Tag Archive for: wedding photography

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Why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding

Canada scene

Why you should bring your photographer

As some of you may know, I’ve just got back from Greece to cover a destination wedding on the lovely island of Santorini, complete with iconic blue domed churches and blindingly white architecture on the top of cliffs surrounding a caldera of an anciently erupted volcano.

It’s obvious why the bridal couple selected such a spot for their wedding ceremony, despite the fact they had to travel halfway around the globe to hold it! Hosting a destination wedding like this simply allows you to hold your wedding in your perfect location, and not having to settle for something mediocre by comparison.

It’s usually not a cheap exercise however and should only be contemplated by those super keen on hosting the most perfect wedding ever! Which is why I’m writing this article about why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding.

Santorini destination wedding

Think about it, you’re hoping to host the wedding of the century in such a stunning location, and you’re willing to trust your photos and/or video to someone your wedding venue sorted for you? One of the drawbacks of hosting a destination wedding is that many venues or local wedding planners would bundle people like your wedding photographer or videographer in with the package deals they present you, meaning they are looking to make as much profit as possible.

It’s sometimes the case that they will find local ‘friends with a camera’ or cheap photographers to save themselves as much money as possible when sorting out your wedding.

If you can’t control other aspects of your wedding, at the very least try to control the one thing that will remain after the day is over – your photography and/or video, which is why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding!

No wedding ever goes off without some small hitch or problem. There’s just so many things being organised and planned, it’s only natural for some small issue to arise. This is magnified when you’re hosting a destination wedding where you’ll be placing your faith in the venue or wedding planner to handle all of your vendors and set up for the most part.

Some things are definitely minor and able to get over them quickly – like the flowers being the wrong shade, or the chairs being a few short, but your photography? That’s not getting done again and is why you should use someone you trust, despite having to fly them around the world to your destination wedding!

Santorini destination wedding

Why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding

Bringing your own photographer to your destination wedding offers you assurance of being able to research and select the exact photographer you want! You can perfectly link their style, personality, experience and packages to what you like, rather than relying on what your venue or planner say you want 🙂 Then the photos you that they capture from your day will be as memorable as you hope them to be.

As you probably know, your photographer and videographer (if you choose to have one) will be spending more time with you on your big day than anyone else; it’s important to select someone you know will do a good job on your day. This is true for any wedding, but especially true for a destination wedding – any wedding photographer that travels for destination weddings are super passionate in what they do and will go above and beyond to capture the day in a way they are sure you’ll enjoy while also being a huge opportunity for them to travel and see the world – which as being a photographer that’s pretty much our thing!

Photographers that you bring with you will most likely offer an uninterrupted full days coverage (not so with most resort photo packages) – although I do this anyway.

You may be reading this and agreeing with my points, but also in the back of your mind you’d be thinking the cost of bringing someone with you would include airfares, accomodation and then the usual rate your photographer charges so wouldn’t be overly cost effective – which to be honest would be mostly true, but hopefully the understanding and trust you have with the photographer you’ve brought would stretch beyond the cost.

Selecting a photographer for your dream wedding shouldn’t be able cost, and cutting costs on a photographer is one of the most common regrets from couples after their day.

That said however, if you love a photographer you have found and what them, and only them to travel with you to cover your wedding, much of the time they will cut a deal just for the opportunity.

For example in my case, the recent wedding I covered in Santorini, I covered in exchange for a lovely holiday – and yet another wedding I’m covering in Fiji next year I wanted to have in my portfolio, so I made my rates similar to what a local photographer would charge. Chances are bringing your own photographer could be more cost effective than you think! Another reason why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding.

Santorini destination wedding

When it comes right down to it, planning and pulling off a destination wedding takes a lot of time, effort, money and stress – much like any wedding really, but when you hold it overseas or someplace your guests usually can’t access easily, it makes it even more so! It makes sense to surround yourself with vendors you trust, however the cake, flowers, DJ etc. will be gone… great photographs will always be there offering you a return to that special time in that amazing setting!

