We recently caught up with Franky Tsang, owner and lead photographer at Divon Photography Sydney, to chat about all things wedding photography-related.
Based in Sydney, Divon Photography is a multi-award-winning, bespoke wedding photography and videography studio specialising in breathtaking candid imagery with the perfect blend of rich and soft tonalities. The Divon Photography team are fantastic at visually narrating love stories, and their relaxed style will make you feel entirely at ease on your wedding day.
Check out Divon PhotographyEasy Weddings: Hi Franky! Can you tell us a little bit about Divon Photography? How did it start, and what has it become since then?
I was a graphic designer and have a Master’s in Multimedia Design. Before Divon Photography, I worked in a multinational investment company in their e-marketing department, and because of the GFC in 2008, I decided to venture out and start my own business and do what I love most — photographing portraits and weddings.
I often say as wedding photographers, we have no work/life balance. We work on the weekends and weekdays are for editing til all sorts of hours. But when we are doing something that we love, this is not a job; this is our passion! This passion has brought us a lot of awards throughout my career, including Top 30 wedding photographers in Australia 2021 from Sony; photographer of the year 2020 from AsiaWPA (Asia Wedding Photographers Association); and one of my pictures even came first at WPPI (Wedding Portrait Professional International) in 2019.
On a personal level, I won the Headon Photo Festival back in 2010, and one of my pictures was hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. My work has been published in Capture Magazine, Marie Clarie and Daily Telegraph multiple times. With all those national and international awards, also our reviews from our past brides and grooms, I am proud to say that we are one of the best wedding photography studios in Sydney.
How do you go about making a connection with your couples before their wedding?
Every wedding is unique, and we want to tell each couple’s personal story. The initial meeting usually takes a little over two hours, during which we find out how they envision their wedding and how we can facilitate that. We also go back in time, so I can find out how their love story started in order to incorporate personal touches into the photos.
We also go through a rundown of what the day may look like with lots of Q&A. At the end of the call, couples generally find it very informative and hang up with a clearer picture of what their day is going to look like. After two hours on the phone, it’s almost like we know each other so well that we become good friends.
visit Divon PhotographyWhat advice do you give to clients who don’t feel overly comfortable being in front of the camera?
I often say we are the ninjas at your wedding — you don’t see us, and if you do, just see through us. We want our couples to be themselves — have fun, mingle with their guests, give them big hugs and kisses, and that’s how you get a lot of candid, natural moments. We also have to take posed photos, especially when couples are getting ready separately with their wedding party and family, group photos, and maybe a few photos of just the newlyweds and their wedding party.
Most people are camera shy unless they are taking a selfie, and most couples don’t know what to do in front of the camera. We use body language to communicate through photos, so those tiny touches like how you stand, where you place your hands, where to look, and how to react to lights can elevate a good into a great photo.
It’s the way we direct couples to move their body around to make sure the photos are flattering, and we are capturing them in the best way possible. Once all that is said and done, we crack a joke (even if my dad jokes are not funny) to make sure they laugh. When they laugh, photos look natural and coupled with good lighting and posture; it’s the equation for a great shot.
Can you tell us about some of your favourite weddings you’ve photographed?
Oh, there are a lot!
I had a destination wedding in Venice, Italy. The groom was telling the bride that they were doing a pre-wedding session there, but it turned out that they got married there. The groom said to me that we would be on another gondola, and I suggested that we should change to a speed boat instead. I really wanted to capture that moment of surprise from the bride, and it would be hard if we were on another gondola since it would be much harder to move around than a speed boat (although I really wanted to sit on one of those pretty gondolas!) It turns out that I made the correct decision and captured all the perfect moments for them.
I had a couple who were meant to have 150 guests at their wedding in Sydney, but none of their family could come from overseas due to COVID. They didn’t want COVID to ruin their day, so they changed it to a very intimate wedding. I suggested they have a sunrise wedding at Long Reef, and they ended up getting married at the crack of dawn when the sun popped up from the horizon, and it was such a magical moment.
Another of my favourite weddings was with a couple getting married in the middle of nowhere at a farmhouse. It was so remote that they had to organise fifteen four-wheel drives to transport their guests to and from the reception and the ceremony location. Rather than a nice hotel, they camped on top of their four-wheel-drive on the first night as newlyweds. I checked prior that it would be a full moon that night, so I set up my gear and luckily, the sky was clear, so we managed to get a few moonrise shoots for them.
What would you say to couples who aren’t sure if they want to book a wedding videographer as well as a photographer?
Personally, I think photography is a must on your wedding day, but what we can’t do as photographers is capture voices. Many people fancy the short highlights from the video, but I think if you want a video included on your wedding day, the extended edit is more important than anything else.
Imagine in 40 years you want to watch that day that changed your life — you get married, start your own family, have kids, then have grandkids; the highlights are just highlights. However, in the extended edit, you get to relive in detail from when you get ready to the vows, then the speeches and all those in-between moments from the whole day.
Also, I would highly recommend you pick a studio that offers both photography and videography as there is cohesion, and they work as a team. They know each other and will help each other out and not get in each other’s way during the day.