Diana and Josip's wedding day

Last Saturday Juanita and I had the great pleasure to photograph Diana and Josip’s wedding which started early at the groom’s home and finished late at the Croatian club in Punchbowl. Diana who is a little bit shy of the camera looked amazing and her dress certainly suited her style and Josip who is not shy of the camera looked great too in his very fashionable grey suit.
Over the past few years I had also photographed Diana’s sister Vanessa and brother Tom's weddings. It was of course a great delight to once again see so many familiar faces; in fact there were another two couples whose weddings we had covered who attended the reception.
Croatian weddings are all about fun, drinking and tradition and this one had all of the above in bucket loads. Being a warm day I suggested we start our photo shoot in the city, the shade of the tall buildings actually makes the weather more bearable and also the diffused light is really flattering.
We recently invested in a new Nikon camera that works very well in the low light conditions of the reception. The images produced are superb for the conditions and in many cases there is no need to use flash which results in more unique, natural and unsuspecting images that really show the ambience and fun of the reception.
Josip’s dad is a fine trumpeter and he partied with the band that was from Melbourne all through the night. I think they may have wrapped up the party at about 3am which suggests how great the wedding was.

Penny and Aris pre wedding shoot

Edited to include four extra pics that were lost in cyberspace last week.








Penny and Aris are a stylish couple who I met at the GPO for their pre wedding portraits. Just down the road Aris had proposed to Penny at the Vault bar and restaurant and so this location was something special or them. Both Penny and Aris are really cool and confident in front of the camera, we get on so well and as Penny says it is like being photographed by one of the family. They even bought me lunch which was lovely and thanks again for that.
Penny and Aris wedding is at the end of November at the delightful Clarence house where once again we will see lots of familiar faces.

Marlene and Raj Pre wedding shoot

Marlene and Raj are an adventurous couple who are having their wedding event over two days at the beginning of next month. Some Indian weddings can go over several days but I think one day for the ceremonial activities and one day for partying is a good way of celebrating a union.
These guys re very natural in front of the camera we had a lot of fun taking these shots and I love Marlene's smile, it is very infectious.
Not only did they get wet during the beach shoot so did I. I never knew how uncomfortable it is driving in wet jeans.

Barbara and Adam's wedding

Barbara and Adam’s wedding was a showcase of perfect style, from Barbara’s gorgeous gown with its vintage Spanish feel through to the recently refurbished Dedes restaurant where the guests dined superbly on fine sea food and beef with a great range lovely wines and deserts to die for.
Barbara looked amazing with beautiful and radiant glow and Adam who had lost 7kg in a few short weeks before the wedding looked great too. He was kind of struggling the whole day though with a really bad leg injury he picked up at indoor soccer. I saw the bruising and I was amazed he could walk.
Once again there were a lot of familiar faces at this wedding, Dora and Andrew whose nuptials we covered earlier in the year and Arri and Penny whose wedding we will photograph at the end of next month, so we will see every again soon. Penny made a very flattering comment which made my weekend. During the evening as she was watching the slide show of the days pics on the screen saver of our laptop she turned to Juanita and I and said “people must be crazy not book you”
Which thank you was a lovely thing to mention!

Ben and Christee Engagement Portrait

Christee and Ben love the Botanical gardens and it was one of their original options when considering locations for their wedding later on in the year. Their reception is to be held at the very lovely Summersalt restaurant in Cronulla and so they chose Camilla Gardens which is a bit closer and so we thought it would be a good idea to shoot their pre wedding portraits in the beautiful surroundings of the Botanical Gardens. Christee and Ben are a very friendly couple who are a pleasure to photograph. They relate so well with each other and are obviously very much in love and that makes my job so much easier.

Maya and Ricky's Wedding

Maya and Ricky's wedding started of with the threat of rain which was slightly stressful for them both because their ceremony was going to be held on the point of Mrs Maquaries chair and Ricky admitted later that there was no plan B so luckily the rain stayed away. The ceremony was beautiful, they had gone to the extra expense of hiring a decorating company to create a lovely red carpet isle with small trees, ribbon and an arch of lovely green vines to get married under. Combined with the ambiance of the Sydney Harbour the picture perfect scene was complete.
Not used to public displays of affection Ricky and Maya needed a bit more encouragement than most to kiss during the marriage rites but once they got going it was fun to capture their excitement.
WE photographed most around the botanical gardens and the GPO and then it was off to their reception which was held at the very elegant Star Room above the Imax theater in Darling Harbour. Juanita and I were seated with a friendly table of Ricky's work mates and so we got to sample first hand the superb food and service the Star Room has to offer. Desert was particularly fantastic and their wedding cake was the yummiest I think I have ever eaten.