I took pictures of designers, photographers, architects, actors and celebrities while elbowing away the paparazzi :-)
- I took maternity photos 9 months after the wedding, shortly before giving birth - caused by the wedding night? :-)
- But no matter who I photographed, I always tried to photograph with my heart. <3
I am a wedding photographer from Prague, but I also take photos elsewhere in the country.
Enough talking about me. I am now looking forward to your story.
What you will get from me
1. Nice natural photos (no one wants to look as a monster)
- I want you to look natural and best in your wedding photos. This is one of the main tasks of a wedding photographer. So that you don’t have a double chin, fat upper arms, yellow teeth, dark monocles under your eyes. But at the same time — it must be you.
- Can’t you show any face expressions? Aren’t you photogenic? I hear this all the time. Don’t worry, anyone can do it in front of my camera. I make a living from wedding photography, that means I don’t work with models, but with ordinary people who are usually standing in front of a photographer for the first time in their life. I have adapted the entire photography process to this fact. A simple and nice photoshoot that will not spoil your wedding day. It is not a pain, but a pleasant experience.
- Relaxed, stress-free photography. Photographing with me is not annoying even for gentlemen. I am a man myself, so I understand men’s fears that a stranger will want to direct or force us to do something during the photo shoot. But it doesn’t work that way with my style of work. I offer a modern way of photography, forget about the terrifying experiences of neck-breaking posing. It is an easy pleasant approach.
- I try to capture more than just your look in your wedding photos. It doesn’t have to be classic wedding kitsch. I want the photo to tell a story, to affect your emotions. So that it has a timeless appeal, because you will return to it even in decades.
2. Friendly approach (I’m just easy going)
- Individual approach — every engaged couple is different, so I approach each of you individually to fulfill all your wishes.
- No limit for the number of photos, nor for the number of hours at the wedding (for all-day photography). I don’t want to stress you out unnecessarily. You will get everything important. Maximal friendly approach.
- I want to be a nice part of your wedding day.
- I know well that planning a wedding is not easy, so I want to make it as simple as possible for you. So that you don’t have to calculate or deal anything hard with me, so you don’t waste time unnecessarily. At the end you have easily accessible photos, ready for immediate sharing with your friends.
3. Years of experience (come on, we’re all getting old :-))
- I have been engaged in wedding photography since 2013. After 10 years, I have successfully completed around 300 weddings.
- I am the author of the largest czech blog for wedding photographers, in which I offer my knowledge and practical experience to my colleagues for free. Some articles were translated to english too.
- I organize classes and workshops for photographers.
4. Professionalism (I’m the top tip in the field :-))
- I am one of the few czech photographers who shoot weddings full-time, so shooting weddings is my livelihood. Many czech photographers photograph weddings only in the form of extra income, which brings a lot of risks to clients. Amateurs tend to have worse technique, they don’t have a backup solution in case their device breaks at a wedding, they have much less experience, less motivation and responsibility (if something goes wrong, they don’t lose their main job because they are not financially dependent on photographic work). Paradoxically, a semi-professional can give you a higher price for photography services, because he only needs a few orders a year (and he simply rejects all applicants with a lower budget, because he has another main source of income, so he can do it). The delivery time for photos tends to be significantly longer, because amateurs and semi-professionals do not have enough time to process photos during their main job.
- Since 2019 I am a member of ISPWP — The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers. There are only five members in the Czech Republic (2023).
- I use professional equipment, I’m often among the first people who buy new devices on the market so you get the best results.
- I don’t rely on luck, I know well that even professional devices can fail sometimes. That’s why I’m equipped with a spare camera and other backup devices so the wedding photo session doesn’t end before the planned time.
5. I spend a lot of time with you (I love sitting at the computer for a long time)
- Photography only takes up 4 percent of wedding photographers’ time. I spend most of my time culling and editing your wedding photos so that you get a sorted and great-looking result.
- While some photographers spend 1 to 3 hours on post-processing (sorting and editing photos), I spend up to 50 hours — six working days! My curse is that I can’t do any work badly :-)
- While some photographers will deliver your photos without a good look at them, I will carefully prepare several useful outputs for you. Online gallery for easy and instant sharing with your friends. Online photo storage in maximum size. Video presentation for a stronger experience of viewing the story of your wedding day. Sometimes even a package of black and white photos. Photobook design (which you may or may not use). And I also offer other services.
