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Chateau Tanunda Wedding – Libby & Simon

  • Libby & Simon

    Chateau Tanunda Wedding

    Kiss in the vines

Libby and Simon returned form their home in Texas, USA to celebrate their wedding day at the Chateau Tanunda with friends and family living in South Australia. Both their families were spread out around the globe, so it was wonderful to witness the coming together of these two lovely families 🙂 I was asked to be their wedding photographer for the majority of their day, seeing me at Libby’s place of preparation, through to the first dance at their reception.

Preparation

I was asked to start the day with Libby and her bridal party preparation at a nearby bed and breakfast in Tanunda. All morning there was the bustle of activity as each bridesmaid, flower girl and a few other family members all used the large, old cottage as a base of operations 🙂 The house featured a large, open lounge room, complete with a wonderful bay window, perfect for bridal preparation photos.

An interesting side not for the day was that I was contacted by Raw Cotton Collection, a clutch bag manufacturer based in Perth, through Instagram to give Libby and her flowergirls a free clutch and bags in exchange for some photos with the girls, was a fun little side note 🙂

Getting Ready
Flower Girl
Lacing up
Engagement ring
Wedding Dress
Flower Girl helping out
Bride and flower girl
Bride at front door
Flower Girl in Window
Lacing up
Having fun in the veil

Chateau Tanunda Wedding Ceremony

The Chateau Tanunda has been a feature of the Barossa Valley since the 1880s, being built near vineyards that were planted in 1840s, it’s a historic place that makes for a wonderful backdrop for a wedding! Libby and Simon’s wedding ceremony took place in a long, thin function hall/chapel on the far left of the Chateau which featured some wonderful wooden slat ceilings and large windows overlooking a grassy croquet field.

Holding hands together
Holding hands together
Bored flower girl
Groom’s First look
Chateau Tanunda
Chateau Tanunda Wedding
Flower girls
At the altar
Hugs
Bride in Mirror
Wedding Ceremony
Bride walking down aisle
Holding hands together
First Kiss

Glamour Photos

Directly after the ceremony, Libby, Simon and I escaped in their MG getaway car and used the surrounding beauty that is the Chateau Tanunda grounds. First making use of the picturesque driveway through the vineyards towards the Chateau, then behind the building in a small park situated beyond a disused train line. The sun was setting beautifully for some nice sun flare coming through the trees. We were also lucky enough to utilise the wine barrels in the large tasting room for the winery.

Kiss in the vines
Together in the trees
Doorway
Happy groom
Driving toward Chateau Tanunda
Running through the vines
Together in the trees
Together in the wine barrels
Walking through the trees
Wedding rings on railway
Chateau Tanunda
Walking together
Bride and Groom together in front of Chateau Tanunda
Flower girls running about
Together in the sunset
Laughing couple
Ivy
Getaway car
Walking on the disused train line
Together in the wine barrels

Chateau Tanunda Wedding Reception

The venue boasts a huge reception hall, big enough for Libby and Simon’s wedding reception guests twice over, which made the dance floor quite large! As it was a chilly night, being the beginning of May, their were plenty of gas-fired heaters throughout the room to keep guests warm.

Chateau Tanunda Wedding Reception
Cutting the cake
Mingling
First Dance
Speech
Wedding Cake
Speech
First Dance

Thank you so much Libby and Simon for having me be your wedding photographer, I hope you enjoy your photos! 😀

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The Jade Wedding – Ruth & James

  • RUTH & JAMES

    The Jade Wedding

    First dance

Ruth and James held both their wedding ceremony and reception at The Jade pub in the city for a lovely night-time wedding in late April. I was recommended to them as their wedding photographer from one of the groomsmen at a wedding I covered in Darwin which is great as I know I’m doing something right! 🙂 So I was asked to capture their wedding photography for 3 hours, while Ruth and James also had my Photobooth set up for their reception.

Before the Wedding

Having arrived a little early to set up the photobooth, I was able to observe the setup of Ruth and James’ wedding. The whole area was set up with a lovely, simple vibe, complete with cheese platters and hanging fairy lights over the beer garden.

