Who I am
German. Married to a Buffalo girl. 3 cats.
I moved to Buffalo, NY about 8 years ago. Why Buffalo? Because my wife grew up here. I was born and raised in Münster, Germany and lived most recently in Vienna, Austria. I worked as a journalist for financial newspapers, websites and magazines. I wrote mainly about tech companies such as Apple, Facebook, Google among other things. As part of my job I was exposed to photography and filmmaking and discovered a passion. It didn’t take long for family and friends to ask me to photograph their weddings. I realized how much fun it was to be part of such an emotional day which you remember for a lifetime. Since then, I have been a wedding photographer and videographer at more than 300 weddings in the USA, Germany, Mexico, Canada and Brazil. My work has been featured in Artvoice, the Buffalo Wedding Magazine as well as in the Rochester Wedding Magazine.
Photo and Video combined. Finally.
No need to deal with multiple vendors to have both photo and video. We can do photo only coverage, video only coverage, or a combination of both. That will save you the hassle of having two different teams who are basically fighting for time. And it captures the emotions of your wedding day in all the ways possible.
What we do
When you look at my photos and videos I want you to be able to relive your wedding day, even decades later. The images should show your personal favorite moments and little stories you might have missed. To transform your day into a photo story I prefer to stay under the radar if possible. I’ll try to take most of the photos of your guests unnoticed by them. To be honest, when a person starts to pose for my camera is usually when I stop shooting. The photos should be as natural as possible; most of my images are candid photography. Think about it as a journalistic approach to document the entire day.
What we don’t do
Too many posed photos and serving unhappy customers. Please tell me if there is anything I should be aware of or pay special attention to on your wedding day. Of course I will pose people in group shots of your family or the bridal party, but I wonʼt walk up to everybody, interrupt their conversation, and ask them to smile.
Where we have been
Stefan Ludwig Photography has covered weddings on three continents. Here are some of our favorite wedding destinations we have visited:
Cancun, Mexico
Salvador, Brazil
Ellwangen, Germany
Toronto, Canada
Jacksonville, FL, USA
New York, NY, USA
What we offer
We do candid photography and videography to capture all the emotions of your wedding day in the best way possible. Here is how we do it.
Photo or Video only
We capture your wedding day in a photo-journalistic way, focused on candids and moments. Of course we still take all the family and group photos you need. You can expect around 400-600 edited images, delivered via an online gallery. Starts at $3250 for up to 10 hours of coverage.
Photo with Highlight Film
Stefan Ludwig will focus on photos and also capture video footage for a 3-5 minute highlight film, including drone footage. A second photographer is included in this package to make sure we don’t sacrifice your photo quality in any way. Highlight video tells the story of the wedding day. Starts at $4750 for 10 hours of coverage.
Photo, Feature and Short Film
Coverage by 1 photographer and 1 videographer. A short film to share on social media and a feature film with speeches. Short film and feature film will tell the story of the wedding day and the story about you two via interviews or a letter. Starts at $5750 for 10 hours of coverage.
New photo booth option!
Introducing Gifyyy Booth.
No prints needed. Just gifs right to your guests phones.
A photo booth is an amazing piece of entertainment for your guests. Traditionally most of those work with a ton of accessories to make the experience of taking a simple photo more fun.
This year it is time to change it up a little. We have added a fun and different approach to a photo booth. We call it Gifyyy Booth. It is a simple setup, a light on a tripod with an iPad to take the photos. Your guests choose if they want a still photo or a GIF and the app handles the rest. Your guests simply type in their phone number right on the screen and immediately receive their photo or GIF. Of course you have access to the entire gallery - and so do your guests.
OUR STYLE
What is candid photography?
Think moments, instead of poses. Think photojournalistic instead of staged scenes. Traditional wedding photography used to be all about posing couples in specific ways, taking lots of group photos and table shots. While we still take plenty of time for family photos, we spend most of the day hunting for real moments. We watch situations unfold and try to predict what might happen next to capture all the things you might have missed. Here are just a few examples of this approach:
Wedding Videography
Please note, there are different kind of films we offer. If you want Stefan to capture photo and a highlight film together with a second photographer, you receive a film about your wedding day with background music. If you prefer a dedicated videographer alongside a dedicated photographer, you will receive two videos. A feature film including the best footage from the entire day, typically an interview with the two of you as well as full speeches. A short film, which is the shortened version of your feature film to share on social media.
What couples say about us
Ann and Kyle
STEFAN (ste-fahn) IS SIMPLY AMAZING. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! He is extremely professional, punctual, TALENTED, funny, kind, and responds very quickly! Oh, and he's a cat lover like myself which automatically makes him a great person. I thoroughly did my research to make sure I chose the perfect photographer for our personalities. Stefan is the absolute MASTER of candid photos. He is also very willing to take all the group photos you want!! He managed to make me feel SUPER comfortable in front of the camera when I am normally a super awkward person!! He had our photos ready less than a week after our wedding day, amazing! Our photos and video are spectacular and I bawled like a baby going through them with my husband, it felt like it was our wedding day all over again!! He also shot our engagement photos and it felt like we were just casually hanging out with a good friend. Stefan is a great, down to earth guy and I think everyone should hire him for their wedding!!!!!
Kristin and Steve
Stefan did such a fantastic job at our wedding! He was soft spoken and had a ton of patience with our wild families (Lol). He was incredibly nice and even went into bushes filled with mosquitoes just to make our pictures that much more perfect. But what really made him the best was his generosity... A week after our wedding, my grandpa passed away and Stefan captured my very last moments with him. When I reached out to Stefan requesting those photos sooner than the rest, he immediately sent them to me so I could share them with my family at his funeral. That is above and beyond exceptional service. Thank you for making our wedding a day filled with endless smiles and happy tears!
Emily and Zack
From the very beginning Stefan was reliable and professional. We planned our wedding from half way across the country and Stefan made communicating easy whether it was FaceTime, e-mail, phone calls, or texts. This was so helpful to keep us both on the same page beforehand. On our big day Stefan and his second photographer (Libby) were talented, fun, and punctual! We are so thankful that grabbed us at just the right time for our sunset shoot. Within 3 weeks we had all our photos and within 1 month we had both videos (short and feature) and are beyond thrilled with the quality. Your wedding day goes by in a flash and all you have left is your photos and video -- choose wisely! Thanks, Stefan! :)
CONTACT
STUDIO
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
700 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14202
716-986-4789
info@stefan-ludwig.com
Some of my favorite venues and vendors
After shooting over 125 weddings, I have decided to create a video series with my preferred vendors. It is called the Buffalo Wedding Vendor Videopodcast and is supposed to make your planning process easier. Wether you are still looking for a venue or maybe a dress designer, florist or hair and makeup artist, every video covers in depth what these venues and vendors have to offer.