Today we have a special guest on Photobug all the way from Italy. Roberto Panciatici stole our hearts with the very first wedding we featured of his in 2014. Not only does Roberto’s work continually inspire us to look at wedding photography in a different light (literally), but his personality is just the icing on top of the wedding photography cake. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to have Roberto as your wedding photographer, and perhaps that’s why his couples always look so comfortable and natural. Enjoy learning more about this quirky Italian wedding photographer, and be sure to drop him a line if his work inspires you!

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

I love Super Heroes! I used to read tons of comic books and I’ve always dreamt of having the quickness of Wolverine, the x-men character! It’s not a power that lets you conquer the world, manage people, or became rich and famous, but it gives you the ability to travel the world to see and do all the things that you can’t see or experiment in just one life.

How do you like to spend your time when you aren’t shooting weddings?

I love to travel and that’s what I do, not only around the world but in my mind. I love spending time reading books, listening to music, watching movies, writing in my notebook about my life, taking pictures documenting my days, hugging my little niece and playing with her, smiling with friends and, eating pizza, obviously!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a daydreamer, that’s the way I am and the only way I want to be but I’m also a doer, probably because I’m a Capricorn-Aquarius, so I love to push myself in work and challenge myself to try to do my best. I’m a very curious person so it’s very easy for me to be bored from something and dream about – and try to find – something new. For this reason I really need to experience the world, to meet new people and learn from them and do my best to give them something back.

What are your favorite destinations?

Vienna – I’ve been twice for work and I’d like to go back again, again and again. Paris, NewYork, Honk Kong and Santorini are also favorites. I would also like to try, but just once because it’s not my preferred environment, to work in Iceland because it’s a place I’ve never been and I’m really curious to visit it. So, I really look forward to meeting people who would like to hire me to work in that dream land.

Where do you want to shoot next?

I’d like to take more pictures in big cities around the world, with graffiti, lights, new and modern architecture and colors, bridges etc. I’m in love with Italy and the Tuscany countryside – it’s the place where I live – but when you’re surrounded by a lot of green and hills everyday it’s easier
for a persona like me to dream and to need to do something different.

What do you find to be the biggest challenge/most difficult part of being a wedding
photographer?

I would love to tell you “to find your own way to look at the world and to define your style” but it’s not true because it sounds like a challenge that you can win and to become comfortable with. I thing that the difficult part about being a photographer is to live a “never ending challenge.” Personally I’m constantly looking for my own way to look at the world and the only way you can do this is accepting to live uncomfortably and to challenge yourself everyday to stay creative.

How did you get into wedding photography?

This is an important question for me… Long story short: I worked for an Italian bank for some years. I was fine, I used to earn good money, lived with my girlfriend and a dog. One day I was at the sea and I received a call to inform me that a friend really close to me committed suicide. That moment was like a bomb dropped into my life. It was the first time in my life that I really felt that this game, I mean life, is really going to end.

I seriously asked myself if I was happy or not and the answer was no. I promised myself that I absolutely needed to fight for my happiness and to bet everything on my dreams. So, I started to walk, to experience life, to express myself, to quit my job, to fall, to take pictures, to travel, to rise and fall again and… here I am.

Any direction you would like to take your photography?

In general I’d like to create better portraits by putting more emotions into my photography. This is very important for me, especially because I want to improve my portrait photography and I’m not talking about the weddings business. In wedding photography I actually love to play with light, lines and composition and also take closes portraits that are intimate and delicate but my goal is to better understand the mix of these two things and try to do something creative, beautiful and intimate at the same time. I want to challenge myself to do that and this is definitely my direction.

What makes you give yourself a mental high five?

When I surprise myself and I realize something new – I mean new for me. In this moment I usually feel like I beat a little goal in my mind, like beating a personal level in a game.

Do you have any advice for beginning photographers, wedding or otherwise?

Bet on you and challenge yourself. Learn from the other photographers who inspire you and interact with them to build and expand your own network. Have friends. Have beers. Have friends that believe in your dreams.

Any advice for couples who are looking for their perfect wedding photographer?

The perfect wedding photographer is the person you trust more. When you trust someone you can easily be yourself and be inspired from his/her work. In my opinion this is the best way to help your photographer to express his/her own vision and make you happy.

What three photographers do you admire or who has inspired you, either in the past or right now?

Actually the photographers who inspire me are:

Fer Juaristi – http://ferjuaristi.com
Nirav Patel – http://niravpatelphotography.com
Erik Clausen – http://www.erikclausen.com/

Thanks so much to Roberto for not only sharing his gorgeous work with us, but also for sharing his inspiring story and advice. To see more of Roberto’s work, check out his member portfolio.