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How to keep your wedding photography safe

  • How to keep your wedding photography safe 1

How to keep your wedding photography safe

As a wedding photographer, I’m acutely aware that the wedding photographs I take and provide to you on your final USB may well be the only way you can reminisce about your wedding day, a year, decade or 50 years down the line. As such I’m keep to present this short guide on how to keep your wedding images safe from your special day for years to come. Losing or otherwise damaging your wedding photos is often a huge concern of wedded couples and can cause much grief if they truly are lost, but with some easy steps you’ll be able to avoid this heartbreak.

USB ribbon

Keeping data safe starts with your photographer

Before you consider booking in your wedding photographer or videographer, make sure they have a clear process for backing up and keeping their data safe. Any wedding photographers worth their salt will have their digital photos backed up and secured in multiple ways as they know that their livelihood and business depends on it. It should be the worst thing in the world for a wedding photographer to lose a wedding!

They should use multiple cameras on the day with possibly a third redundancy – preferably with dual memory card slots so they are backing up on the fly, they should also be able to describe exactly what they do with your data after your wedding to keep it safe.

What should you do once you receive your photos?

Copy everything on the USB you receive to your computer immediately. That way you’ll have a duplicate copy of all your memories straight off the bat. However, the expected life for an average computer’s hard drive is only 3-5 years, while a USB flash drive is expected to be anywhere between 5-10 years, which means that that USB drive is more likely to outlast you computer’s hard drive – which is one reason why it’s the current method of choice for photographers to provide your files.

Personally as a professional wedding photographer I keep an archival backup of all my work on two different physical hard drives both on site and offsite (in case of local disaster) Which means I have over 200 weddings backed up in duplicate at all times, While my most recent year’s work is further backed up on 3 further separate hard drives connected to my computer for editing.

But that’s just me, you only need to worry about your own wedding photos, so you can also keep multiple backups of your digital files like I do. But you can also take advantage of cloud based services such as Google drive, which is free to a point – you just need to take the time to upload the (rather substantial) size of your wedding USB. This is probably the most robust way to secure your digital files, but still isnt 100% perfect.

Framed Print

Print your photos

The absolute best way to keep your memories and wedding photography safe is simply to print your photos and display then on the wall, or in a wedding album. Just imagine 20-30 years in the future and you’re showing your children or grandkids your photos from your wedding and you whip out the USB drive you were given. They’re likely to laugh at the antiquated technology you have in your hand, and computer may not even have a USB drive that suits anymore. This would be like putting out a roll of film, or slides and firing up the slide projector.

It’s already happening with the recent shift to USB-C based technology rather than the more traditional rectangular USB2 or 3.  But with a wedding album, you will not have that issue with your precious memories. Books haven’t changed in hundreds of years and will last the test of time. Your grandkids will be flicking through the pages and laughing at your outdated haircuts and zany clothes choices – or your otherwiuse most precious moments in no time!

Premium Album

What can you do if you have lost your digital files?

Hopefully this never happens to you, but it’s just the unfortunate fact that technology does fail, and it’s no secret that hard drives in computers are often the most common thing to fail. So what can you do to keep your images safe?

First, contact your wedding photographer – if they are anything like me they’d have every photo they’ve ever taken backed up to wazoo like I do on multiple external hard drives in a fireproof safe and be able to send out a replacement copy ASAP. That said however many photographers only back up to a certain point – be it 1 to 5 years – so that may not be possible.

Damaged or lost files on a hard drive or SD cards can be recovered using certain backup softwares, or if that doesn’t work you can send the hard drive to professional data recovery centers that may cost quite a bit. Just make sure that once you have discovered that your photos have been lost you immediately remove the hard drive from your computer to prevent any data still on the drive being overwritten accidentally.

If your device has had water damage, immediately unplug the device and let it dry completely and you may be lucky with it coming back to life, otherwise a professional data recovery service may be your only option.

 

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Registry Office Wedding – Jacqui & Matt

  • Jacqui & Matt

    Registry Office Wedding

    Looking back

I was asked to be Jacqui and Matt’s wedding photographer for their wedding being held at the Adelaide Registry Office on rather short notice as their previously organised photographer had unfortunately fallen through on them! Once I heard that story I felt really bad for them as their wedding was only a week away so I wanted to help out and stepped in 🙂

Registry Office Wedding Ceremony

I hadn’t been to the Adelaide registry office since they had completed the renovations of the foyer and new chapel where Jacqui and matt were wed, so it was interesting to see what they did with the place! Certainly seemed like they took out a lot of lights! They’ve also made the decor a little more austere, perhaps to make the room seem bigger.

