Andy and Flora's wedding day

There are so many great traditions that are unique to Chinese weddings, one is where the groom has to go through a set of crazy tasks to win the hand of the bride on the morning of the wedding. First he must bater or pay his way in to the house of the bride and then the bridesmaids set him a series of challenges. Andy's first task was to eat raw onions, wipe his face in vasoline and then rub his face in cotton wool as you would expect the result was hilarious. He also did something sweet to win the bride which was quite touching and made Flora feel really special. Together with the groomsmen he sang her favourite song with accompanying guitar and piano.
Their day did start quite early and the photo shoot was taken before the ceremony which was held at Little Bay, we travelled to Watsons bay and to Darling point with out any trouble because of the Sydney running festival and their reception was held at the Stanford Hotel at Mascot.

Lara and Robert's wedding

Lara and Robert are a lovely couple whose wedding we also shot on Saturday, they are such great people and it was fun to be a part of their special day. There must have been 50 or so friends and family at Lara's home to wish her good luck which made the atmosphere warm and electric. Lara is so photogenic and she just radiated beauty all day. Robert was very handsome as well. Their church service was held at St Josephs in Croydon and their reception for over 200 was held at the Vaudeville reception centre.
We found a lovely photo location on Macquarie street in the city that had a rustic tuscan feel and some of the pictures taken there are just awesome. Then we went to wedding central at observatory hill and judging by the amount of wedding parties there if you didn't have a wedding to shoot on Saturday your marketing is just not working. It was wall to wall brides. We managed to stay away from the crowd and do out own thing which was good.

Rowena and Ray

It is just amazing how time flies, it only seems like yesterday that Rowena was the high school baby sitter earning a few extra dollars on a Saturday night taking care of Taylor and Dillon while I was away shooting weddings and this week end it was her turn to be married. With guest from interstate and overseas last week end was the only available weekend in the future where everyones schedule lined up. So in 4 months this lovely wedding was organized with out a hiccup and with military precision. Rowena looked amazing and was very much the beautiful bride and of course her groom very dashing, their nuptials where celebrated in Watson's Bay and their gorgeous reception was held at the always elegant Intercontinental Hotel. It was such a fun day which is always the case with a big bridal party and Rowena and her family added many personal touches to the wedding as well from flowers to waist coats which is always such a satisfying feeling.

Melanie and Jason are a lovely couple whose wedding I am photographing on a Friday in a few weeks. Friday weddings are always so much fun, i think it is because people really love to have a day off from work because of a wedding. Even with the rain this morning we had a fun time shooting around the rocks area.

Maroubra school

It was a wonderful shoot this morning with the kids from year 6 of Maroubra primary school. It is a tradition at the school for the leaving year six kids to have their group pictures taken on the beach, the kids were very well behaved and the teachers and parent helpers did a fantastic job keeping all the kids in line and excited, together we got some great pictures. They each all had a lot of fun with the shoot and these kids were awesome to work with.

Veils

Some modern brides feel that a veil is a bridal accessory that is well to traditional and something that is not necessary. They are going for a specific fashion look that suits them which is all good of course as you have to do what suits you and the look that you want achieve.
But from a photography point of view you cant beat a veil. They just add so much shape to the images, they are great for hiding things that may be less flattering and they give the bride something to touch and hold which helps again to shape to the body.
When the veil is caught in the wind remarkable pictures can happen and sometimes these pictures become the hero images of the whole album.

Random

Weddings always bring out the fun and happiness in on lookers and people who pass by. People just enjoy the whole excitement of a wedding and some just cant help themselves and need to get caught up in the action as did these pretty girls on their way out on the town.

Anita and Alex's wedding

Anita and Alex, the A team! had a great wedding on Saturday. It was a pleasure once again to create and record part of their families histories. It was wonderful to see all the familiar faces from the the family and friends of past wedding couples too including Penny and Ari, Pasquale and Carolyn, Dora and Andrew, Barbara and Adam and Phary and Nick.
George caught the garter so may be there will be another function in the future too.
Anita and Alex are such a lovely match they met at the Roxy a few days before Anita was about to travel OS for an extended holiday, they knew there was something there straight away and before Anita left she gave Alex one of her rings for safe keeping. He proudly recounted the story during the speeches and mentioned that he still had the ring in his safe keeping.
There wedding was celebrated at the Greek Orthodox church in Redfern and the elegant reception was held at the famous La Montage. Many of the images were taken around Surry Hills and Prymont.

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Recently I shot a great portrait session for book writer, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Sam Makhoul. Sam is working on a new web site and other business ventures and the brief was to reflect his approachability and enthusiasm.

This week I received a great testimonial from the marketing company Sandy C marketing that looks after Sam's interests and wanted to share.
"I must say that in all my years of reviewing photos for marketing projects your photos are the most refreshing I have seen in a long while. They are magical, vibrant and beautifully styled. I look forward to meeting with you soon".

Kind regards
Sandy Cummins


Thank you Sandy, it was lovely to receive such praise and kind words in my inbox.

Award Image

I am going to enter the professional photographer awards here in Australia and Overseas and this is one of the images I am considering entering.
What do you think ?