Lakes, Bushfires, Train Lines and a Sweltering Day

I was so excited to photograph Claire and Brian's most special day in November. Claire is my second shooter Merindah's little sister, so it was an honour to be there to share their perfect day with all their family. As it turns out, the 23rd November 2014 was to be the hottest day of the year, reaching a nice and toasty 46 degrees at one point in the afternoon!

Their ceremony was held at the Morisset Hospital Chapel. Everyone was fanning themselves in the heat as the boys (and grooms woman) and the groom and his mum walked down the aisle. It was finally time for Claire to walk down the aisle to the man of her dreams. There was barely a dry eye in the whole church as Brian sung Claire down the aisle. The ceremony was so beautiful and heartfelt, with many lovely songs sung by family members, many blessings and a lot of laughs! After the ceremony it was decided it would be the best option to do the family portraits back at the reception when it had cooled down a lot more. We made a quick dash back inside the church to take a few portraits in the church, but first had to cool down the bride, so with many giggles, we held Claire's gown over a small portable air conditioner near the altar. Once cooled down, Claire, Brian, Merindah and I jumped into my car and set off for our locations. Our first stop was the lake where Claire was not afraid to climb out onto the rocks for some photos! After a few more portraits around the grounds of the hospital, we set off back to Martinsville for the big surprise! Without Claire knowing, some minature ponies had been organised to be there for a few photos. There was much excitement by all (myself included - and I will admit I was trying to work out how I could squeeze one into my car to take him home) and everyone enjoyed being able to pat the ponies. After a few photos with them, we jumped back in my car and set off for a few more locations including abandoned houses, train lines and burnt out area a bush fire had been through earlier in the week. The whole while, Merindah was being both a good bridesmaid and a good second shooter/assistant! By this time there was a large storm brewing quite close by, so we made our way back to Martinsville for the reception and a few quick bridal party photos. By the time we got there, the temperature had dropped drastically and some lightning was striking not too far off. So we quickly worked through the bridal party photos and headed into the reception.

No more than 30 minutes into the reception there was a large lightning strike nearby and all power went out. So speeches were made by the light of an iPhone torch. The rest of the evening, the reception was lit by candles, while a generator that had been swiftly delivered was powering the catering truck. And would you believe, just as Claire and Brian made their exit through sparklers held by their family and friends to jump in their car, the power all came back on!

Thank you Claire and Brian for allowing me to share your magical day with you and your families. I had an absolute blast!

Bubbling Streams and Flowing Fabrics

On a lovely warm December afternoon I set off for Dungog to meet Breanna and Luke for their maternity shoot. The roads on the way up were so windy and bumpy that we joked about Breanna going into premature labour as a result! As the sun started to set into a golden haze over the property we started shooting. Towards the end of the shoot we started doing some gorgeous floating fabric images and I decided it would be awesome in the water in the creek. So after some careful placement on the slippery rocks and adjusting to the temperature of the water, we started shooting some images of Breanna drapped in fabric in the stream. It was just heavenly!

After we finished with the water shots, we decided it was time to pack up and get dry. But it wasnt long before I decided we weren't done yet. Driving up out of the property there was a herd of very curious cattle, so we stopped for a quick few more portraits to end the session.

Thank you both for choosing me to document this precious time of your lives! Can't wait to meet the new bubba!

Beaches and Cityscapes

I love it when people book me to do a photo shoot of them for their wedding anniversary. So I was beyond stoked when Toni contacted me to book a photo shoot for her and her husband Mark's 25th wedding anniversary! We spent a nice warm afternoon in Newcastle shooting around the beaches, townhouses, graffiti filled alleyways, the old post office and Merewether. We finished off our shoot as the sun was going down over the Merewether Ocean Baths.

Thank you both for having me there to share this beautiful occasion with you!

Burnouts and Bouquets

Centaine and Ben's wedding was definatly one to remember! Their wedding was held on a warm breezy afternoon at Club Macquarie in Argenton, down by the water under the shade of the trees filled with paper pom poms. Both Ben and Centaine got ready at Club Macquarie, the boys upstairs, the girls downstairs. The girls spent the morning assembling the paper pom poms for the trees, then watched through the curtains as the boys climbed the trees in their suits to set it all up. Once the boys were finished in their room, we stealthily moved Centaine's gown up there so she could get dressed in a room with more space and better light. After a few sneaky photos of the bride and groom together without them seeing each other, everyone was ready for the ceremony.

After the ceremony, the bridal party jumped in the mini bus and we set off to take some photos with a difference. Ben and Matt one of the groomsmen bought along their dirt bikes so we could get some photos with them doing some burnouts. Unfortunatly though in all the pre-wedding organisation chaos, Ben forgot to check if his bike had fuel in it. so after a few photos of him on the bike looking disappointed it was decided that the boys would syphon fuel out of Matt's bike using a beer bottle. Finally both bikes were up and running! By now the air was thick with smoke from the tyres, so we decided to call it quits with the bikes and set off to a few more locations in the area before making our way back to the reception.

The reception was held at Club Macquarie and was beautifully decorated with mirrors and orchids and scattered crystals. The photo booth was a huge hit and there was also a bit of karaoke happening. At the end of the night, we spotted a corvette sitting in the carpark outside, so could not miss the opportunity to use it for a few sneaky photos. On our way back up to the reception, we ran into the bride and groom from the wedding in the adjacent ballroom, so we stopped to pose for a quick "Bride Wars" style photo before heading back into the reception to party.

Thank you both, and also to all your bridal party for such an incredibly fun day!