So… I thought I’d sit down and list a whole heap of things I love about weddings – as a way to rejuvenating myself – and why not share it?

I love seeing families come together, and capturing the little moments as old friends reconnect.

I love seeing “everyday people” going through the process of having professional hair, makeup, putting on a beautiful dress.

I love the reaction when the bride first sees herself in the mirror.

I love how the guys are apparently laid-back but mostly trying to disguise the fact that they’re nervous.

I love a father’s face when he gets the first glimpse of his daughter all dressed up.

I love the expressions as the bride walks down the aisle.

I love when grandparents sneakily reach across halfway through the wedding ceremony to hold one another’s hand.

I love when people cry.

I love that sometimes, it makes me cry too.

I love it when people hug so enthusiastically when they congratulate the bride & groom that their faces smoosh in weird ways.

I love the fact that the family photos I take are going to be treasured by many people, for many years.

I love that I get to play ‘fashion photographer’ for an hour or two.

I love working under pressure – and needing to come up with beautiful images, no matter what the setting, the light, the weather.

I love that the bridal party get sick of having photos taken before we ever get sick of it… even when we did a 4 hour bridal party shoot, we could have kept going!

I love it when guests give a huge cheer as the bridal party enter the reception.

I love the fact that during speeches, people often take the time to say the things that are never said. Hearing a big, strapping best man talk about what an amazing guy the groom is, I find humbling.

I love it when people cry when they see their pictures.

I love the fact that the couple’s Queensberry album will be enjoyed by their grandchildren – a legacy that will live on longer than the couple.

I love that people trust us to capture their day.

I love that people trust us to craft their family history.

I love weddings.

We caught up with the boys earlier on – who were remarkably organized, all dressed & ready to go!

Next it was off to Renee’s place – and again, the girls were SO organized! It made for plenty of time for great shots! Helped in part by the speed of fantastic makeup artist Amber Haldane, and her hairstylist Nancy.

I like that here, Renee is looking at the wall of family photos – no doubt one of the next ones added to this wall will be from their wedding!

We even had enough time up our sleeves for a quick pre-ceremony location shoot with the girls – we popped down to a nice little lake / boardwalk near their house – lovely light

Then it was off to Markovina for the ceremony… officiated by the lovely Alexa Bartlett

The mums enjoying a glass of bubbles afterwards…

For the bridal party photos, we began with the row of trees out the back – which owner Rina planted herself over 30 years ago – how’s that for foresight???

There’s also some handy vines..

And sky…

Just as we finished up, we noticed the afternoon sunlight streaming through the field of long grass – so Stu & Renee braved the prickles while we placed them in the middle of it… worth it I reckon!

Enjoy the photos guys – we had a great time taking them!

Isaac & Amber

These guys also had to change their ceremony location – as a few days prior when they checked out the spots, the sand was too hot to stand on at 3pm! So they decided to move things to the grass area just above the beach – good call!

I really liked the fact that the guys went for trousers & short sleeved shirts – perfect attire for a summer beach wedding!

Down on the beach, the sun came out long enough to keep everyone warm – and then went behind clouds long enough to give us great light! Perfect!

Kylie & Greg had gone for a walk down the beach a few days ago & found this cool little cave in the rocks…

I love this shot, with a flash tucked in behind them in the cave to create a nice silhouette

The clouds were coming over well & truly now – which gives us great light, and also big, epic skies – the weather played it’s part perfectly!

We had an idea of getting some big, sweeping & dramatic shots with Greg & Kylie out on one of the rocks… Amber had a vision of what she wanted (which was of course the furthermost rock) – and it was a good 10 minutes of careful maneuvering, with Greg holding Kylie’s hand, me holding Kylie’s dress, and Kylie wearing Amber’s jandals to protect her feet. Then we needed to get the flash, softbox, and battery out onto the rocks – and commandeered a groomsman to help hold everything steady. Was the whole process worth the effort?? We think so!

