Portes des Iris in Vullierens near Morges is an awesome place. The farmhouse dated back to the 16th century belongs to the Estate of Château de Vullierens and is located on a little hill between flower and corn fields. It’s one of my very favorite wedding venues in Switzerland. It can only get better if the bride and groom is telling you that they will arrive for the ceremony not by car, but riding on white horses. As Sarah & Patrice did :)

On the wedding day it’s often more interesting not to follow the bride and groom, but to observe what’s going on on other “stages” of the event. As a second shooter you’re in a great position to do just that as usually the principal photographer will cover the bride and groom and get the required wedding pictures. As the second shooter you’ve got a lot more freedom to play around.

When I helped last weekend my good friend Colette to photograph a wedding at Portes des Iris in Vullierens – one of my favorite wedding venues in the french part of Switzerland – I was hanging around where the ceremony would take place later. It was just 10 minutes before the ceremony and they final preparations were done. As the violinist was not sure about the timing of the song with the entrance of the bridesmaids, she asked them to do a quick rehearsal. So they did, everyone with her virtual groomsman and the pure excitement in their faces. Knowing that in just a couple of minutes this very same room would be filled with a happy couple and their families and closest friends.

That’s the moments I love.

The windshield wipers were working hard in heavy rain when my car passed Montreux at the Lake of Geneva in Switzerland. That was not exactly how I interpreted this morning the forecast for the wedding of Vérène and Jean-Pierre in Sion and Granges, in the french part of Switzerland. But I was still confident that in the Valais it would look better as it usually has more sun and less rain than the rest of Switzerland. There must be a reason why the Valais is well known for it’s wine.

And indeed, as soon as I turned around the corner into the valley, there were only a few drops of rain left and the day evolved into another perfect summer day. With a gourgeous couple, a blue sky, humming bees and the scent of a flowery meadow.

High grass, a light breeze and the chirping of crickets. What an amazing summer day for the wedding of Heather and David on Wildenstein Castle near Basel, Switzerland.

For a Swiss wedding photographer it always means something very special if you get the opportunity to photograph an open air wedding. The weather being not as warm and stable as in California, there are not many open air weddings over here. And if it takes place in such an awesome location as a castle that is built around 1200, what can you ask more for? The work of wedding coordinators Anne and Esther of weddingdesign made it perfect. An unforgettable day for Heather and David and their families and friends.

When I have time it’s always fun to second shoot a wedding with friends. This weekend I spent in Solothurn with Jeanine & Philippe. Although it was a rainy day for once, we were still lucky to enjoy a mostly dry morning with the couple shots in the city. Being the 2nd or even 3rd photographer at a wedding is a great experience. You can always pick up something from another photographer. And as you’re not the principal photographer to cover the event, you can get a different view on the day.

The weather in Switzerland was great for a couple of weeks now. Sunshine every day. Warm. If not hot. Days of summer. How could that go on like that for another week? I was hoping that the weather change – that had to come one day – would not come this weekend. The weekend Julia & Peter got married in Weggis, at the Lake of Lucerne.

There was no reason to be concerned. It was a beautiful day. And even if some unexpected organizational problems showed up the night before the wedding, everything worked out fine at the end. Having followed many weddings in my life, I know that always something goes wrong. It’s good to be prepared. But then you have to let go and be open for another way.

Julia & Peter enjoyed a wonderful day with their families and friends. It’s great to see how everyone comes together at a wedding and celebrates the start of a new family. As a photographer it’s an honor to be invited to follow the couple and capture this day. It’s wonderful to capture life.

It’s this time of the year again. December. Christmas coming soon. Time to spend with your family and friends. Time for traditions.

One tradition I started last year is to invite my wedding photographer friends from all over Switzerland for our annual Christmas dinner in Berne – the Wedding Crashers Switzerland Xmas Splash ‘10. We spent a wonderful evening at the restaurant Altes Tramdepot Bern with good food, some drinks and a fun little Pocketbooth app on our iPhones ;-) The freshly baked cupcakes we did with the Cookie Chicks Jeanine, Nadja and Karin at the pre-event were delicious and so were the home-made roasted almonds from Stephanie - yummy! I’m very happy to see the network and friendships grow. It has been a great year, thanks ya’ll!

In the picture (or not), in order of appearance: Nadja Oeler, Andreas Feusi, Philippe Wiget, Richard Overtoom, Katharina Wernli, Urs Anderegg, Ruggero De Pellegrini, Tobias Schmid, Daniel Daeppen, Stephanie Greter, Karin Näf, Jeanine Linder, Colette Dewan, Karin Vonow, Ildiko Varga, Daniel Knecht, Ilsuk Sun, Matthew Anderson

Congratulations Colette & Curt! You’re a wonderful couple, it was awesome to spend the day with your families and friends! Your wedding was hands down my favorite wedding ever! If I leave the wedding party at the very end and arrive back home at 5am, you know that I liked it ;-)

Check out Colette’s website here: COLETTE Photography

More to come.

Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, Paris 2007. Copyright Bob & Dawn Davis (www.bobanddawndavis.com)

Being a professional wedding photographer doesn’t only mean to use professional photo equipment and to have a backup plan. Which is important, though. But it also means to really specialize in weddings and to have a lot of experience. Wedding photography is very different from other fields of photography. Fashion or commercial photography has other rules and needs other skills. And even a great press photographer doesn’t necessarily have to be a great wedding photographer, even if both work in the documentary field of photography.

That said, continuing education is very important and another thing that separates the men from the boys in the wedding photography field. I personally like to travel and attend workshops with the best wedding photographers worldwide. It not only gives me the opportunity to learn from the best, but also to meet new people in other countries that share the same passion than I do. I would say if you attend a workshop the networking part is as important than to learn technical stuff. In the last years I have traveled several times to London, to Toronto, Atlanta and New York to learn and meet great people.

As much as I enjoy it to get further education and explore a new city or country at the same time, not everyone has the means to do so. It takes a lot of time and money. That’s why I thought why not bring the world’s best wedding photographers to Switzerland? To teach us and to get the best knowledge available. Combine this with networking with a lot of other swiss wedding photographers you might have heard of but never met. I’m sure this will have a big impact on our industry over here. That’s the boost we need.

With this ideas in mind I partnered with Light + Byte in Zurich and it was a special pleasure for me that I could win my friends Bob & Dawn Davis from Chicago for the first workshop. They don’t only belong to the best wedding photographers worldwide, but especially are just very nice people and great family guys. Despite their success and fame they are still down to earth and always have the time to help. Even if it’s just an unimportant swiss wedding photographer asking some silly questions :-) Thanks for your friendship and for joining the passion for this adventure, Bob & Dawn!

Details and registration: http://www.lb-ag.ch/weddingworkshop2010

Here is the original media release in German:

Exklusiver Workshop mit Celebrity-Fotografenpaar Bob & Dawn Davis aus Chicago

Zweitägiger Workshop zum Thema Hochzeitsfotografie am 28. und 29. März 2010 in Zürich

ZÜRICH, 8. März 2010 – Nur für einen einzigen Workshop kommt das US-Fotografenpaar Bob & Dawn Davis nach Europa und wird auch in Zürich sein Publikum zu begeistern wissen. Die beiden Amerikaner gehören längst zu den Weltbesten im Hochzeitsbusiness und dürfen Eva Longoria, Salma Hayek oder auch Oprah Winfrey zu ihren Kunden zählen.

Spezialgebiet Hochzeitsfotografie

Die Hochzeitsfotografie stellt ein sehr anspruchsvolles, aber oftmals unterschätztes Spezialgebiet der Fotografie dar. Erstmals findet jetzt in der Schweiz ein mehrtägiger Workshop speziell für Hochzeitsfotografen statt. Ganz nach dem Motto „learn from the best“ bietet sich den Teilnehmenden die einmalige Gelegenheit von der jahrelangen Erfahrung dieser beiden aussergewöhnlichen Profis zu profitieren.

Einzigartiges Programm

Das Programm wurde von Bob & Dawn speziell für diesen Workshop zusammengestellt. Die beiden Tage sind inhaltlich so aufgebaut, dass sie entweder zusammen oder auch einzeln besucht werden können. In den zwei Tagen gehen Bob & Dawn auf sämtliche Aspekte des Business ein. Vom Schaffen des perfekten Lichts in jeder Situation, Fotografieren bei schlechtem Wetter über die Vorbereitungen, den digitalen Workflow, die Postproduktion bis zur Gestaltung des Albums, Marketing und Branding werden keine Fragen offen gelassen.

Der Workshop richtet sich an Hochzeitsfotografen jeder Stufe, Anfänger wie auch Fortgeschrittene, und wird in Englisch durchgeführt!

Internationales Publikum

Mit Teilnehmenden aus der Schweiz, aber auch aus Deutschland, Holland und den USA bietet der Workshop ausserdem die perfekte Gelegenheit mit Hochzeitsfotografen aus aller Welt Kontakte zu knüpfen und sich auszutauschen.

Der Workshop wird von Light + Byte AG in Zusammenarbeit mit Daniel Zihlmann (Internationaler Hochzeitsfotograf / WCS – Wedding Crashers Switzerland) organisiert.

Datum

28. und 29. März 2010