,

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Engagement Shoot – Olivia & Dimitri

It wasn’t the nicest day to go out and do a photo shoot out and about high in the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, but I’m so glad Olivia and Dimitiri were keen to head out anyway as the colours you can get here are just incredible! Also the rising mist from early in the morning just made the feeling of their engagement photos that much more surreal!

Olivia and Dimitri were umming and ering over where to go for their photoshoot, thinking maybe a beach, or the Belair National Park but in the end were very keen on heading to the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, mainly due to it was where Dimitri had originally proposed.

As this engagement shoot was happening only a few weeks after when they were supposed to be married, I thought this was quite appropriate! Olivia and Dimitri had had to postpone their wedding due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Once a location was chosen, I really wanted to make use of the lovely light either in the late afternoon for the golden hour, or early morning.

We ended up getting up early on the freezing morning for the gates to open at 8:30 as the COVID-19 restrictions had just been lifted and we expected the Botanic Gardens to be packed with people trying to get out and about a bit! The early start, coupled with the drizzly weather meant we had the whole Gardens to ourselves.

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Engagement Shoot

We began our photoshoot walk at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens lower carpark, nearby the dam wall. Our first reaction when arriving was that we were super lucky to still have some colours in the autumn leaves that made these botanic gardens so magical! I was kind of hoping to get a bit of fog into their photos, but it was fast rising.

We quickly hopped up the nearby hill to make use of some trees that were losing their leaves, then head down to the water’s edge as I wanted to use my favourite tree in all of the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, but unfortunately it had already lost all it’s leaves 🙁

Walking along the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens dam
Cuddles by the water
Close up of engagement ring
Holding one another at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Autumn colours
Walking together in the Autumn colours
Laughing through the red leaves

Olivia and Dimitri certainly made it easy as their carefree attitude was present all throughout the photoshoot and they had plenty of smiles on their faces!

We then head across the dam, which I feel is always an awesome shot to get, making the couple feel as though they are out in the middle of nowhere on ther path way. It’s a very tricky shot to get though as usually the dam walkway is always full of dozens of other people walking across!

Walking along the Mt Lofty Botanic Dam
Couple on the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Dam

The big draw of the Botanic Gardens are the wonderfully vivid autumnal colours you can get at this time of year, and thankfully we were able to capture some before they all fell from the trees. The colours, coupled with the misty morning really made for some wonderful scenes!

I had a blast taking photos with Olivia and Dimitri during this weather, but it’s so rare to get a couple to get up this early and head out in bad weather like this! 🙂

Just have a ook at the types of unique scenes you can get in weather like this! from fog, to muted autumnal colours!@ It’s a great time to take photos! Just not so great if you want to stay snug and warm :/

Couple under the yellow leaves
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Bridge
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens in winter
Couple under the orange trees
Laughing and playing
Hugs under the yellow leaves
Walking together with the mist
Hugs under the maple leaves
Looking at the camera under the maple leaves
Looking at a flower

I’d like to thank Olivia’s sister in law Thalia whose engagement shoot had been given to them by her mother for giving Olivia and Dimitri their engagement shoot! It’s always nice to know that people appreciate their photos so much they have their family and friends also have their photos taken with me! 🙂

,

One Tree Hill Engagement Shoot – Thalia & Josiah

I’m not sure why, but whenever someone mentions ‘One Tree Hill’ I just imagine a single tree on a beautifully landscaped green hill, similar to the famous Windows XP wallpaper. Perhaps it has something to do with the town’s name? 😛 Anyway when I arrived on Josiah’s family farm for Thalia and Josiah’s Engagement shoot, One Tree Hill pretty much lived up to it’s name sake. There were rolling green hills that made for beautioful vistas, and even an incredible flowering (cherry?) tree that would not have look out of place in a Harry Potter film! The only thing better would have been if the tree was on top of the hill!

We used this area for their engagement shoot as Thalia and Josiah shared one of their first dates here, in amongst the bushes, which were unfortunately a little sparce due to it being winter, but still made for an awesome spot for a little picnic. This little corner of Adelaide was a stunning spot to visit and I mentioned it to Josiah that they could probably rent out the space for wedding photography 🙂 I had a bunch of fun and captured some really unique shots!

Under the branberry
Smiles
Walking
Smelling the flowers
Amongst the greenery
Amongst the ruins
On top of the hill
Engagement photo poses
One Tree Hill Engagement shoot
Ruins
On top of the hill
Engagement rings
Amongst the ruins
Under a beautiful tree
Walking up the hill
Under a beautiful tree
Ruins
Under a tree
On top of ruins
Under a beautiful tree
Under a tree

Grange Beach & Crozier st Engagement shoot – Georgia & Nick

I was excited to hear that Georgia and Nick wanted an engagement shoot done before I cover their wedding in October, 2020. So after considering a few different locations for their shoot, Georgia settled on heading down to the Grange Beach and Jetty for some beach shots, then heading over to Port Adelaide’s Crozier St for some industrial shots to add variety. I suggested to begin rather early in the day so as to avoid people enjoying the beach on what was a rather hot week, so we met each other at just after sun up at 7:30 am!

Grange Beach

Once meeting I got into having Georgia and Nick walk together amongst the Grange beach sand dunes while I was a fair distance away in order to get Georgia and Nick a bit more relaxed before heading down to the shoreline for shots along the waterline and under the jetty.