Smiling guests
Bridal transport
Smiling guests
Cheese
Wedding Cake
Smiling couple
The Jade’s stage

The Jade Wedding Ceremony

Ruth and James made use of the cozy live-music venue and beer garden just off to the side of the main bar at The Jade for their ceremony and party, and also held it fairly late, so the sun had well and truly gone by the time their ceremony took place. As a result, their entire wedding ceremony was artificially lit by stage lights. Made it a bit of a challenge to shoot and get natural skin tones – but I made it work! 😀 The virtual reality video I put together for them turned out great in this sort of setting!

Smiling groom
Mobile phone
On the stage together
Bridal entrance at The Jade
Vows
Holding hands
First kiss
Together
Celebrate
Celebrant

Glamour Photos

We had around 30-40 minutes to walk about for some glamour photos, as as it was well and truly night time, I made use of some of my portable lights, and any artificial lighting we could find – such as the lighting within the nearby carpark and the doorway of the church next door! 🙂 I was aiming for more of a different look at Ruth and Jame’s wedding to a more traditional setting, as the venue and backdrops I was working with certainly weren’t traditional! I particularly enjoyed shooting in the carpark, it made for some grungy, and very different wedding photos.

Carpark
Kiss on the road
Sign out the front
Carpark
In the stairwell
Church door
Carpark
Arriving back

The Jade Wedding Reception

Ruth and James’ wedding reception was a laid back affair, with not too many speeches, more just mingling and enjoying the night, both in a leisurely fashion in the beer garden and on the dance floor. Food was served by chefs in a buffet style on a biug long table. There was more than enough food for everyone, and quite a mixture of cuisine too!

Chef
Guests
Twirl
The Jade Wedding First dance
Smiles all round
Guests serving themselves
Drinking is a hobby
Using the photo booth
Dancing guests
hey guys!
First dance
Food

Thanks so much for having me as your wedding photographer Ruth and James, I had a blast at your wedding and I hope you enjoy your photos! 🙂

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Golden Grove Uniting Church Wedding – Lucy & Callum

  • LUCY & CALLUM

    Golden Grove Uniting Church Wedding

    On the sand dunes

Lucy and Callum’s historic Golden Grove Uniting Church wedding was on a rather wet and windy day in April, but the weather certainly did not hamper any celebrations! I was asked to be Lucy and Callum’s wedding photographer for their entire day, so this saw me at both of their preparation locations, through to the end of their reception at the Palais, Semaphore. Lucy and Callum got onto be as I was recommended by a wedded couple whom I covered their wedding for several years prior – Bron and Robert. It’s always great to find out that I was recommended due to my prior work! 😀

Preparation

Callum and his entourage were being prepared at the awesome Largs Pier hotel, so we were able to make use of the historic surrounds for some of their photos! The weather was horrible while they were being prepared, but the rain held up enough for us to venture outside for a bit before I head off to Lucy’s place of preparation.

Getting ready
Groom
Putting on flower
Dad helping out
Getting Ready
Boys walking together
Boys walking together
Wedding Rings
Tying ties
Strut
On the balcony

Lucy and her bridal party were being prepared at their house, closer to Golden Grove. I arrived just as their makeup was just getting finished so this allowed me to take a few shots of them finishing up before putting on her dress and looking awesome in front of their large window. The overall atmosphere was one of fun and laughter, if there were any nerves Lucy hid them well! 😀

Smiles all round
Looking in mirror
0 days to go!
Putting on dress
Smiling
Smiling bride
Engagement ring
Looking out door
Preparing wedding dress
Makeup
Putting on garter
Flowing gown
Looking pretty
Bridal affects

Golden Grove Uniting Church Wedding Ceremony

Lucy was all smiles as soon as she arrived for her Golden Grove Uniting Church Wedding. Thankfully the weather had changed for the better by then and the church was packed with family and friends ready to celebrate Lucy and Callum’s wedding!

