One of the highlights for me personally during my career as a Wedding Photographer is sharing the wonderful occasions and all the magic wedding moments as a Bride and Groom begin officially their union together with their wedding day celebration.
Storytelling with a lens – Its something that I do not take lightly. I see myself as a storyteller, using images to illustrate and tell your story, like piecing together a puzzle, piece by piece.With each new Wedding brings a unique and amazing new experience. This is the main reason I continue to shoot Weddings each week. Of course the challenge is great, and the workload huge, but the experience we share with so many Brides and Grooms is just so wonderful.
The Standard photographs – Each new Wedding I look for the standard set of images, Mum admiring her Bride daughter, or Dad walking his daughter down the isle proudly just to name a few.
On each and every Wedding day comes a wonderful magic, a joy and peace, love and harmony and sometimes tears. We can never in words explain what happens before the event has taken place, but we guarantee that when the day is done, the words have been spoken, the tears have been wiped away and the smiles have stopped, we will have a memorable set of images that will touch your soul.
The magic wedding moment journey – I want to take you on this journey, so you can feel some of these magic wedding moments.Here is a the start of a series of memorable and amazing magic wedding moments we have seen through our lens at the different Weddings we have photographed. Each has a story behind it, each image captured a piece of something amazing and we are happy to tell that story.
These ladies are best friends, helping each other through the trials of life for many years. When one sees a need to help the other they drop everything to do so. This photograph was captured as the Bride nervously prepared herself for her big day. There was much to worry about, weather, the kids and of course new beginnings.
Amongst the chaos, her friend saw the need to fix a little spilt in her dress, the bride seeing the selfless act and knowing her friend hadn’t finished her hair began pulling the rollers out of her hair. Their determination, teamwork and laughs showed the true meaning of eternal friends and what one does for those they care about.
It was fate that led us on this farm visit. The Dowerin Field Days are something that we as family look forward to each year. It’s a wonderful family day out, and gives us a chance to explore the countryside a little too. This year, at the last minute, we decided to stay the night up there instead of driving there and back in one day (a 5 hour round trip). Finding accommodation for two adults and three children is difficult at the best of times, but when you’re looking for last minute accommodation in a tiny country town, and all the nearby towns, at a time of year when thousands and thousands of visitors are expected… well, it suddenly becomes a lot harder.
But our lucky stars led us to “Mrs Rae” and “Mr Chris” the day before we left. And so, at the end of a long and busy day at Dowerin, our tired little family found ourselves driving further and further from the main roads and down wide gravel roads, out to a picturesque farm 45 minutes from Dowerin, near the town of Cunderdin in Western Australia’s beautiful Wheatbelt region.
When we arrived, we were welcomed warmly into the farmhouse, and then spoiled by our lovely hosts, who made us feel right at home. After sitting down for a rest next to the blazing fire in the lounge room, and being introduced to their adorable 13 week-old Kelpie-Blue Heeler puppy, Chocco, we were treated to a gorgeous roast dinner of home-killed lamb and vegetables from the garden, followed by a delicious pudding. Our children had warm baths, and then we settled in the lounge for a few very enjoyable hours of chatting and getting to know each other and learning about each other’s lives. We were able to show them our travel photography from around Australia and the world, and exchange stories of our travels.
The next morning, we took the kids out for an early morning walk around the farm, to explore and do some photography. The mornings are very chilly during winter in the Wheatbelt, so the kids were bundled up (our daughter borrowed a jumper of Mrs Rae’s, because she couldn’t find her own jacket).
For children who are so curious and adventurous as ours, the farm was bliss. There were old sheep sheds and machinery sheds to explore, there was seasonal farm machinery to look at and learn about, there was a little creek running past to splash in, the fields were lush with green wheat and yellow canola flowers. There was even an abandoned and decrepit house not far from the farmhouse to enliven their imaginations and to use as a setting for photography. The farm was incredibly photogenic, and its many different settings were used as the backdrop for hundreds of photographs. The walk wasn’t too long, as it was early and cold, and everyone was hungry. We returned to the house for breakfast, with promises of exploring again afterwards.
After being treated to a delicious breakfast, we went out to explore again. This time, we took the kids to see the chickens. Our children love chickens. They love to feed them, they love to catch them when they escape, and they love to collect the eggs. We spent some time around the chicken coop, talking and letting the kids play around the chickens. We got some fun photographs of the kids chasing and catching the chickens, and running around the coop. Then we decided to explore some of the sheds that were nearby.