Under the jetty
Under the jetty
Under the jetty
Grange Beach Engagement shoot
On the jetty together
Walking along the beach
Standing on the sand hills
Under the jetty
On the jetty together
Under the jetty
Under the jetty

Crozier Street

Everything went rather swimmingly at the beach so we head over to Crozier st a little earlier than expected, but that was good as we got to spend a little more time in my favourite street in Adelaide! We however were not the only group with the same idea with another photographer and model using the street as a backdrop while we were there! This isn’t overly unusual as Crozier st is very popular amongst photographers. 🙂 The great thing about this street is the wonderfully aged concrete and wooden doors lining the road which make for wonderful backdrops.

Money shot of Crozier st
In an old doorway
Together against the wall
Engagement ring
Walking along Crozier st
Together in Crozier Street
Walking together
Walking in the trees
in the trees
Money shot of Crozier st
In an old doorway

Looking forward to covering Georgia and Nick’s wedding in a few year’s time!

Crozier Street & Grange Engagement shoot – Costa & Suzie

  • COSTA & SUZIE

    Crozier street & Grange Engagement shoot

    Crozier Street money shot

Costa contacted me via my Facebook page looking to have an engagement shoot done at short notice as both himself and his fiancee will be in town at the same time. Luckily I had a day free as I actually had two weddings on the same weekend that Costa wanted to have their shoot done, but luckily they were on the Friday and Saturday, so I had the Sunday free 🙂 I asked him what time of shots he’d prefer and he suggested something industrial. Really only one place to go in Adelaide for a shoot like that, Crozier Street in Port Adelaide! It’s a super popular spot for taking photos, to the point that on Saturdays you’d often find yourself queueing up behind several other weddings just to shoot there 🙂 We started the shoot at the Grange jetty nearby though for a bit of variety in the photos.

Grange Beach

Amongst the dunes at Grange
Amongst the dunes at Grange
Walking along the shoreline
Walking amongst the dunes
Smiles
Under Grange Jetty
Under Grange Jetty
Dancing on Grange Jetty

Crozier Street

Black and white money shot
Nice woolshed door
Crozier Street money shot
Holding hands
Engagement ring
On the wall
In front of an elevated door
In front of an elevated door
Nice woolshed door
Walking together
Walking together
Holding one another

Tiwi Islands Engagement shoot – Jane & David

Since expanding my operations to the Northern Territory, in particular Darwin through my website https://svenstudios.com/darwin-wedding-photography/, I’ve been super keen on heading up to the Northern End of Australia to shoot again. So when Jane contacted me via my instagram feed, I jumped at the chance on shooting in the most remote area of Australia I have yet visited.

Jane and David were awesome hosts for a 2 night stay on the islands, where they both work in the local community,  and in exchange for their wonderful hospitality I was to shoot a bit of an engagement shoot while galavanting around the island!

The first day

After having spent a few days in Darwin – taking photos of the lovely beaches and the amazing sunsets Darwin has to offer, I head out to the Tiwi Islands on a ferry to meet Jane and David whom were both working, so once I arrived I was picked up by David, then had a bit of time to explore the community before they both knocked off work. It was rather surreal witnessing the Liberal coup where former Prime Minister Turnbull was ousted for Scott Morrison in such a remote part of Australia, from within an Aboriginal community – it felt quite distant an unimportant.

It’s this remoteness I think appeals to both Jane and David who both hail from Sydney originally that makes them love this place. The culture and sense of community surrounding them where they live is obvious in that everyone knows one another, when driving about, everyone waved and one another and the entire town felt very laid back.

Once Jane and david had finished their work, we went on a shot expedition to a small wood with lovely tall trees, through which the sun was beating down in typical Northern Territory fashion, so I made use of it!

Hugs
On the road
On the road
On the road
Engagement ring
Smiles
laughing
In the forest
Walking through the bush
Dancing
Dancing
Walking together in the forest

We then head out of town for a bit to a lovely secluded beach beyond the so called ‘international Airport’ of Wurrumiyanga to make use of the fading sun. I found it quite funny that it was classified as a major airport when considering flight paths and ability to launch my drone as the airport consists of only an airstrip – that is apparently sinking into the ground – and a small shed. But anyway, the beach was stunning and out of range from flight limitations anyway.

From above
On the beach together
Kung Fu!
From above
On the beach together
Walking along the beach
Tiwi Islands Engagement

The next morning, the plan was to get up at sparrows to make use of the sun rising over the local bay – while avoiding the giant croc that apparently inhabits the water around the area 🙂

Smiling David
Smiling Jane
Sitting together
Tiwi Islands Sunrise

Shortly after breakfast we were on the road to a delightful little natural spring waterhole were we stopped to have lunch and go for a dip. I was assured there were no crocs around the place here, but the water was so incredibly clear that nothing would be able to sneak up on us anyway. 😛

Waterhole hugs
Amongst the wattle
Jumping in together
Waterhole hugs
Waterhole hugs

By the late afternoon we had reached our campsite for the night, a long white sand beach at the northern tip of the island. We spent some time fishing from the rocks, however caught more rocks than useful fish, then made use of the spectacular red cliffs and sunset for some more photos, all the while dodging the millions of hermit crabs scuttling along the beach, and keeping a wary eye out for crocs.

Sun set on the rocks
Sun set on the rocks
Family portrait
Sun set
Sun set on the rocks
On a rock
Running together
Twirling

On the final day, once we returned home to town, we spent the afternoon waiting for the Darwin-bound ferry fishing on Jane and David’s boat. It was the first time I had experienced fishing on a boat, and Jane managed to land a huge 90cm Barramundi! Which we released, but she also caught herself a smaller one which David filleted up and gave me a fillet for dinner that night 🙂 I also managed to catch quite a few other fish – including some good sized snapper! All in all, my weekend in the Tiwi islands was not one I will soon forget!

Thanks so much to Jane and David for having me photograph them on the Tiwi islands – It’s a place I would never have thought of visiting otherwise, but I’m so glad I had the opportunity!