weddingsonline India and Weddings By Camera Crew go way back. When we first launched in India in 2012, Camera Crew were one of the first teams to come on board. Needless to say, we have a very special place for them in our hearts. Today we had a tete-a-tete with Rajesh Dembla, founder of Weddings By Camera Crew and his daughter Soniya. Read on to find out what makes them one of the best Indian wedding photographers today….
Weddings by Camera Crew are hugely popular! To what do you attribute this fame? How did you start out? What attracted you to wedding photography in the first place?
I would attribute this fame to the passion for photography which helps me capture precious moments and immortalise them. It was this passion that inspired me to start Camera Crew Productions in 2006. My daughter Soniya recently joined me to take the company to the next level. With her background in media communication and advertising (she has a Masters degree in International Strategic Marketing from the University of Glasgow), she handles the management part of the business. Starting on a small scale to slowly entering into luxury wedding photography and filming by 2009 has been quite a journey! Today we are well known for capturing wonderful love stories and immortalising the best day of a couple’s life. The thought of beautifying someone’s best memories through photography and filming skills is what attracts us to this field. And very honestly, our passion has only grown ever since.
What is your USP, your mantra for all this success?
Our mantra is to try and capture the wedding through the eyes of the bride and groom, i.e., thinking about how the couple would want to look back on their special day and be able to cherish it
You do a lot of pre-wedding and wedding shoots out of India. How different is it shooting outside than in the homeland?
We would say every wedding and each love story is unique and has its own magic. As far as the difference in covering these weddings is concerned, destination weddings, especially the ones abroad, often stand out as they have their own look and feel. Just the way anything extra-ordinary stands out! The cultural blend is what we would say amazes us most. Logistics are tough, but in the end it is all worth the effort.
Describe a typical Camera Crew bride
She is just like any other bride, if we have to describe her in few words “enthusiastic, excited, a bit anxious ” are what would cut it. They really have to have all those emotions and feelings. Any bride would usually come to us saying “Soniya/ Rajesh I want my wedding video to be extraordinary and I trust you guys for that” which is understood as we hold the responsibility of how they would be cherishing the best day of their life.
Can you share with our readers a few of your experiences (good, bad, challenging) shooting weddings?
Each and every wedding is challenging in its own way. It’s crazy but fun too. Every couple, family and location is different and fitting in and getting things in flow can be challenging. What is lovely is that we end up building a good rapport with most of our clients and over time we become friends with them. In fact; we are still in touch with quite a few of our couples and their families till date.
Discuss 3 of your favorite wedding images. Why are they your favorites?
I don’t think word can do justice to what pictures can speak. Attaching below some of my favourites.
How do you deal with camera-shy couples?
In order to capture their emotions, we believe a photographer must know and understand each couple. Once that is covered, even the camera-shy couples are at ease. So we always try to built a good rapport and make them comfortable with the environment we are shooting in as well as with our team members. We also constantly give them suggestions before as well as during the shoot.
Finally, any words of advice to our couples-to-be regarding their wedding albums?
Keep it simple and don’t go after having too many pictures on it. If we got your album covered, don’t worry you will get all the emotions from your wedding day back even if you go through your pictures 10 years down the line.