Matt was showing his nerves before Jacqui made her way up, but it made the ceremony all the more sweeter as it really showed they were certainly in love with one another! Jacqui opted for a bigger, poofy dress to hide the fact that she was quite a way along in her pregnancy, and I think it did the trick very well!

Bridal arrival
Groom waiting paitiently
Groom Closeup
Bridal Entrance
Out the front together
Holding Hands
Exchanging rings
Registry Office Wedding
Holding hands
Holding hands
First kiss
Signing the registry
Registry Office Wedding

Glamour Photos

Matt had a surprise in store for Jacqui directly after their ceremony, as right outside the registry office, where Jacqui was expecting an uber, was a full blown horse and cart! So they enjoyed a romantic carriage ride throughout the city before heading to the cobbled streets of the old Adelaide markets and the fountain in the East Terrace parklands for photos.

Looking back
Kiss
Smiles
Next to the horse and carriage
End of Rundle Mall
Friendly with the horse
Walking down Rundle Mall
Leaning in
Walking together
Together under a tree
Kisses
kiss
Together in the cart
Wedding rings
On the bridge
Happy Bride
Walking together

Hotel Richmond Wedding Reception

The Hotel Richmond on Rundle Mall was their choice for reception party, and the family and friends chosen for their night were keen to see Jacqui and Matt happy, as were they to see them! The atmosphere was of a tight knit group and they were all obviously very happy to be there 🙂

Bouquet toss
Place setting
Entrance
First dance
Wedding cake
Engagement ring
Eating cake
First dance
First dance
Selfie with the girls

Thanks for Jacqui and Matt for having me on your Registry Office Wedding and I hope you enjoy your photos! 😀

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Mt Lofty House Wedding – Kate & Matt

  • Jacqui & Matt

    Registry Office Wedding

    Looking back

Kate and Matt travelled all the way from Sydney to have their wedding at the lovely Mt Lofty House, while the majority of their guests also travelled from places like Singapore, Egypt and other countries! You could tell by the guest list that the coming together of such a far flung family was a very special occurrence so I was so excited to be Kate and Matt’s wedding photographer!

Te only drawback to the day was the unfortunate weather which caused the location of their ceremony to be moved indoors, along with the family photos, and also forced the glamour shots around the gardens to be a little rushed. But this little set back couldn’t wipe the smiles off of Kate and Matt’s faces!

Preparation

The day started for me at Matt’s place of preparation at a delightful bed and breakfast nearby. The stunningly decorated house was surrounded by autumnal leaves hanging from some wonderful trees which we made sure to make use of in the photos! One of Matt’s groomsmen was running a bit late, but we managed to grab a shot together before I had to head off to Kate’s place of preparation.

Dancing
Walking about
Putting on tie
Laughing
Grooms party minus one
Walking
Wedding rings
Putting on tie
Getting ready
Hugs
Waiting
Looking out window
Wedding shoes
Getting ready
Grooms party minus one

Kate was being prepared in the Gatekeeper’s cottage at Mt Lofty House. It’s a nice little house suited for little romantic getaways, but with 15 odd people walking about here, the place was a little cramped 🙂 It does make for some nice shots around corners and through doorways though. While Kate was getting ready, it started to rain unfortunately so the ceremony was moved indoors.

Bridesmaids helping
Looking pretty
Bridesmaids helping
Makeup chair
Buttoning up dress
Laughing
Getting ready
Putting on veil
Putting on flower
Engagement ring
Dad looking on
Looking in mirror
Looking pretty
Putting on flower
Wedding dress
Looking in mirror
Helping out
Looking in mirror
Bridesmaids helping

Mt Lofty House Wedding Ceremony

Kate and Matt’s guestlist was around 100 people, so moving the ceremony indoors was not too much of an issue in regards to space as Mt Lofty House has a large enough area to hold both their reception and a ceremony. It did cause both the videographer and I to be a little stuck sometimes, but it wall worked out 🙂

Groom’s chest
Wedding sign
Bridal approach
Tearing up groom
Priest
Speech
Listening
Listening
Holding hands
Laughing
Laughing
Vows
Vows
Exchanging wedding rings
First kiss
First kiss
Married!
Holding hands
Kisses
Kisses
Exit

Glamour Photos

After the (seemingly) several hundred family photos we took in the grand library that takes center place within the house, we made as much use of the Mt Lofty House gardens as we could before feeling the weather and having enough time for Kate to touch up her makeup before entering their reception party.

