Passion for Portraits

Dave found his passion for photography at age 12 when his mother lent him her SLR and encouraged him to have fun taking pictures. Soon he was shooting rock bands, concerts, abandoned buildings, and all sorts of landscapes and nature scenes. He became a student of photographic design and spent six months in Malaysia making street portraits. In Australia he documented the living conditions of homeless people in Perth. Let's say he has seen some far corners of the world, and not only pleasant ones.

Over the years he found his passion for creating portraits that tell "real stories" — the kinds of pictures where people would feel like they knew the subjects even without having met them. "Photographing engagement sessions and weddings is the perfect opportunity to do this — with so many life-changing events happening in one day, the dramatic change and growth of two entire families, as well as the friendships that surround the couple," says Dave.

We've thoroughly enjoyed our three or more years of experience using FotoMagico. It's always been great software and provided exactly the features we've needed.

Dave Biesse, Dave & Charlotte Photography

Charlotte trained in television broadcasting. The company was formed when Charlotte began showing an interest in photography. "She was a born natural at it and has an amazing eye", Dave recalls. "Charlotte joined me on a few weddings and we had such an amazing time working together that DaveAndCharlotte.com was born!"

Being A Team, Working Close

In the early days of their business Dave and Charlotte put each of their signatures on their blogged photographs, but over time they felt it would be stronger for their brand to simply combine their different perspectives on each event they photographed. Charlotte's style is often described as vibrant, quirky, lighthearted, and romantic. "She really knows how to maximize the beauty in our subjects", Dave comments. "She also does incredible, timeless, fun images with both kids and babies". Dave always had a passion for vivid color, dramatic composition and strength of story telling. "I create my images from an emotional place, with my technical skills providing the framework to do so."

As photographers they're very close to their subjects, often becoming part of the wedding party. "While almost every wedding day has its stressful moments for the bride or groom, our role is always to support and encourage them through those tough moments," Charlotte remarks. "It's not uncommon that we'll put down our cameras to help out in a tight spot."

Gaining our clients’ trust early on during our discussions with them ensures that we're free to create the type of storytelling that only we can.

Dave Biesse, Dave & Charlotte Photography

Dave and Charlotte prefer tight framing of their subjects to increase the emotional impact of their images. Maybe this is the true secret of their particular style and their success: to get close enough to create images with a sense of great intimacy.

The Secrets of Wedding Photography

What's important to become a successful wedding photographer?

Dave: "I believe the most important aspect of succeeding as a wedding photographer is being compassionate and knowing how to communicate with people. No matter what the style of the individual photographer, creating images that are truly inside the relationship are captivating to everybody. Over our 8 years as wedding photographers in Toronto, our referral base has grown and continues to support our success from year to year. Some of our first couples have referred 8 or 9 clients to us since their wedding."

Do you see a possible conflict between the expectations of the client and your vision?

Charlotte: "When we started out, we would often change and adapt our style to suit the desires of the couples. However, as time has gone on, we've learnt to anticipate and create something unique and special each time. Gaining our clients’ trust early on during our discussions with them ensures that we're free to create the type of storytelling that only we can."

Has wedding photography changed in recent years?

Dave: "Yes. Absolutely. Watching the evolution of style within the industry has been fascinating. I think the proliferation of blogs has enabled photographers to be inspired with fresh ideas and trends far more quickly. The trend of wedding photography workshops, seminars and conventions has also taken the standard of work a long way... And of course, the biggest contributor to the speedy change within the industry would surely be attributed to the digital revolution."

A large part of our business’s success and continued referrals can be attributed to our same-day slide show — created from the wedding images during the dinner.

Dave Biesse, Dave & Charlotte Photography

How important are FotoMagico slide shows?

Charlotte: "A large part of our business’s success and continued referrals can be attributed to our same-day slide show — created from the wedding images during the dinner. We then present it at the end of dessert. It's a compilation of the best 60 images from the day, set to a suitable song. We edit our raw images using Lightroom, then create JPG's to drop into FotoMagico show. Later, the video file is uploaded to Vimeo and YouTube. We've thoroughly enjoyed our three or more years of experience using FotoMagico. It's always been great software and provided exactly the features we've needed.”

Are there other uses for FotoMagico?

Dave: "We also use the Standalone Player version of our movies to show clients our recent work during initial consultations. It's perfect because we have shortcuts on our dock and it's just one click — no messing around with a keyboard. The other great use we've found for FotoMagico is creating proofs of our album designs without risking our clients using the PDF to create their own album or even accessing the high-res version of the images. It means that they can view the album online at full screen at 720p. We couldn't be more pleased with this use."