Rainbows

I have to confess.  I’m having a bit of a run of wet weddings.  Please don’t hold it against me.  I’m sure that any other Brisbane wedding photographers are having the same problem over the last month or so.  It seems to like to rain on Saturdays.  Anyway, the up side is that I keep managing to catch rainbows.  Here’s a few from my more recent weddings.

Baby Legs

Isn’t she adorable! 

10 Things … I really enjoy

Continuing my 10 things posts… 

#1 – Talking

#2 – Eating out

#3 – Drinking Coffee 

#4 – Reading – I don’t get much time to do this these days. 

#5 – Watching my kids play and interact - I love seeing them do new things and just watching how cute and kwirky they are.

#6 – Photography – that one’s fairly obvious.

#7 – Doing new things – I like a challenge or adventure.

#8 – Travelling and holidays

#9 – Shopping  

#10 – Catching up with people I haven’t seen in a while.

Here’s a pic of Mark and I together at a wedding we went to yesterday. 

Some of Tegan – gotta keep it even!

Well Tegans now 7 and a half months and is crawling everywhere, pulling herself up on furniture, eating, saying mumma and generally getting up to mischief.  Here’s a few happy snaps of here – not my best work obviously but I do try to take “ordinary” photos of my kids too so I can remember what they were really like.  I really don’t do it often enough.  Every parent has to have a photo of their kids in a laundry basket!

Tegan looooves watermelon – I reckon she’d stay there all day if I let her!  

 

Natalie’s fluffy jacket

Natalie is going through a stage where she loves trying on new clothes.  She’s also obsessed with socks but that’s another story.  Anyway, she really like this fluffy jacket that my mum picked up somewhere so I took her for a walk down the road for a few photos.  She has always been into her bears and dolls.  We can rarely leave the house without one. 

This is one of those photos that I look at and think it could have belonging in my photo album when I was a kid.  We look so similar at this age. 

And then I look at a photo like this and think she looks so much like her Dad! 

 

Sharleen & Claus’ Sneak Peak

I had a great time shooting Sharleen & Claus’ wedding last week.  Sharleen & Claus had many people coming from overseas for their wedding and they were excited about seeing people that they had not seen in ages.  Claus’ two grandmothers even made the trip from the Netherlands.  We started the day off by going for a ride on a yaught with some of the men and the kids.  Then, after a quick stop by Sharleen’s house we ventured to Manly park where they had a beautiful ceremony set-up with a lovely afternoon tea, speaches and the cake.  After that they had a smaller reception at the Boat House in Wynnum.  All in all it was a beautiful day and it really looked like everyone had a great time!  Here are a few photos for the sneak peak.   

I love unique rings – they make for great ring shots!

The handsome groom

The boys at the Yaught Club

 

Another ring shot

The beautiful Bride!

Lovely ceremony venue – they set it up beautifully.

This cake was amazing!  That’s their children’s names on the little boats that are attached to the sail boat.

Time for a quick portrait at the park.

The reception at The Boathouse.

Mia at the reception.

Mia & Blake at the reception

Thank-you cards

There are thank-you cards available within a number of my packages.  These are usually postcard style cards with a gloss laminate on the front and black and white back.  Upgrades to folded cards or to full colour postcards are also available.  I thought I’d put some examples up here so that my couples can show me their preferences.  Obviously, because each wedding is a little different and photos vary your card will be a custom design. However, giving some examples will help people to give me feedback on which style and design they prefer.  I will incude 6 option for the front of cards and 3 options for the back of cards.  You may choose to have text on the front and back, front, or just the back.  You can choose to have one feature photo on the front or try to showcase a few.  As you can see, I’ve used some of the photos from Broni & Anthony’s recent wedding to showcase quite a few of the options.  There are also a few from Alex & Mary-ann’s wedding last year.

Front – Option 1: 

 

Front – Option 2:

Front – Option 3:

Front – Option 4:

Front – Option 5 (isn’t she adorable!)