The Golden Grove Uniting Church is a pretty, historic church built to serve the Golden Grove area back in 1866 with the aim to be more practical, rather than ornamental. With this mindset, the church was built to be quite humble, but because of this the present day church oozes old-world charm and simplistic beauty. The back of the church has some more modern facilities like a meeting hall, but the original church out the front is untouched.

Lucy and Callum’s  wedding ceremony was full of hymn and personalised bible readings which made for a beautifully intimate wedding ceremony.

Celebrate!
Smiling
Exchanging wedding rings
Bridal car
Grooms first look
Leaving the church
Together in car
Smiling bride
Out the front with the cars
Golden Grove Uniting Church Wedding
First kiss
Arriving bride
Bride
Bridal entry
Out the front of the church

Glamour Photos

After the ground photos and some shots fo the cars in front of the Golden Grove Uniting Church, we head off to a nearby park, complete with some awesome gum trees and a pretty little pond we made use of to get some great reflections shots. We then head off to the Largs Bay pier for some shots along the jetty. The first head to the Semaphore jetty, only to find that the weather was causing waves to crest over the jetty itself, so we head to the Largs Pier as it’s taller. The wind and rain was fun to battle against as we walked together taking shots, but sometimes the bad weather creates some awesome unique wedding photography.

Bridal party walking together
Expert help
Garden pond
On the sand dunes
Lightning
Under the jetty
Australiana
Walking on sand dunes
sunset
Under the jetty
Australiana

Palais Wedding Reception

The Palais at Semaphore was the venue for Lucy and Callum’s wedding reception. They have a purpose-built contained tent-like structure built out the back of the establishment that makes for a private, intimate venue, perfect for weddings.

wedding cake
Having fun
Selecting food
Grabbing the garter
First dance
Speech
Entry
Menu
Crowd surfing
Singing
Photos
Bouquet toss
Sexy
Air guitar
Speech
Kisses
Smiles
YEAH
Dancing
Cutting the cake
MC
Drinking is a hobby

Thanks so much to Lucy and Callum for having me as their wedding photographer! I had a heap of fun and I hope you enjoy your photos.

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Frame your wedding photography, PLEASE!

Framed print

framed prints

Frame your wedding photos, PLEASE!

I can never stress enough how important it is for everyone to print and frame your wedding photography! It’s so sad that in modern society we place so much importance on simply having the photos in a digital medium, to perhaps share on social media, or to occasionally flip though on your computer foir no good reason! The truth of the matter is that,  if you print and frame the photos from your wedding day, it simply looks so much better! This isn’t only because I want to sell more prints, but it’s very true – let me explain!

rame your wedding photography

Warning! Boring number stuff!

(skip the next paragraph if numbers and sciency stuff bore you)

The average dpi (dots per inch) or more accurately ppi (pixels per inch) of your average monitor on a computer is somewhere between 72 and 130. This means that a wedding photo displayed on your screen is made up of 72-130 ‘dot’s of little colours so close together they create an image.

The more ‘dots’ the better as this makes an image clearer – it’s the reason why 4k TV looks so much better than full HD TV, which looks so much better than standard definition TV as they cram more ‘dots’ into the same space. When printing your photos on paper with a high resolution printer, the print resolution is usually around 300 dpi – if not higher, which makes a quality print around 3 time better quality than what you view on your screen.

Just as a side note the ppi for a 40″ 4k TV is 110, and Full HD, 55 which is the reason why you can sit close to a computer monitor, but not your TV, and also my computer monitors tend to be more expensive than a similar sized TV.

Frame your wedding photography!

As a result of the recent ending of the SvenStudios people’s choice wedding photo of the year contest for 2017, our winner was Milena and Steven from their wedding at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens! The framed print above was produced as their prize. Their framed print was worth $419, and looks absolutely incredible printed on fine art paper and framed professionally. As a wedding photographer, this is so much better than just looking at it on a screen!

