Looking for the best wedding photographers in Mumbai? You’ll fall in love with WhatKnot Photography for capturing couples the way they do!
Led by Aditya Mahagaonkar and Aditya Marathe, this award-winning team is without doubt, among the best wedding photographers in Mumbai. Let’s get talking…
Tell our readers more about the WhatKnot Photography team and what makes it click!
We are contemporary and modern-age wedding photographers and cinematographers. With more than 240 weddings shot over the last 5 years, we have a great amount of experience in this industry. We are dedicated to creating vivid moments for the couple, unobtrusively and making their special day even more memorable.
Simply put, we capture age-old traditions with a modern perspective. We combine our photography skills with technology to give our clients the best memories possible. Instead of directing behavior, we capture the couple, their families and friends in their true essence; be it shy or boisterous, poised or wild.
Our cinematic wedding films are tailored to the needs of our clients. We understand the couple’s liking, may it be a song out of a Karan Johar movie or a chronological run-down of the events on your wedding day, we deliver wedding films that will transport the couple back to their wedding day.
Every wedding has a unique story and we are determined to capture it in that manner. We make sure to understand what the client requires and their style in order to deliver content beyond their expectations. The outcome is an authentic and timeless reminiscence of beautiful moments that the couple experienced.
We are a team of 20 creative individuals and each one has a defined role on a shoot. It’s more like clockwork, where each individual has a role to play which is vital in the whole process – from the very first moment of client acquisition to final delivery.
What makes us click is that we give complete freedom to our photographers, cinematographers, and editors to express themselves in their fields. We haven’t kept anything rigid. That being said, we have a certain set of defined expectations from the team that they are made to learn on the job for a seamless experience to our clients.
So how did you both get into photography?
We both got into photography on a professional level during our MBA days. My partner Aditya Marathe got his first DSLR in 2008, and there was no looking back! Weddings for him happened by chance when I asked him to shoot with me back in 2012. From there, a casual weekend shoot turned into a full-time profession and business.
As for me, my roommate back in college was a photographer. He helped me understand the art better and made me look at things with a vision in mind. I bought my first DSLR in 2011 and things took a different turn since then.
What’s your favorite couple pose / bridal portrait pose?
A simplistic and natural pose is what I prefer when it comes to a couple shot or a bridal portrait. I like it when the couple is relaxed and have no qualms about looking into the camera.
As for Aditya, his favorite couple pose is when their foreheads are touching each other, their eyes closed, looking down and they’re really feeling the moment.
How do you get couples to pose the way you want?
Every couple is different and their chemistry is what we try and capture!
During couple shoots, we spend a good 30 minutes to understand their chemistry and how they gel together as a couple. Honestly, the initial 100 pictures go into the dump while trying to understand their comfort level.
The idea is to make them forget that there is a camera pointing at them during a shoot (easier said than done)! But this comes with patience and practice. Once they get comfortable in front of the camera, it is a lot easier to help them express (and not pose) better.
Top 3 things a person must ask before they book their wedding photographer?
1. Look at entire wedding photography set from a similar setup
Every photographer will have a set of 50 great pictures of the weddings they’ve shot. What really matters is whether they can do justice to the entire wedding set? So it’s important for you to see the whole set from a single wedding to judge them.
2. Post Shoot Service
It is of great significance to be sure of the post-shoot service. We’ve heard so many people saying that once their shoot was done, the vendors disappeared! People have to run behind the wedding photographers for their pictures and films and this is exactly where established brands come out strong. Their back-end processes are robust which help them deliver everything on time.
3. Team Matters!
Team size is of utmost importance. Does the photographer work with an in-house team or freelancers? It can immensely impact your wedding photography and cinematography.
There are cases where freelancers are hired for a specific shoot – which puts a lot at risk since they’ve never worked together and nobody knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
At WhatKnot Photography, we have a completely in-house team with as many as 10 photographers, 6 cinematographers and 4 full-time video editors with specific roles in place – and this helps generate better outputs for our clients.
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Which was the most exciting shoot you did recently?
Our latest wedding in Thailand was a perfect example of both challenging and exciting!
It was one of the most beautiful setups we’ve seen in the recent past. Every person at the wedding was there to celebrate the union of two individuals and families. What it meant was that there was some activity in every single corner of the venue and happy faces all around!
This was quite challenging since we didn’t want to miss out on anything and shot three times the number of pictures during the wedding!
Your Top 3 advice to couples getting married?
1. Don’t try to turn it into a ‘perfect’ formal event.
You don’t want to miss all the good moments on your own day because you were fussing about the décor or delays. Enjoy the wedding!
P.S. Do remember to keep yourself hydrated and your tummy full. One more thing that really helps is keeping the cocktail party on the last leg of the wedding. You surely don’t want to reach the mandap with a hangover!
2. Remember you aren’t professional models.
You’re two people in love, and let your couple portraits reflect just that! Do make sure to allocate some of your time before, after or even during the functions for your couple portraits.
3. Ensure that you and your family know how important these photographs are to you.
Give us the liberty do the job you have entrusted us with!
You’ve done a lot of shoots. What are the specific challenges that people must keep in mind when planning a shoot?
Co-ordination and communication are a huge challenge. It is important not to surprise your wedding photographers on the Big day. All the details and event flow should be communicated and any changes in plan updated too.
Involve or take advice from your photographer about indoor lighting, and make sure there is enough space for photographers to move around.
Most memorable moments from your favorite wedding last year?
The most memorable wedding was this Agra wedding we shot last year. The lovely couple was from Delhi and had a destination wedding in Agra. It was an extremely beautiful experience because we had the chance of shooting a few of the functions with the monument of love, the Taj Mahal as the backdrop. What could be more romantic than having a couple portrait in front of that incredible monument?!
In addition, their haldi was the most fun of all, since it was set up in majestic morning light with a large space, which is a paradise for us photographers.
A lot of couples are opting for cinematic film style videos these days! How do you go about the theme, song selection and execution for that?
Cinematic films work like binary numbers – you either like them or you don’t like them! This makes our lives tougher while creating a film.
However, we have a process in place which makes our life comparatively simpler. We send out a detailed questionnaire to our clients at least three months before the wedding to understand their interests in music and the kind of film they would want.
What’s the top pre-wedding shoot destination this season?
Thailand and Goa for their beaches and beautiful skies! Jaipur, Udaipur, and Nepal for the palaces and mountains.
Being a photographer and constantly being on the move, how do you manage a work-life balance?
This is the toughest of the lot! Honestly, we are yet to figure that out.
A lot of photographers follow a simple rule – shoot and work hard for 8-9 months, relax and holiday for the other 3 months.
One place where you would like to shoot?
Leh-Ladakh for the infinite mountains and scenic locations – sky, clouds, mountains and water together make a very scenic picture!
Your tips or advice to budding photographers?
Stay honest with your art. Keep exploring and learning.
You are in charge of locking these fleeting moments – it is your responsibility to make it worth their while. Try to the best of your abilities, even if it’s with a second-hand camera or a nifty fifty.
Well, well, well! Wasn’t it great getting behind the scenes with one of the best wedding photographers in Mumbai? If you loved their style and have friends getting married soon, share the love now before you forget!
