The Timeless Wedding Photography by Milos Horvat

Our today’s guest, a wedding photographer Milos Horvat, is originally from Slovenia – a small picturesque European country, with a minor part on the Balkan Peninsula. Milos works together with his wife Nataša and their professional team is one of the most successful in the industry. The classical European elegance slightly spiced with a feel of crazy Balkan festivities and sounds of a cheerful Gipsy violin creates this inimitable colour of Milos Horvat’s photographic style. However, in my opinion, it’s not only the originality of the artistic manner that makes the photography of Milos Horvat special. I think the main value of Horvat’s photography is in its authenticity: this is when a wedding album becomes a small portal into the past, and looking at the pictures, regardless of how much time has passed, people “refeel” their emotions, going through that special day of their life again. A good wedding photographer actually does the job for our memory capturing the decisive moments that in the hustle and bustle of the day are so often left unnoticed. Milos Horvat is a good wedding photographer, he’s actually great. See for yourself by reading the interview with the photographer below and looking through his images.

If you had one sentence to introduce Miloš Horvat, what would it be?

Ladies and gentleman, this is “the professor”….this was the answer I got from my friend photographer asking him for help about this question…this of course was a joke, but more seriously….I am a normal family man, married to the woman of my life, occupied with all the normal things that a father of an 8 year old girl has to do, living in a lovely house, alone in the nature, on the top of the hill with a view to our capital city and most importantly, trying to stay normal in this crazy world.

Friends describe me as very analytic, open minded and full of ideas, as well as helpful, intelligent, with a big heart and sometimes a little lazy.

What was your most memorable assignment over the last year? Why was it special for you?

There were a few of them that were very special, but probably the wedding in Venice in the Cathedral of San Marko, which is every photographer’s dream. Another one was a very intimate wedding at Lake Como with only the bride & the groom (no other people at the wedding) and a wedding of my close friend (also a photographer) in the Slovenian Alps.

As a wedding photographer you see tons of various traditions and customs. Which of them do you consider to be fascinating or maybe shocking? Have you ever shot Russian or Ukrainian weddings? If so, what was your impression?

Well honestly, I did not shot many weddings with special traditions and customs, but yes there were a few of them. However, I did shot lots of weddings where the bride and the groom were of different nationalities-cultures and those kind of weddings are always interesting.

Still waiting for my first Russian or Ukrainian wedding and really looking forward to do it. I really liked the Orthodox ceremony that we photographed last year, so I am sure that I would enjoy photographing Russian or Ukrainian wedding.

I love the bio on your website, it’s so romantic :) Could you tell us more about your team with your wife Nataša. How are responsibilities distributed in your work? Who’s the main generator of creative ideas?

When I started researching the wedding photography market back in 2003, I quickly realized that there are quite a lot of world known husband & wife teams. I thought well that is cool. I did know that Natasha has an “eye” for good photography, so I started taking her with me to the weddings. First she was there more or less to help me carry the stuff, but the more weddings she shot, the better she got. Sometimes it was difficult for her, listening to “my lessons”, but today she says “you were a tough, but a good teacher”. I really like that we work together and I know that as a team we are stronger and our clients get more from us than they would if I worked alone. It’s really interesting that I always do the preparations with the brides and Natasha with the grooms.

I am still the main generator of ideas and do most of the stuff by myself, but we discuss all our ideas together and also all the final stages in editing-designing parts are done together. Natasha designs the albums and does most of the job contacting the clients for our portrait photography part.

How did you get started in the photography? Was it kind of a decisive moment when you understood you want to be a wedding photographer?

Before I started with weddings, I shot landscapes, nature, sport, portrait, street…. actually most of the other photography and I am sure that this helped me to be a better wedding photographer.

After I shot my first wedding for my friend, everybody was telling me that I am born to be a wedding photographer, so I said ok…then I will be a wedding photographer…and I am not sorry for that decision.

Does it happen that your clients don’t like the final result? If so, how did you resolve the situation? Are you a self-critical person?

I believe most or all of my clients are happy with our work, so I never had a situation like this. Maybe that is because I am a very self-critical person. Being like that was hard when I started, because I always felt enormous pressure to do the best I can.

