Finding the right wedding photographer is the beginning, but finding the perfect one is the start of a journey that may take a long time. It is one of the best investments to have a fantastic wedding photographer who is not only ready to capture all the intimate moments and carefully planned details but who will always be by your side.
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Hello! My name is Josef Kohn and I am a San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer who is driven by a desire to document experiences and craft a visual legacy. I value genuine connection, cultural diversity, and fine art. I seek to discreetly capture the feeling of each wedding day in an honest, unchoreographed way that will live on forever.
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As a visual storyteller, I enjoy getting to know my couples to understand what makes their relationship special, learning about their values and needs, giving them the space to love one another and delicate guidance when appropriate.
I want my couples to have it all: the emotional and often unexpected candid moments, the gorgeous portraits, the honest emotions, the laughter and joy. There are moments where I direct my couples but most of the time I blend into the environment.
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The journey of planning a wedding and (read: building a dream team of experts) is often stressful and overwhelming. There so much to think about, research, imagine, and choose. My goal is to be the easiest part of this process and make our journey together to feel effortless.
My approach is mindful and intuitive, and I honor my couples ideas and respect their vision but I also prefer to interpret the wedding in my own way to avoid my couples wedding photos look like they were pre-planned. One of my specialties is a mastering of complex timeline scenarios and handling less than ideal lighting situations while still capturing the movement and depth.
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I’ve shot a wide range of weddings around the world, from large multicultural, multi-day celebrations to intimate backyard and park weddings. I have worked in historic hotels, wineries, tropical islands, county and golf clubs, private estates, snowy mountains, castles and more. And while the bulk of my work is in San Francisco Bay Area I always welcome destination and international wedding and engagement session assignments.
We expect a high demand for limited wedding ceremony time slots City Hall will offer. If you are planning a City Hall wedding in 2021, we recommend being notified immediately
when City Hall reopens.
But it can be very difficult to shop for photographers, find out what makes them unique, and know the right person to photograph your other half on the big day. It is therefore important to choose a wedding photographer you love now and will love for many years to come. To help you with this, we have put together some tips and tricks for you on how to choose your wedding or elopement photographer. We've covered countless weddings and engagements in San Francisco Bay Area, California and worldwide.
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First of all, I would highly recommend to any bride or groom to book a venue together with their chosen photographer. It's like having a free second opinion. An experienced photographer can offer a "behind-the-scenes" point of view when it comes to lighting, time of the day, weather, pros and cons and so on. He can even recommend a similar venue that offers better value when it comes to professional photography.
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Weddings are unique in scope and speed of action, so you will want to choose a photographer with a wide range of skills and experience as well as a great sense of style. You will be with your wedding photographer for most of the wedding day, so get to know him and make sure his personality matches yours. Don't ask the photographer a list of 100 questions by copy and paste from sites such as the Knot but rather let your photographer's personality and style play a bigger role in choosing a wedding photographer who is just right for you. Make sure they have enough time to get to know you and give you a sense of security. You may also hire them for an engagement photo session to get a sense of what to expect.
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The contemporary style wedding day photography has become a very popular and widely used by many California and International wedding photographers, features a series of candid moments captured throughout the day usually using natural light. Documentary wedding photographer (elopement photographer as well as engagement photographer) takes series of unique natural light images aimed to “tell the unique and beautiful story” of your wedding day or in other words to capture a true love. Drawbacks: There is no pre-planned “shot list,” only the photographer’s instincts; images are unpredictable. Low levels of available light may cause some pictures to look grainy. Most of our work is based on this style. This style is less popular on Instagram but we love it when it comes to City Hall weddings. This style is loved by engaged couples who are looking for a passionate photographer!
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The editorial style wedding photographers place the subjects in certain settings to take advantage of good lighting, specific location or backgrounds. Then, once the scene is set, the couple and their party are free to be themselves, and this results in a more spontaneous feel. Unlike the photo-journalistic style, editorial photography takes advantage of the photographer’s artistic judgment rather than capturing a series of fleeting moments. Many wedding photos on Instagram feature this style. We often use it when we cover natural light SF City Hall weddings and during styled shoot collaboration with other wedding vendors.
The history of wedding photography starts with a traditional approach. This is the timeless style that you’ve probably seen time and time again in wedding albums. The hallmark of this style is carefully posed photographs of the key moments. Benefits: The traditional local or destination wedding photographers usually use a planned “shot list”, which means you’ll get all the important images. Drawbacks: The photographer virtually becomes a “wedding official,” directing the wedding party and guests according to a pre-planned list (all wedding pictures will be choreographed). This approach is very time-consuming, and as a result, the bride and groom end up spending less time with their guests. We use this style when taking posed family and group pictures but no natural light candid shots. This style used often on the Grand Staircase for posed portraits during SF City Hall weddings to capture family and bridal party members.
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IQphoto is a family owned SF based award winning wedding photography and videography studio that was established in 2004. For us everyone is equal (no matter the race, sexual orientation, religion or gender identity) and deserves epic wedding photos!
Here is a feedback from Alicia, Hossanah, William, Timothy, Erika and Becca.
While our main specialization is in large & logistically complex indoor (60%) and outdoor weddings (40%), due to COVID pandemic we shifted our focus on smaller weekday and weekend elopements and even created a verified list of covid-safe wedding venues. We also offer discounted mini sessions each Wednesday since we are training a new photographer (Kate) and need volunteer models, engaged couples and families. Contact us for details.
Wedding Photography by IQphoto
1941 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122, United States, (415) 939-5877