Markus Lehner Photography

Markus Lehner Photography is the business of Markus Lehner, a full-time photographer from Mattstetten near Bern who has photographed weddings for more than 20 years. His wedding page is titled "Hochzeitsfotograf Bern – Thun – Biel", and his gallery runs from civil weddings at Thun castle to a church wedding in Ligerz and shoots at Villa Patumbah. He also works as a business, architecture, landscape and drone photographer, and rents out a photo booth.

His style and how he works on the day

Lehner describes his style as a mix of documentary wedding photography and creative portraits that tell the couple's story as it happens. He writes that he loves the small, easily missed details: the excited anticipation while getting ready, the first nervous smile at a first look, the tears of joy during the ceremony, and the mood on the dance floor.

His coverage follows the whole day, from the preparations through the couple shoot and the ceremony to the last dance. He says he keeps discreetly in the background so the couple can enjoy the celebration naturally, while still being close to every moment. His FAQ answers a worry he says he hears every day, from couples who are not photogenic and do not like being in front of the camera: they need not worry, and he is not a fan of posed pictures.

He is careful about risk. Wedding reportages, he writes, take a great deal of preparation and follow-up, he leaves nothing to chance, and he always works with duplicate equipment to protect against unpleasant surprises.

What every package includes

The Bern page lists what comes with every offer:

• a personal preliminary meeting and consultation, because he wants to get to know the couple and go through all the important details;
• editing of the images in his own style, and he does not hand over unedited images (he notes that more time goes into the editing than into photographing the wedding);
• all edited images in a password-protected online gallery for download;
• all edited images delivered to the couple's home in a wooden box.

His main wedding page adds drone photography, offered "ohne zusätzliche Kosten" (at no extra cost), for a special perspective on the day. On image numbers, he says it varies a lot from wedding to wedding depending on guest numbers and the program, but couples can usually expect around 300 images.

Consultations, extras and albums

The FAQ says he holds consultations at his studio, at the couple's home, online, or in a restaurant. The online option is the obvious one for couples living abroad. The first consultation is described as free and without obligation.

Extras he can quote alongside the photography include his photo booth (Fotobox) and camera sets, as well as photo shoots for the invitation cards. Albums are quoted separately, and he notes his wedding albums are printed in Switzerland on real photo paper. He is happy to photograph civil ceremonies and free (non-religious) ceremonies as well.

Beyond weddings

Weddings are one part of a broader photography business, and the other parts are relevant to a wedding day. His services page describes him as a trained architecture photographer ("ausgebildeter Architekturfotograf") who knows how to show a building in the right light, which is a useful skill at a castle or a historic villa. He also lists landscape photography, business portraits and corporate reportage, with a studio for portrait work, and a separate page for drone and aerial photography. On the same services page he ties it back to weddings, citing his 20 years of experience in wedding photography. The menu also has a separate page for his photo booth rental (Fotobox Bern).

Where he works

Lehner's base is 3322 Mattstetten, and the Bern, Thun and Biel page is his home turf. The picture captions on that page include a civil wedding at Schloss Thun on the Schlossberg, a couple on a boat, a church wedding in Ligerz, weddings in Biel and Bern, a boho wedding, an engagement shoot, a wedding in Rapperswil-Jona, a couple in Baden and several shoots at Villa Patumbah. His main wedding page says he will cover a wedding in Zurich, Bern, Lucerne or St. Gallen, or in a small mountain hut in the Alps, and that destination weddings abroad are possible too, on a beach or in a romantic city. He adds that he loves discovering new places and photographing a wedding wherever the couple feels most at home.

Language

The site is entirely in German, and it does not say whether he works in English or French. For couples from abroad this is the first thing to ask. The inquiry form is simple (name, address, email, wedding date, ceremony location, a message, and tick boxes for a quote, a consultation, the photo booth or an album), so it can be filled in with a translation tool if needed.

What the site does not settle

He publishes no prices. The FAQ explains that he needs to know what matters to the couple, how long he would be working and where he has to travel before he can give a serious quote, and the Bern page asks for the when, where and duration of the celebration with every inquiry. The site also does not say how long delivery of the gallery and the wooden box takes, what happens if the day runs longer than planned, or how travel is charged for a wedding far from Bern or abroad. The AGB (terms and conditions) are linked in the menu and are where a couple should look for booking and payment rules.

Contact

Markus Lehner Photography, 3322 Mattstetten. Email markus@lehner.photo, phone +41 79 846 31 75, or the inquiry form on the wedding pages.

Who he suits

Lehner suits couples marrying in the Bern, Thun and Biel region, or anywhere in German-speaking Switzerland, who want a long-established, full-time photographer with a documentary eye. The included drone shots and the wooden box add real value at no extra cost, and couples who dislike posing will find his FAQ reassuring.

The caveats are that there is no published price, so a budget check needs a quote, and that the site gives no sign of English. Couples from abroad should ask about both in the first message, and ask to see a full gallery from a wedding similar to theirs.