The Advertiser wedding of the week

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This week I was awarded the ‘Advertiser wedding of the week’ from the Adelaide-based Newspaper The Advertiser. Published on page 30 of the Weddings section in the Monday 27th October edition of the newspaper, the Advertiser wedding of the week was actually a wedding I had shot almost 2 months prior.

Renae and Craig’s wedding was held at the Coriole Vineyards in Mclaren Vale and was a wedding that took advantage of my flexible hourly-based wedding package so to be awarded the Advertiser wedding of the week was quite a surprise as I did not have shots of the groom’s preparation, nor most of the reception. Renae and Craig said that the Advertiser had been in contact with them looking to use their photos for a feature in their paper, but I did not expect to be the Advertiser wedding of the week.

Advertiser wedding of the week

Advertiser wedding of the week

If the font is too small and hard to read in the image above, here is the writeup-

FOR Craig and Renae, when it comes to sentimental proposal locations, Devil’s Peak, in the Flinders Ranges, ticked all the boxes. After all, it was where the couple – who met through a friend – had their first date and lived for a year. So it was fitting then for Craig to ask Renae that life-changing question during a picturesque location.

For the happy duo, creating a relaxed atmosphere at their wedding was first and foremost. They chose McLaren Vale venue, Coriole Vineyards, to host both ceremony and reception. Family and friends travelled from near and far for the occasion, including guests from as far as Hong Kong. The reception venue was dressed in a rustic theme, and guests were treated to a Bracegirdle’s chocolate fountain and a candy bar. But when Then by Brad Paisley began to softly play, it was time for the bride and groom’s first dance as husband and wife.

Renae said the day was filled with highlights from start to finish. “But the standout moment would have to be dancing the night away with family and friends,” she said. The bridal party included Rebecca Scully, Belinda Kelly, Jodie Grimm, Michel Smale, Tim Brice and Hamish Smith. Pageboy was the couple’s son Rily Watson. Renae, 31, is the daughter of Francis and Ellen Watson of Marino. Craig, 36, is the son of Chris Ranger, of Glengowrie, and the late Mike Ranger.

Article by Roxanne Allan of Advertiser Weddings

Camelot Castle Wedding – Larni & Daniel

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The 20th of September saw me head to a wonderful little location just outside of the Adelaide city limits in Camelot Castle (now named the Manor in Basket Range) for Larni and Daniel’s wedding. I had an absolute ball of a time at their wedding with all involved quite laid back and easy to work with. Along with the fact that choosing such a picturesque location as the Castle made my job so much easier on the day, the whole congregation were very photo-friendly from the beautiful bride Larni to the cars to the little ones running about the place who weren’t camera-shy at all! At the time of Larni and Daniel’s wedding, the venue itself was having electrical issues, and it was very lucky that the wedding could go ahead at all. Apparently it had only just passed safety inspections days beforehand!

Groomsmen Preparation

The groomsmen got ready at the couple’s house. The preparation was quite a casual affair with little signs of nerves from the groom-to-be. Daniel was eager to get some shots of his pet snake and dog while dressed up.

Daniel getting ready
Groomsmen drinking
Wedding Rings
Groomsmen
Daniel and his pet snake
Calvin Klein Groomsmen
Groom Daniel

Bridal Preparation

Larni and her bridesmaids were getting ready at her parents house. As I arrived she was just finishing up with their makeup. The girls were having a great time getting ready with family members circling all eager to find out what kind of cars Daniel had booked for their motorcade.

Bride and bridesmaid looking in mirror
Bridal party and parents
Larni the bride
Larni the bride
Bridal jewellery
Putting the bridal dress on
Bridal dress
Sloppy kisses
Bride in mirror
Bridesmaid

Camelot Castle Ceremony

Camelot Castle is a wonderful wedding venue, built in the early 1900s, the castle is a grand, Medieval style, stone building, hidden away in the picturesque valley at Basket range in the Adelaide Hills. It’s built to look like a castle (hence the name) but is actually a sprawling hotel/function center with medieval stylings like parapets, gothic wooden doorways and suits of armour dotted about the place. The location itself is nice and secluded while not being too far away from the city of Adelaide. It’s away from prying eyes of the public and even passing traffic would not catch a glimpse of any wedding occurring at the lovely little medieval chapel built within its grounds. I was told by Larni and Daniel that the venue often hosts themed weddings complete with guests dressed in period clothing and cutting of the wedding cake with a broadsword. However Larni and Daniel chose the castle not for these reasons, but rather because it was a unique spot with plenty of photo opportunities within walking distance.

Dad giving bride away
Hugs from the girls
Camelot Castle wedding
Camelot Castle chapel
Camelot Castle wedding
Camelot Castle wedding
Camelot Castle wedding
Camelot Castle wedding
Bride at Camelot Castle

Bridal photoshoot

The gardens provide a marvellous array of locations for a bridal shoot, with it’s rustic stone walls and wooden doorways to unique towers with battlements surrounded by a lush green garden with water features. Simply put, the castle is a wonderful place to shoot wedding photography.