MilenaSteven
MilenaSteven

I feel as though people who do not print and frame their wedding photos are put off by it’s perceived cost – and also the idea that anyone is able to print off their photos at places like Officeworks for far cheaper. The fact of the matter is that those cheaper, wholesale places just don’t compare with the quality and feel a proper print has, and the framing options they offer just aren’t great.

It’s like buying a car, but being content with a 1986 Barina, when you could have an Audi A6. I mean, yes there is a price difference, and I mean the Barina does fit the bill, it’ll get me from A to B, but the Audi makes me feel awesome doing it. It depends on what that awesome feeling is worth to you!

Displaying photos from your special day also has huge health benefits to people who live at your home. These precious photos of your big day can transport you back to the time you felt the most joyuous and can overcome any momentary dark feelings you might feel in the moment whenevr you walk by those favourite memories hanging in your living room!

Having family photos prominently displayed in your home canalso be beneficial to the development of healthy levels of self-esteem in your children. It gives them the opportunity to acknowledge the fact that they belong and that they are valuable to the group.

Psychologists are of the opinion that images might communicate to the child’s brain the message that they are an essential part of a family unit. Even when they are in their teenage years, your child will benefit tremendously from the presence of these precious photos, which provide an excellent contribution to your child’s growth and development.

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Adelaide Botanical Gardens Wedding – Kat & Monty

  • KAT & MONTY

    Adelaide Botanical Gardens Wedding

    Together with brial party

Kat and Monty’s Adelaide Botanical Gardens wedding was supposed to take place at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, only to have them forced to change venue the night before due to a catastrophic fire danger alert put out in the Mt Lofty ranges. We had even walked about the Mt Lofty Gardens and sorted out everything we were going to do before hand – only to have it change to the city! It all worked out well though, as thankfully there was my favourite spot in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens free for their ceremony, and despite the whole thing being stressful for the bride and groom, the whole day worked out fantastically 🙂

Adelaide Botanical Gardens Wedding Ceremony

I was asked to be Kat and Monty’s wedding photographer for 3 hours on their day, which allowed me to cover their ceremony at the large tree at the northern end of the Adelaide Botanical Gardens, and then around an hour or so walking about the gardens itself for some glamour shots. As the fire danger had been declared, you could probably imagine the sort of weather we had for the day – super sunny and getting up there in temperature – which was pretty lucky considering that the week leading up to their day the weather hadn’t been great.

Kat and Monty’s ceremony took place without a hitch, and included their two boys, symbolising the coming together of their new family unit. It’s always nice to include any children involved, as it recognises them as also making a commitment as a newly formed family. Was lovely 🙂

Whole Family together
Groom and celebrant
Under the tree
Signing the certificate
Bride’s arrival
Walking off together
Groom’s first look
Bride getting out of car
First Kiss
Smiling bride
Together
Bride’s family
Exchanging wedding rings
Smiling Groom
Exchanging wedding rings
Walking down the aisle

Adelaide Botanical Gardens Glamour Photos

After the usual family photos, the bridal party and I went for a bit of a lap of the gardens to take some glamour shots, starting out with the magnificent money-shot of the gardens – the elm walkway. Love those trees that bend over the path to create a magical canopy. I knew it was Kat’s goal to make use of this space for the best images possible as it was one of the saving graces she had from her original choice of holding her wedding ceremony at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens. The sunny day made this task super awesome 😀 Another request was replicating a shot I took at Ciara and Max’s wedding almost a year earlier of a black and white detail shot of a large tree at the southern end of the gardens. It’s always nice to hear what other’s favourite shots are from my weddings 🙂

Kisses
Under the bamboo
Together with bridal party
Together under a big tree
Artsy
Adelaide Botanical Gardens Wedding
Together in the Botanic Gardens
Bridal Party under the trees
Autumnal Colours
Together under a tree
Mum with kids

Thanks so much to Kat and Monty for having me capture their wedding photography! Sorry that your first choice of the Mt Lofty Botanical Park wasnt available for you, but I’m sure you enjoyed your day nonetheless!