Walking around the coach house
In front of the coach house
Under the trees
Under the trees
Leaning on the old wall
The doorway of Mt Lofty House
Kisses
The doorway of Mt Lofty House
In front of the coach house
On the staircase
Under the trees
In front of the coach house
In front of the coach house
Looking dapper

Mt Lofty House Wedding Reception

Kate and Matt’s reception party was delightful mixture of customs and traditions from all over the world. We held a Chinese toast or ‘Yum Sing’, while also enjoying Egyption dancing and then of course the first dance and bouquet tossing. The night was awesome to be a part of and I had a great time while photographing and also manning the photo booth.

Yum SIng
Speeches
Dancing guests
First Dance
Table setting
Dancing guests
Speech
Dancing guests
Dancing Guest
Photobooth Props
Wedding Cake
Daddy Daughter Dance
Bouquet Toss
Entrance
Bouquet Toss
Entrance
Cutting the cake
Dancing Groom
Daddy Daughter Dance

Night Time Shots

During the night we went for a bit of a walk to make use of the unique fog opportunities we had that night in some night time shots 🙂

Kiss in the fog
Kiss in the fog
Mt Lofty House Doorway at night
Lamp Post

Thanks so much to Kate and Matt for having me on your day and I hope your other ceremonies around the world are as much fun as the one you held at the Mt Lofty House! 😀 #kateisgettingknighted

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Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding – Mai & Kevin

  • Mai & Kevin

    Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding

    Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding - Mai & Kevin 2

The shade and wonderful backdrop of the tall pine trees at the center of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens were the backdrop to Mai and Kevin’s wedding on a lovely late – April day. I was  sourced by Kevin’s father as Mai and Kevin’s wedding photographer as he enjoyed the wedding photos I put together for Vivian and Rohan back in 2016! It’s always nice to hear that people enjoy my work and want the same for their weddings! 😀

Preparation

I started my short 3 hour coverage with Mai in her hotel room at the Stamford Plaza hotel, which had a magnificent view of the river torrens precinct with Adelaide oval in the background. The preparation was fairly cruisey with Mai and her friends, and mother flitting about getting everything ready. If Mai was feeling any nerves in the morning, she was hiding it well! I also got to practice some of my Japanese also as some of Mai’s friends were Japanese! 😛

Pampering
Looking pretty
Engagement ring – One of my favourite shots to get during wedding preparation
Putting on lipstick
Getting ready
Contemplating flowers
instagram!
Little one
Shoes
Looking out window
Wedding shoes
Smiles
Getting ready

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding Ceremony

Mai and Kevin held their ceremony at the top of the hill with the pine trees the center of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens known as the Araucaria Avenue. It’s a wonderful spot where the sun is able to shine through the backdrop of the trees to create a wonderful golden glow at this time of year.

Celebrate!
Together at the front
Standing together
Phone photo
First kiss
Together at the front
Smiling bride
Bridal approach
Raising the veil
Smiles
Grooms first look
Standing together
Smiling groom
Wedding rings
Bridal approach
Signing the documents
Exchanging wedding rings
Kisses

Glamour Photos

After the ceremony and family photos we spent a short while walking about the Adelaide Botanic Gardens for some glamour photos, starting from the lake near North Terrace, through to the bamboo forest and finally the lovely trees in Botanic Park. The sun was fading quite quickly at this time of day allowing for some wonderful golden light shining through as a backdrop.

Under the bamboo
Standing together
Mai standing looking pretty
Walking through Botanic Park
Botanic Gardens Wedding
Under a tree
Walking to his bride
Under a tree
Looking at one another
Walking through the foliage
Under the wisteria
Under a tree together

Thanks so much to Mai and Kevin for having me at their wedding as their wedding photographer! 😀