Bride and Groom at Camelot Castle
BridalParty
Bride and Groom at Camelot Castle
Wedding rings
Punching rings
Inside Camelot Castle
Bride and Groom At Camelot Castle
Bridal party at Camelot Castle
Kissing Shadows
Shadow kiss at Camelot Castle
Bride through ring
Kissing at Camelot Castle
Camelot Castle
Bridal Motorcade at Camelot Castle
Bride and Groom at Camelot Castle

Reception

The reception venue has two reception halls, one downstairs and one upstairs. Fortunately Larni and Daniel did not have too many guests so as to not fit in the down-stairs reception hall as the upstairs one was still condemned due to electrical faults. But the downstairs reception hall was lovely none-the-less. Ample seating for at least 100 people with dance floor and ready access to bar and outdoor patio, the room was themed as a castle with armour and swords hanging on the walls with a lovely medieval atmosphere.

First dance at Camelot castle
Outside Camelot Castle
Speeches
Shoe game
Hugs
Candy Bar
Camelot Castle Suit of Armour
Dancing on daddy’s feet
Dancing at Camelot Castle
Camelot Castle Bar
Wedding Cake
First dance at Camelot castle

I’d like to thank Larni and Daniel for a lovely night at Camelot Castle, they treated me as one of their guests and invited me to take photos of their amazing wedding at an amazing venue, a venue I had not yet had the privilege of visiting, and I’m very glad I was a part of it.

Bridal jewellery presentation

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I’ve been shooting Adelaide wedding photography for over 4 years now, with this website only existing for a little over 2 years, and one thing I always look forward to at the beginning of my day is the bridal jewellery. My wedding photography day usually starts at the bride and groom’s place of preparation where I would take close-up images of both the men’s jewellery including the wedding rings and cuff-links and the bridal jewellery.

While the men’s jewellery is typically pretty similar between weddings, with the wedding bands and cufflinks over ties and whatnot, the bridal jewellery can be quite diverse. I usually try to include the traditional ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something new’ thing, if the bride is traditional in that way, while also incorporating some of the more modern aspects of today’s bridal jewellery. Typically this includes earrings, necklaces, perfume bottles, shoes and and quite often recently I’ve seen novelty garters showcasing the bride’s personality. One that comes to mind immediately is a wonderful batman garter from Alia and Julian’s Hans Heysen’s House wedding.

Batman Garter bridal jewellery

I love showcasing the personality of my brides and grooms through small little details like this, I feel it really personalises your wedding photography and makes you smile in ten years when you looks back at photos like this and remember the story behind the item or items.

Bridal Jewellery presentations

Generally people expect bridal jewellery photographs to be dreamy and ethereal in nature creating the dreamlike aesthetic that is usually associated with remembering happy memories such as your wedding day. As such I like to get up close and personal with your bridal jewellery and use a high depth of field to draw focus to a particular point in the presentation. The results are quite a lovely documentation of some of the things that are quite often forgotten years after your actual wedding day, so capturing these scenes is important.

Bridal jewellery
Bridal jewellery
Bridal jewellery
Bridal jewellery

It’s quite common at modern weddings for brides to ‘look after’ the wedding rings also, whereas traditionally the groom, or rather his ‘best man’ would be tasked with keeping them safe. There’s surely not a trust issue here is there? 😀 Perhaps it’s because it’s often the bride that will be doing the bulk of the organisation for the wedding day itself, so perhaps they feel more comfortable looking after them? In any case, capturing an image of the two rings together in this setting allows for some wonderful memorable photos, often alongside the bridal jewellery.

Adelaide wedding photographer
Wedding rings

Props such as pillows or nests for such wedding ring photos can be purchased readily at most bridal shops, or even a simple search on ebay can yield good results.

Associate of the AIPP Awarded

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As a result of my recent success at the National AIPP Photography Awards I have been conferred the status and honour of ‘Associate of the Australian Institute for Professional Photography (AIPP)’ which means my photography has been of a consistently high standard over the past few years that I have been a full member of the AIPP that I have ‘gained rank’ if you will. Being an Associate of the AIPP is a step below being a Master Photographer of the AIPP which as a full member of the AIPP for only a few years is quite a difficult goal to attain. However being awarded an Associate status is the first step towards that.

As a result of my new status of an Associate of the AIPP I now have a few more post-nominals to put after my name. Instead of my former status of an ‘accredited professional photographer’ with the post-nominals of ‘APP’ I am now an ‘Associate of the AIPP’ with the post nominals of ‘AAIPP’. Therefore with the addition of all my other post-nominals from completed degrees and whatnot my full name is now ‘Steven Paul Duncan Mteach BA DipCIT AAIPP’ bit of a mouthful eh? Perhaps in the future I’d like to add a pHD to the list 🙂

The honour of becoming an Associate of the AIPP reaffirms my belief that the standard of my photography is of a high level and that my clients can rest assured that if they choose me as their photographer they are getting an industry recognised photographer of a high calibre.

Associate of the AIPP

Associate of the AIPP

To showcase my new title I’ve been sent a certificate detailing the honour and a yellow ribbon with medal that I will now wear at future formal AIPP mixers such as Awards dinners. Master photographers wear a red ribbon while grandmasters wear black.