After clambering back in again, it was time to head off. As we walked back up from the beach, the sun came out in full force – so we got them to pause on top of the dunes & used the sunlight to really punch up the colours…

One thing about photographing weddings is that you never stop shooting… this is a grab shot Amber took as Greg & Kylie were walking back towards the car – love it.

No caption needed. Just cool.

Enjoy the little sneak peek guys – more on the way soon

Isaac & Amber

On Friday, we headed up the Awhitu Peninsula (which is here)…

To photograph Dave & Lara’s wedding.

If you remember this blog post – these guys set the bar pretty high in terms of coolness… and once we arrived out at their locations to do our spot checks in the morning, we confirmed that they indeed have EPIC taste – some amazing vistas, old concrete ruins, and a little church on a hill.

Unfortunately, along came the wind.

A screaming southwest coming straight off the sea meant that they had to move their ceremony location – and we didn’t end up using the ruins either, as they were too exposed. It was so windy, we had to lean hard on the insides of the car doors just to get them open when we stopped!

Lara was looking fantastic in her dress..

When we arrived at the boys place, I loved this little cut-out with instructions on tying a tie..

These next two shots were taken at almost the same instant – the girls keeping a close eye on the tying progress!

Then it was off to the ceremony – a few showers came through just before Lara’s arrival, but at least they made for some really dramatic skies in the photos!

Here’s the little church where the ceremony was originally intended to be – unfortunately, it’s too small to fit all their guests inside – hence needing to move the location.
It was great to head down there afterwards for some photos though..

Inside..

Just above the church was a hill that we climbed up, to get some of the sweeping scenery in behind – I like that you can see the church popping up there too.

Next stop was Matakawau beach – an area where Lara grew up, so it held special significance (as well as being a freakin beautiful beach that we would have used even without the significant aspect!)

Woohoo – married!!

Enjoy this little sneak peek of some shots from the day… and we’ll definitely need to get these guys dressed back up for a TTD shoot where we can use those ruins that were in Plan A (and there’s also a Lighthouse, we hear)…

Hope you have as much fun looking through these as we did taking them

Isaac & Amber

This wasn’t a trash the dress shoot either – Sarah was keen as to get right into the waterfall on the wedding day itself! Commitment!

Congratulations guys – that is a beautiful image you have there, and it’ll look great as a framed print on the wall – which is your prize for winning

Thanks to all who voted!

If you didn’t see the original post – here’s the Top 10 Photos of 2009

And here is the winning image:

The day began (as our days usually do) with some shots of the boys – all looking very suave! It was so bright outdoors – even under the shade of the lovely trees in the garden it was so hard to see because of the glare – so well done to the boys for managing to keep your eyes open in (most of) the shots!

We then traveled over to Cambridge, where the girls were getting ready – at a beautiful place called Thornton House – not only do they have a fantastic house & great gardens… but they know how to put together yummy lunches too!

Rhonda’s sister Victoria made the beautiful bridesmaids dresses – and got a little teary when she first saw her big sis in her wedding gown

Karen (if you are getting married in Hamilton & don’t have a florist yet… now you do) arrived with the flowers – and we were set to go!

After a few shots with the girls, we headed back to Hamilton, where St. Peters Cathedral awaited us.

I have to say, this is my favourite church in Hamilton… good light inside + big, epic arches + only 5 minutes from the reception venue (and my house) = win

Down at the Hamilton Gardens afterwards, we found some great light & a convenient wall to sit on – and got some fantastic shots!

These last few shots were down by the Ferrybank – where the reception was… for which we stayed on & covered speeches & the start of the dancing.. you’ll have to wait for some of those shots though!

It was a fantastic day (and night) – thanks heaps guys for inviting us along to share a part in it with you!

Isaac & Amber

From the moment we arrived (and saw Jon shirtless, practicing a song with the Ukulele band) we knew things were going to be a little different!