With years I became more self-confident and today I am striving to be the most “relaxed” I can be. That does not mean that I don’t care what I do, or take my job too easily, I just know that for my body it’s better not to stress so much.

I am training myself to get a “like in a movie” feeling always when I go to a wedding. Music can help a lot in this regard.

If you could travel in time with your camera, where would you go for a shoot?

I am all crazy about the renaissance period, so that would be my first choice.

What combination camera-lens do you use most often? Is there anything really indispensable in your gear kit?

We both shot with Canon 5d II and use all kinds of lenses from 15-200mm to including fish-eye and tilt-shift. Well, the only lens that I don’t have and use is canon 35 1.4, but a funny thing is that if I had to choose only one lens for a wedding that one would be my choice.

What’s inspiration for you? Who are your influences in photography?

The inspiration always comes from the life itself. The wedding is just a perfect example of what life is. It’s about love, moments and relations, between the couple, family and friends.

There are lots of photographers in our industry that I like and they influence me in some way, but today my style is more or less defined. However, I still try to develop my photography, only the steps are smaller and smaller.

How would you describe your photography style? What do you think makes it unique?

Once someone commented that I am Yervant and Ascough joined in one. Another person once said that my images are “clean and pure” as would have been seen and taken from “God”. I am not a religious person, but I try to stay “clean and pure” in my soul, what always brings us to love. Love is all what our life is about and I try to present the life from love.

Is anything you would like to improve in your technique? If so, what do you do to achieve this?

Doing “old style” portraiture is what occupies me lately. The more I study this the more I see it is not easy. Generally, wedding photography today can do amazing images, but along the way somewhere we have lost that feeling. I am searching for the way to do “old style” portraiture in a new modern way, but with the same feeling we had when watching the images of our grandparents.

Do you pay much attention to the post processing of your images? Do you ever shoot with film?

I trained myself to achieve “my look/style” in the images, as fast as possible. Good b&w and nice, simple, rich color images are still the best possible way for your work to stay timeless.

Have not shot the film for years.

Do you have time for non-wedding photography projects? Any genres you would like to try yourself in?

It’s hard to find the time and the will to do other photography if you are 100% in weddings, but lately I have more and more interest in non-wedding photography projects. We plan to do only 10-15 weddings in 2011 and do more portrait photography.

We are preparing new projects – websites www.youarebeautifull.com …this will be something for women. The other site is www.timewithyou.com …staying for some time with people, families or go on vacation with them and do a reportage of their lives.

But to return to your basic question…I really enjoyed photographing street life in Cuba. We were there in February when shooting a destination wedding.

Do you conduct any workshops or seminars? Whose master-class you would love to attend yourself?

I have done a seminar back in 2008 here in Slovenia and I was a speaker at Tedx. We are just in conversation with a local photography-organization-school to do a few workshops for them. Beside that I am working on my own workshops, but still didn’t finish it completely in my head.

Do you create some scenarios or stories for each wedding couple or do you prefer more natural, spontaneous photo sessions?

No, I don’t. It’s not my style. I like to work “on the fly”, capture what happens and show people as they are. That doesn’t mean that I don’t try to show people in all their beauty, but I like that people “feel” themselves in the images. I just recently got a “thank you” letter from a bride and groom….they sent me an amazing, very deep and touching letter. Among other things they also wrote “you captured us in our deepest way”….and that was not the first time I’ve heard that. It means a lot to me and these are the things that push me further.

What do you think about extreme wedding photography, when people go underwater, skydiving and mountain climbing?

Well, everything is worth trying if the goal is reached.

If not a photographer, I would be…

Probably I would do many different things.

Milos, hvala za zanimiv intervju. Thanks for finding time to share your thoughts and works with our readers. We wish the inspiration and luck never leave you whatever you take up.

Don’t miss a chance to get to know more about the art of Milos Horvat:

Personal website: Milos Horvat
Blog: Milos Horvat Photographer

All photos copyright © Milos Horvat. Reproduced on this page with permission.
Photos can’t be reproduced or used without prior agreement from the photographer.