6. Fast delivery of photos (on your 50. wedding anniversary at the latest ;-))
- During the season, I work almost non-stop, on weekends and at night. I wouldn’t have to, but I want you to not have to wait months for your wedding photos.
- I don’t try to complete the order as quickly as possible, of course the quality of the result comes first. I am able to deliver a large number of photos in record time. How is it possible?
- As one of the few czech photographers, I work full-time in wedding photography business. That’s why I can devote much more time to it than others. And that’s why the wedding order has a higher priority for me than other orders.
- In the past, I devoted a lot of time to optimizing my workflow as much as possible. Where quality does not suffer, I have deployed automation. I bought powerful hardware and software tools that make my work much easier and faster.
- I am technically skillful, so I control all programs with ease and, above all, quickly. I know keyboard shortcuts, I use my own lightroom presets, photoshop actions, etc.
- Along with booking your wedding date, I also book 50 hours of my time to process your photos. Planning everything so far in advance means that it doesn’t happen that I get delay without a reason.
7. Printing beautiful wedding albums (everyone will look amazed with open mouth)
- It’s not like I send you photos and say goodbye to you. Your wedding photos deserve to be printed, and I am glad that most of my customers do not neglect this final (and perhaps the most important) part of the job.
- Proper printing of photo books is a rather complex matter: for professional preparation you need a quality monitor, a calibration tools, knowledge of color management, and some communication with the customer about the final form of the photo book. Once printed, there is no way going back. That is why most photographers do not offer printing of photo books, or they supply them in amateur quality. But that’s a shame.
- Not every customer wants to devote their time and energy to creating their own photo book. Not everyone is able to do it. And not everyone has the skills to make the output look professional — like from me. It’s a lot of extra work for me, but it’s important and I do it for your happiness. That’s why I offer you beautiful wedding photo books.
8. Enthusiasm for work (I just enjoy it!)
- Once upon a time one bride wrote about me: “Petr likes photography and takes it not only as a job, but as his life mission.” Well I think that’s right :-)
- Why do I take pictures? I could have continued with other interesting work, but I preferred photography. Because I want to bring lasting joy to people. Because it is my form of self-realization.
- Some wedding service providers are somewhat burnt out of business after years in the industry. Fortunately, it avoids me because I always try to do my best work and I always strive for creative results. Photography is not only a job for me, but also a hobby.
9. Favorable price (but I’ll take your hard earned money anyway)
- It’s true that I’m not the cheapest wedding photographer in a czech market. But at low prices, it is not possible to maintain high-quality photographic equipment, backup technology, or back-office for photo editing in the long term. However, it is usually true that cheap wedding photographers are not present in the market for long time and thus do not have enough experience.
- Of course, it also depends on how much time the photographer devotes to culling and editing photos. Someone will send you photos without looking at them properly, another photographer spends an hour preparing, another photographer (like me) 50 hours or more.
10. Professional retouching (this does not apply to you, because you are beautiful even without retouching)
- I am a wedding photographer and I am also a retoucher. It may seem obvious to some customers, but in reality, few photographers can handle high-quality post-processing of wedding photos.
- It does not mean that I would dramatically change the appearance of your photos, that I would transform you into other people. Quite the opposite: quality retouching work is characterized by the fact that, as a result, no one recognizes that the photo was retouched. That way, no one will see your acne, varicose veins, bruises, yellow teeth, big forearms, etc. Honestly, sometimes I think it’s a pity that customers can’t see how much painstaking work I put into their photos. They only see a nice result, but they don’t see retouched cars in the background, cigarette butts and other garbage on the ground, etc. But I personally respect the principles of ethical behavior, so I don’t allow myself to send original photos to customers without editing. No one should see a person in an unflattering form, no one should compare the appearance of a lady before and after editing, so I don’t publish these original photos.
- I like natural colors. While the current popular style can be extreme color desaturation of photos, I like colors and at the same time I believe that the natural form of photos is also the most timeless. I am also a lover of black and white processing, but not every photo is suitable to be b&w.
- You will get all the wedding photos edited by me. I spend most of my time on portrait photos of the bride and groom. Reportage photos (e.g. from a wedding ceremony) are corrected rather than edited so that the authenticity of the document does not suffer. I review and edit all photos in several levels. Firstly, I straighten the angle of a photo, if necessary, I crop the photo for a better composition. I adjust the white balance, contrast, lights & shadows and color properties. Or I use special photo effects. Finally, local retouching is applied (the most time-consuming).
you can find me on social networks