DNA (Desmond Louw and Antonia Heil) is a multidisciplinary creative photographer/producer duo based in Cape Town, South Africa, and Berlin, Germany.

The duo’s careers started in engineering and journalism before they found their niche in car, commercial and people photography. A ‘no rules kind of team’, they say that professionalism, research and playfulness are essential to their work.

They say that magic happens when you bring like-minded people together and Antonia and Desmond are true testament to that. Whenever I come across their portfolio I find myself looking at the pictures a second time. And man, are they cool!

With clients including the BBC, Ferrari, Red Bull, Tinie Tempah and even Top Gear, they represent a new meaning of ‘power duo’. In addition to producing and photographing advertising campaigns for commercial clients, editorials for car, motorcycle and travel magazines and much more, they have also added weddings to their list of project expertise.

And on top of that, they speak English, German and Afrikaans.

In today’s blog we steal 10 minutes of the couple’s time as they share a little bit about themselves with us: why they decided to add weddings to their portfolio, and their top tips and advice for bridal couples when choosing a wedding photographer. Enjoy!

 

Tell us a little bit about yourselves?

We are a multidisciplinary creative photographer/producer duo based in Cape Town, South Africa and Berlin, Germany. We shoot cars, commercials, editorials, events, portraits, weddings and much more. We love summer, so in South African summers we are in Desmond’s home, in European summers we are in Antonia’s home. In-between we also get to travel within Africa, Asia and the USA for commercial work and weddings.

                     

Who or what got you started in photography?

Desmond has been shooting for a very long time (17 years). He always photographed what he loved: skateboarding and cars. I was working as a journalist and photography played a role, of course. That’s why we have a documentary approach for weddings.

Tell us why you both decided to branch out into wedding photography?

We love the variety of our work, so we never get bored. Next to shooting a lot of cars and commercials, it’s fun to document weddings as they are a lot more emotional.

                            

How has being wedding photographers made each of you a stronger photographer over all?

We are super-fast, we can react quickly, and we observe a lot and see a lot. At weddings there are a lot of unplanned things happening, moments that last only a few seconds, so you have to react quickly and be able to stay focussed for 8-14 hours.

How would you describe DNA’s photography style?

At weddings we document what’s happening. It’s real. Not posed.

                        

What has been your favourite venue/location to shoot at and why?

There are many awesome venues we have shot at - from the Cowboy village in Texas to the Victoria Falls, to a dusty road in McGregor. Some wine estates in the Cape Winelands are really wonderful as well as a mountain pasture in the Swiss Alps. We are lucky to see such a variety of venues and get very excited everytime we shoot somewhere new!!

Do you have any tips for couples who are looking for their perfect wedding photographer?

Choose someone that doesn’t direct the wedding day (it’s not a shoot!) but documents it as it happens. Like this the images portray the real day and are a long lasting memory.
 

To stay up to date you can follow DNA on Instagram @desmondlouw | @antoniaheil

Take a look at their portfolio on their website, or should you wish to get in touch:  a@dnaphotographers.com

 

Shelley at Where’s My Wedding