Front – Option 6:

Now for the black and white options for the back:

Back – option 1:

Back – Option 2:

Back – option 3:

Clause & Sharleen – Just one for the moment

I really enjoyed my day photographing Clause and Sharleen’s wedding yesterday.  We decided that because they were having their cake and speeches later in the afternoon we would venture out for some photos in the morning.  We did a lot of their location photos out on a yacht.  This one was just before we went onto the water at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.  I’ll post more later.  I just thought I’d share this one that I found when I started editing. 

 

10 Things … about my photography style

Photography is a bit like clothing … there are heaps of different styles out there.  I think it’s important that when you’re looking for a photographer, you look at their style carefully.  Many people hire photographers and then blame them when they don’t get the images they were after.  Alhtough I do like to taylor my style to suit each individual client, there are some things that I will do more naturally.   If you are looking for studio type shots on a white background then then I’m not your photographer.  Or, if you’re looking for extreemely photojournalisic-style photos that are all black-and white and quite moody then I’m probably not for you either.   For me, finding my style has come gradually, but lately I feel like I’m starting to develop one.  Here’s a few things about my photography style:

1)  I love colour – bright blue skys, green grass, blue ocean.  I love to play with the colour in my images so they stand out from the crowd.

2)  I like variety - I don’t like any two of my weddings or shoots to look the same – each person in different, each environment is different and I want to reflect these in my portraits.

3) I usually take posed but relaxed looking photos. 

One of my recent couples asked me when looking at some engagement photos if I just follow them round with a camera or if I give them some instructions.    Obviously, a lot of a Wedding day does consist of documentary photoraphy, where I will stand back and “observe the day” and take photos of what’s going on.  However, during your location shots or engagement shoot I do give guidance and instructions to help people feel comfortable.   Although watch out if you sneak a quick kiss or cuddle - If I catch it, I’ll include it in your photos!

4)  I fully edit every proof photo

Some photographers, especailly for weddings will do quick batch editing, or sometimes none at all.  For me, this is not the case as all.  I see editing as being as important as the actual taking of photos.  Obviously you need a good image to begin with, however without some basic editing, as well as colour enhancing, skin touch-ups and cropping, a photo, although technically correct will look dull and lifeless. 

Here are some before and afters:

        

 

Keep in mind that these first photos were taken on a professional camera, with good lenses and with the correct exposures.  However, things needed to be done to it it bring out the colour, sharpen the image and bring out the subjects (BTW – for those who are wondering the black fringing is because I had a polarising filter over my UV filter – I crop wider to compensate for it but in this case it worked in the photo so I enhanced it rather than eliminating it).  It takes a lot more than a good camera to produce really good quality images. 

OK, so this doesn’t become an essay, I’ll speed up now.

5)  I love to use creative angles.

6)  I love to include the environment in my photos.  I’m always on the look-out for locations with interesting textures, door-ways, stainwells, walls, beautiful landscapes … basically anything that will look good when I add people to it. 

7)  I love natural expressions – cheesy smiles don’t turn me on.  I like genuine smiles, and natural poses that don’t always involve looking at the camera. 

8)  l like carefully chosen props and accessories.  Umbrellas, beenies, baskets etc, are fun if they are thoughtfully used.  However, I don’t go over the top with these as it can detract from the subject. 

9)  I take lots of photos and cull from there.  I tend to like to play around with angles and settings to see which one works the best.  I do not show my clients every photo as the editing process would be way too cumbersome, however if a few angles or settings work, I will show a variety with the best expressions.

10)  I love life-style type shots. 

Although I do pose people, what I’m aiming for is shots that look natural and real. I like shots of people walking, talking and interacting like they usually would.  Of coarse I always take some of them looking at the camera, but I’m always aiming to get a few life-style shots. 

One More

I just found this one that I really liked so I though I’d add it to the sneak peak.