Wedding: J+S <3 (Brookfield)

Lovely Suzie & John <3

We met up with S&J at South Bank Pirate Park (not sure of the official name for the park but this is how we refer to it; it is currently the Creative Director’s favourite place to hone new gymnastic skills). :)

We locked in the date and they had dreams of going to Italy for their honeymoon.

Covid happened.

S&J decided to postpone till the next year. So we did. No problem.

It was a perfect day. S&J were surrounded by friends and family and packed a lot into a few hours. They had the best attitude about the change of plans and really embraced the season in life.

A family member owns the stunning Hamptons style home and it was the best location for S&J’s intimate nuptials. A lot of collective work had gone into renovating the home during the year of postponement.

In every gallery we send out, we provide more colour images than black & white ones. Suzie & John’s wedding gallery was no different. As I (Em) was putting together the blog post, I found myself more drawn to the b&w images. For me, the b&w allow the details and emotions from the day to shine through with little to no distraction. The day was classic (black and white the theme of the wedding party) and that seems to really shine through with the grayscale set.

Here is the lovely feedback we received from S&J:

"We've been through the photos and we're so incredibly happy. There are so many amazing shots so we'll enjoy looking through them again and again and deciding which we'll have printed to see on our walls every day. Thank you again so much; we're so happy we had the two of you there and how perfectly you captured everything."

Enjoy!

Brisbane Wedding Photographer
Brisbane Wedding Photographer

Information :: What Makes an Image Important

Narrowing down the options when choosing a wedding photographer is typically multifaceted. You want to love the photographer's work. You want a personality that "gets" you as individuals and as a couple (put simply, you want someone relatable!). You need to be able to afford them. With this in mind, some of the most important reasons for why we blog regularly (FYI: we blog once a week and this is our 128th post) are:

  • to tangibly demonstrate how passionate we are about our role as wedding photographers

  • to show who we are and what this means to you as our client

  • to share tips and ideas

Essentially, the kind of information that we are hoping will be important during your decision-making process. Today, we are sharing a little more about us & some food for thought for our clients. A recent discussion about some of our most memorable & personal images to date was the catalyst.

We work really hard on perfecting our craft. We focus a lot of attention on people skills, composition, chasing the most ideal light, depth of field... have we lost you yet? ;) We decided to strip all that back during our discussions and we challenged each other to think of our personal favourite images (rule time: we could only pick a maximum of 2 images). Of course, we both gravitated to ones that have all three of us in them. However, we currently do not share images of our daughter, Chloe, online. So, we started again. Naturally, our minds drifted to favourite shots of the two of us - mostly taken during travels. With that in mind (and as the exercise was beginning to feel too easy!), we narrowed the criteria down even further: Pete had to choose two images that featured only him, and I had to choose two that only featured me.

{Try this for yourself! You might surprise yourself with what you end up choosing. Actually, why don’t you stop reading now and pick out your two all-time favourites. We’ll come back to yours in a moment.}

In the end, Pete settled on one image. He felt that this one summed up everything for him:

I chose two as they are from a similar time period (same year) but during very different experiences and I find the polarity striking:

Interestingly, all three are “okay” images (definitely not terrible). However, are they perfectly composed? Was the lighting nailed? Honestly, does it even matter? All three tell a story that is important to the subject. Pete chose his representative image for a range of reasons. Skydiving was a dream come true. He was proud of himself for taking the risk. Pete experienced freedom that comes with… well, jumping out of a plane with all risks carefully calculated. I chose my graduation image as I was (and am) so proud of this achievement. It is something that was the result of hard work & dedication. I chose the one from my first time experiencing snow. This moment features in one of the top 10 days of my life to date. Experiencing snowfall was (in my case, anyway) a magical moment. I don’t usually take selfies, but this was a moment I wanted to freeze forever - literally.

When you selected your two images, did you think anything along these lines, “I really like x one, but I can’t possibly keep it! If I took it again, I would make sure I was a little more off-centre. If it followed the rule of thirds, I think I would be more inclined to keep it”… “Hmmm, this is a good one but the shadows on my face are too pronounced. I think I will scrap it. Shame really as it always makes me feel happy when I look at it!”… “Oooops - the highlights are blown! Forget it! …

Correct me if I am wrong but I am guessing that you chose based on how looking at those images makes you feel?

Capturing an image in such a way that the subjects feel something for the rest of time is at the heart and soul of wedding photography.