One of the sheds was an old sheep shed, and although there haven’t been sheep on the farm for quite a while, the paraphernalia from those days is still there, including branding irons and even a whole bag full of wool in one of the pens. We walked through the sheds, with Mrs Rae explaining what some of the mysterious machines and equipment were and how they worked and when they were used.
We watched Chocco taking his first frolics through the cold water in the creek and we walked around the wheat fields, relaxing and taking our time, as you do in a place where time seems to stand still and peace reins supreme. The wheat crop was green and luxuriant, wet with overnight rain and morning dew, and the kids had the time of their lives running through the crop, hiding from Chocco and letting him chase them through the wheat, playing hide-and-seek. We stopped many times to take photographs.
Another visit to the abandoned house was exciting as we realized from the ornate ceilings and other little clues that the house would have been quite a handsome one in its day. Rummages through cupboards turned up yellow bottles of “Milk of Magnesia”, old medicine bottles and other little hints of life in the old house. There was even an old copper in the outdoor laundry.
After getting the kids clean, warm and dry, we spent some time relaxing in the warmth on the back patio. Chocco slept contentedly while Mrs Rae showed us her flower and vegetable garden and shared her knowledge of garden lore with us, even sharing a small piece of her garden with us by giving us some cuttings to bring home and plant in our own garden.
But all good things must come to an end, and so did our farm visit. With hugs and kisses and reluctant farewells, we packed up the car and went on our way, back along those winding, pretty country roads. We were only there for a short time, but it was such a magical, blissful, peaceful experience for all of us that we will have to return again!
The Wedding day is almost here, only a day waits for this lovely couple. A few months back we did and engagement shoot for Ben & Laura, and tomorrow is their big day. Time has quickly come around for them to begin their eternal journey together, to start their new life as husband and wife. And I get to be there to witness all the amazing and special details that they have put together over the past few months in preparation for the wedding day.
Even though their pre wedding shoot was the first time I had photographed them together ( not that you can tell, they really are professionals and were so relaxed and easy to work with) we have crossed paths on the photography scene before. Laura, the bride in waiting and her creative sister form a talented duo of designers and party planners and operate a growing little business
School holidays is a fantastic time to catch up with your family and spend some time together. For me school holidays is an extremely busy time. Kids and parents are often on holiday together and many families take the opportunity to get some family portraits done. For sister Kim and Samantha, this was an ideal time to catch up with each other and have there precious daughters spend some time together. Samantha was on a break from Melbourne and arranged with her sister to get some prints for their parent Christmas gift – we have such thoughtful clients. We decided on a session at the iconic Cottesloe beach, a favourite for Beach portraits
The afternoon session was planned with the light in mind. This is a crucial part of being a photographer and choosing to shoot on location portraits without a full entourage of lighting assistants. The best way to prepare for a Beach portraits session is to get the timing right. Because there is no shade and only the clouds (not that there is any in Perth) provide some relief from the burning sun.
This year I was lucky enough to go to the AFL Grandfinal in Melbourne to see my friend and former basketball teammate Lewis Jetta, play in a winning Grand-final with the Sydney Swans against Hawthorn. I went across with my brother and also met up with a host of mates from Perth including WAAFL super star and human 6 pack Graham Jetta. The game itself was amazing, a 4 quarter dual, that could of gone either way several times. But just as impressive was the entire weekend. I had the opportunity to hang out with a very good friend I hadn’t seen for a while, and we had a ball. Plus I got to see the sights with host of other buddy’s. The AFL parade was unreal and although it was constantly raining, it was still such an amazing experience to witness. I often Photograph sporting events, but this weekend I was able to put the camera down for time and just enjoy watching a good old crack of football. The pictures I did take were more so documenting the things we got up to, and one of the highlights of the weekend was hanging out with Lewis and his family the day before the game. He was given some down time or leave from the playing group to hang out with his family, and we ended up chilling out in Timezone. it was great fun and an amazing experience on how families just enjoy themselves together, even with the hype of the biggest game of football om Australia just around the corner.Here is a snapshot of the fast running wingman in the AFL game today enjoying some special moments with his family.
