A weekend off

After a busy last few weeks, it was nice to get a weekend off and rest. So what does the team get up to on an off weekend? Well .. more photography. Carla, Jaypee and I headed out to experiment and take photos of Jaypee's partner Victoria. Victoria tirelessly models for us when we need a subject to shoot and thanks must go to her for listening to us go on about camera equipment, settings and other shutterbug talk - thanks Vic!



A mentor of mine once told me that good photography wasn't about finding a pretty background and placing someone in front of it for a photo. Good photography involved identifying good light, and then capturing someone in the middle of a moment in that light. This is why the team enjoys the challenge of walking into a room, or down a street and trying to make something out of nothing, a simple wall, garage door or even construction site can make for interesting photos. See below for photos of our team relaxing and at play. The team believes that creativity is a muscle. In order to exercise this muscle we try to find locations that might seem undesirable and try to shoot something beautiful or interesting even though it might seem difficult - or impossible. Sometimes you just have to look closer :) If we can shoot Vic in front of a garage door and make her look half decent (no offense Vic!), then surely we'd be more than prepared for photographing a bride in her beautiful dress walking down the aisle of a beautiful church.

Carla and Jaypee at play



The result ...


A photo I took in some carpark ..

Sometimes pulling back can give the photograph a different feel


No amount of good light, technical skill or camera equipment can help Jaypee - this is the pose he gave me when I asked him to relax and be himself - no really it is.

Seonha and Dane's wedding

The team recently shot Seonha and Dane's wedding held at St Joseph's followed by a reception at the Waterfront.

Carla shooting Seonha's prep photos

The ceremony was relaxed and joyous. I have to say that I've never heard a priest say 'ready Mr. Music', and that would have to be the funniest thing I've heard during a ceremony in a long time.

Gus discreetly getting up close as Seonha professed her vows to Dane

Gus led this wedding and Carla provided second shooter coverage for the day. After the ceremony we took the entourage to King St Wharf - a little surprise Seonha had for Dane because Bungalow 8 was where the newly-married couple met for the first time. So earlier in the week I'd made special arrangements with Bungalow 8 to allow the entourage to be shot in the bar area. It's not uncommon for the team and the bridal party to be dashing around the city on a weekend afternoon but on this shoot we stayed put and the group made the most of the lounges at Bungalow as well as the bar which was always within reach from where we were seated.

If only every location shoot involved a big couch and a bottle of bubbly ..

A Candid moment between Seonha and Dane..

Soft ambient light at the bar provided us with plenty of opportunities to take some intimate photos.

While walking around King St we came across some air vents that were situated on the corner of one of the streets. While it seemed a little unusual for us to be shooting at the foot of a building and in front of its vents, the team had a vision of how the photographs would turn out and succeeded in translating that vision into some very different portraits .. see below for the setup and the outcome.

The 'behind the scenes' shot - Gus composing the shot while Carla assists with the video light in what would otherwise be a normal street corner

And the result - one of Dane's first photos as a newly-married man

Seohna showing Dane how it's done

The current home page photo from Seonha and Dane's wedding

Congratulations again to Seonha and Dane for organising a lovely wedding, and for being good sports when a lot of our ideas may not have made much sense at first! Hopefully the photos provide a good explanation of what we were aiming for.