In conclusion, we wanted to take this opportunity to re-frame the importance of capturing the moments that are important to you. Yes, we will strive for perfect composition, image processing, lighting, timing, & storytelling. However, we will not compromise storytelling & capturing raw emotion at the expense of perfection. We want the resulting images to tell your story; not be representative of our “brand” per se. We want you to love your wedding photography for a lifetime.

Information :: Wedding Ring Shot Inspiration

We recently stumbled upon a polarising discussion between photographers. The key question was this: should you, as the photographer, provide props for detail shots (such as ring boxes, ribbons, trays, stamps and so on) or is it something that the client should take the lead on? There were two camps:

One side, against photographers providing props, questioned if it could it be perceived to be intrusive in a way? Could the photographer potentially incorporate elements that are not sentimental to the couple? The photographers in this camp were arguing that photographers should use creative elements either supplied by the couple (keepsakes) or things that could be found at their wedding venue(s), such as a plant, for example. That each client’s images should not have stock standard elements that come from recycled kit. Furthermore, all the images should be cohesive (documented and authentic rather than fabricated).

However, the other side of the debate, pro photographer provision of props, suggested that the extra preparation (and investment) could demonstrate attention to detail by the photographer. Could it be categorised as going above and beyond? Thoughtful even? The photographers in this camp wanted their clients to feel looked after and with nothing left to chance. To guarantee ‘pretty’ images for their clients. To have some control over the quality of the styling. Furthermore, in some cases, styling was an essential part of the photographer’s brand and a unique selling point (especially those with a background in food or product photography, for example).

Each photographer has their own aesthetic and, like a lot of things in life, there is absolutely no right or wrong here. Furthermore, we would hope that most people could agree that there are waaaaaaaaaaay bigger issues in life. When all is said and done, it is up to the client to decide how they want their day documented - whether that is a style that incorporates a photographer’s individual styling kit or is more organic & bespoke. Personally, we love true to life, and we love a good creative challenge. Ultimately, we want the images to showcase you as a couple and incorporate your style and story - whatever that is.

We looked through some of our recent shoots for ring shots, in particular. (The discussion referenced above heavily featured ring boxes as there has been a definite trend for Mrs Box ring boxes or equivalent, so rings were fresh on our mind at the time of writing.) We found the diversity in our shots interesting. We have done some of these shoots alongside a stylist or two with impeccable taste (sometimes we are spoiled rotten!). We are proud of those images. We can appreciate a stunning piece of heirloom jewellery, and we love to showcase it without distraction. However, we also found it interesting how much we like seeing ring shots ‘in the wild’, too. There is a sense of adventure to these. Relatability perhaps. A feeling that the ring is more than jewellery now and is an important part of the person wearing it. See what you think and feel free to discuss even the smallest details with us- as we say around here, “If it is important to you, it is important to us”. We welcome all ideas - including those that are outside of the box, so to speak. Here are 100+ of our favourites:

Update: this image placed in the Top 20% of its category in the 2019 Shoot & Share Photo Contest. It placed at 3585/18829 submissions.

Finally, one with a difference: the devoted aunt-of-the-bride inspecting the rings for the first time. <3

B&W Love

At first glance, black & white photography (or perhaps more accurately 'grayscale', as images are rarely truly black & white) can appear to be boring. Outdated or nostalgic perhaps. Or less expressive. Even forgotten. Black & white photography is synonymous with descriptors such as 'raw', 'stripped back', 'honest', & 'subtle'. In some cases, 'powerful', 'exquisite', 'iconic', & 'beautiful'. In a world full of colour, it can be challenging to fully appreciate all the variants of the colour grey (found somewhere between absolute black and absolute white).

Diane Arbus once said, “I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them”. We agree with the sentiment. As post-processing is such an important element of photography, we feel that there are things nobody would see unless the images were processed in a certain style. As Georgina Green, a fellow photographer, states, "Black and white images are defined in the art sphere by their ability to convey emotion. When colour is removed from a photo, the aspects that people take for granted, such as a brick wall or a blade of grass, take on a new texture and a new presence".

We're sharing some of our recent favourite grayscale images below. Typically, we deliver our full albums with some colour and some grayscale. However, feel free to let us know if you have a preference one way or another and we'll accommodate. Enjoy!

“When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. When you photograph people in black & white, you photograph their souls.”

~Ted Grant

“Black & white are the colours of photography. To me, they symbolise the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.”

~Robert Frank

“Colour is deceptive. Black & white is interpretive.”

~Elliott Erwitt

"Colour is everything; black & white is more."

~Dominic Rouse

Brisbane Wedding Photographer