They went with a beach / caravan theme – inspired by their fantastic little caravan (in which Gemma arrived at the ceremony, towed by a tractor) – and along with the theme went mis-matched kitsch plates, and cool little folded paper caravans for each table. It was obvious that a huge amount of time & effort had gone into setting it all up & making the decorations, but totally worth it! It was the Kiwi summer holiday – down to a T.

Then it was off to see Gemma – who was looking stunning in her beautiful Kate Dowman dress – and a few pre-ceremony photos…

Gemma arrived in style at the ceremony..

But Jon – not to be outdone – countered with a poem he had written about the two of them & their caravan, which had pretty much everyone crying (including us).

Afterward, we headed down to the beach (with the bridesmaids & Jon’s “Man-tourage” in tow) for a few shots – the light was beautiful coming through the trees… and as usual, Holly got some of the best shots of the day… this girl just keeps getting better!

On the way back to the reception, we stopped for a few photos with the caravan – I think these look great with a bit of a vintage tone applied to them.. almost like old holiday snaps.

Last (but definitely not least) we grabbed a few images at the base of a huge pohutakawa tree – strategically avoiding the Daihatsu Sirion that was convienently parked about a foot outside the frame here… romantic.

Their speeches were off the charts – it was more like watching live comedy than listening to wedding speeches!
We headed home buzzing – such a fun day… and pizza in Thames on the way home wasn’t even too bad.

Thanks so much Jo-Gem for inviting us along to share a part in your day – we had a blast

Isaac, Amber, & Holly.

On Sunday, we had our third lovely wedding of the weekend, this time Hannah & John’s wedding at Sarnia Park.

It was a gorgeous, sunny, warm day – and Hannah looked absolutely stunning in her Anna Schimmel gown – very elegant & graceful! (In fact, I asked her whether she had ever done ballet – only to find out that in fact she played hockey!)

Their ceremony was on the lakefront, which was the first chance we’d had to shoot across there – it was lovely and intimate!

Afterwards, we headed around the grounds with the bridal party for some photos – these two look great together, and made our job easy

It’s now 4.30am and today’s trip to Christchurch has moved a little closer – so I’ll sign off & get into the pictures.
Again – the Photoshop action to make logos & fancy doubled up vertical shots isn’t playing the game tonight, hence the more “plain” layout!

Enjoy the photos

Isaac.

On Saturday, we headed up to Matakana (an hour past Auckland on the East Coast) – to a beautiful little venue called “The Castle” – to photograph Phil & Annabelle’s wedding.

We kicked off the day with some pre-ceremony photos with them down on the beach, and then after their ceremony we took a few more with the bridal party, finishing up with that lovely late afternoon sunlight!

It’s now 3.45am & our trip to Christchurch is only a few hours away, so without further ado – pictures!
(if you didn’t see below on the previous blog post, my Photoshop action to put the logo / borders onto the images isn’t working at the moment, so these will do in the meantime!)

Enjoy!

Isaac.

When we scouted out this field earlier in the day, we saw that there was no lock on the chain… OK’d it with the owner of the property… and then arrived to find there was actually a sneaky chain at ankle level with a padlock on it. Not to be deterred, Annabelle climbed over the gate & into the field (we have pictures to prove it!). It’s being adventurous like that which results in getting awesome photos!

Annabelle wanted to try & get a photo with some of the black faced sheep in the paddock down the hill from the venue… unfortunately, they were quite elusive & not interested in coming close!

You can see them in the next shot, down in the bottom paddock. When we were finished, while I packed the gear into the car, Amber sneaked down the hill and got this last one just for Annabelle

On Friday, we headed out to Woodlands to photograph Brad & Kim’s wedding.

It was an awesome day – beautiful, golden afternoon light to play with!

It’s 3.30am and we’re flying to Christchurch in a few hours, so I’ll stop waffling and show you some pictures!
Photoshop stuffed up my little action that puts the fancy logo & boxes onto the images, so until I get it fixed a bit later in the week, these ones will suffice!

Enjoy the photos

Isaac.