Jul3
We had a lovely session with these guys today, enjoying the only nice afternoon we’ve had for ages and spending our time trying to get Jack – who is a little cutie – to smile.
We took him to the park fora bit to make the most of the nice light. He was a little suspicious though:
But when we managed to get a little giggle out of him, it was adorable:
Some cute family shots:
When we got him home though, Jack was straight into it and full of personality:
Check out this concentration!
Cute!
Jun12
Yesterday’s wedding had us filled with apprehension when we walked out the door into a torrential downpour. But by the time we reached the train station for Rachel & Ben’s wedding photos, it was a slightly chilly but generally fine winter afternoon. Later, they were even able to walk along the Wellington waterfront in the late afternoon sun, in the nicest weather I’ve seen for weeks! Rachel & Ben’s wedding was small & tasteful, held at the amazing White House Restaurant in Oriental Bay. What could be better – a lovely intimate winter wedding, Wellington sunshine, and a bride in a stunning red dress!
Rachel & Ben decided to shoot their wedding photos before their ceremony, and we met at the Wellington train station for their ‘first look’. I’m pretty sure Ben wasn’t the only one who couldn’t take his eyes off her as she walked through the station. As always with the first look, the moments as they first saw each other were lovely 
Since it’s a very versatile location, we had the opportunity to shoot a few different looks:
Then we headed to Parliament. It was gorgeous there, with amazing light, and we had the place pretty much to ourselves.
I don’t know what to say. This is amazing – Rachel is gorgeous:
More amazingness:
And then it was down to the waterfront to try to work in some of that sun:
Lastly, a few details:
Congratulations, Rachel and Ben – it was a really lovely day.
Apr11
You might have heard of ‘Trash the Dress’. It’s a movement in wedding & portrait photography in which the bride, or the bride & groom, decide to take to heart the idea that your wedding dress is only going to be used once. If that’s the case, there’s a great opportunity after the big day to take some time to have slightly more adventurous portraits. Get your feet dirty, your dress sandy, your hair wet, whatever! Much as we adore the idea, we’ve always found the words ‘Trash the Dress’ to be hard to explain to our brides & grooms. It’s not so much about physically ruining wedding dresses as it is about fashion, being creative, and having fun in front of the camera without the other stresses of a wedding day. However, to avoid confusion, we’ve decided to abandon the name ‘Trash the Dress’ completely. Instead, we’re in favour of Fearless Brides, which we think says it all
Wendy was entirely fearless today and happily complied with every strange place she needed to stand, and even took getting wet & sandy in good humour. We had a lot of fun taking these, and looking at the pictures we got has been even more fun! On to the pictures – enjoy!
Apr10
Chelsea & Gareth were married yesterday at St Barnabas in Mana, followed by a reception at Miramar Golf Club. As you’ll see from the photos, they had a perfect day, with gorgeous sun and an even better sunset that we got to play with in the photos. Chelsea & Gareth actually met through the community at St Barnabas, so being married there was really lovely for them. Their friends & family were present throughout the day, from providing music during the ceremony, to driving cars to saying some lovely words about the two of them at the reception. Chelsea and Gareth both spoke about how the last few years of setting up a life in Dunedin, where Chelsea’s job took them, has been an adventure. So, best wishes to Chelsea & Gareth for all of the adventures to come. Thanks for letting us be a part of yesterday!
Getting ready:
Some fun details:
Chelsea’s Dad was awesome, and very proud of his girl!
Getting married!
See how even at the church we were playing with the light? That’s light streaming in from outside and bouncing off the shiny cars parked there!
Check out this little cutie who came to pose for us:
More playing with light:
Followed up with some slightly unorthodox portraits, like this:
This is how funny we are:
And now for some photos of the perfect, perfect evening Plimmerton turned on for us:
Playing with light, this time with a veil!
Beautiful scenery, and even the seagulls posed for me:
The gorgeous couple:
And a little sunset romance to finish.
Congratulations again
Mar27
When I arrived at Neasa’s house yesterday, I was warmly welcomed in by the bevy of delightful Irish women that were there getting ready, and as a Kiwi girl, there’s something a bit special about all those fabulous accents Dara, Neasa’s makeup artist and another delightful Irish girl, told me as soon as I walked in the door that Neasa and Chan had the best love story ever. I have to admit, she was right – these two are madly in love, and it showed on their wedding day. Neasa explained to Dara and I that she had sung a love song for Chan not long after they’d met, and that changing the words to suit him had been easy – she’d chose the word simply. Simply, because it was so simple to be with him. That kind of poetic spirit is a beautiful thing on a wedding day, and later that night Neasa had pretty much all of us in tears when she sang for Chan… “let me tell you that I love you, that I think about you all the time.” Gorgeous!
Their day was everything a wedding day should be – filled with love, music, laughter and good friends. From Maori waiata to Irish folk songs, to an American bagpiper, the lovely space at St Johns Bar was filled with lovely sounding celebrations! One of things we most love about weddings is the way that it allows everyone present (even us!) to say and think truly heartfelt things about the people we love most and how important they are. With all the lovely blessings & sincere words expressed yesterday for Neasa & Chan, I’m sure everyone in attendance went away with just a little bit more romance in their hearts Best wishes to Neasa & Chan for Barcelona, and thanks for having us there yesterday! Here are a few (there are actually heaps, sorry!) of our favourite images from the wedding.
Wedding details:
Chan’s adorable son was the ring-bearer:
Getting ready:
Getting married!
Some super-quick portraits of the bride & groom:
Check out my competition here:
And, lots of fun at the reception:
These little guys were capturing almost as much attention as the happy couple – pretty obvious why! I swear to all photographers reading this that I did not Photoshop this baby’s eyes – they really did look like this and I was assured that he’s just a ‘twinkler’ and that it charms the ladies What a cutie!
Congratulations again guys, and have an amazing time with round two of your celebrations in Spain!
Mar15
This was a fabulous idea if ever there was one – you are living overseas in a wonderful city (can’t beat Wellington on a good day & all that!) and so, while the sun is still shining and the beach still looks gorgeous, why not have a few photos to remember your time there. That’s what these guys decided to do anyway, and it was great! We spend Sunday afternoon taking a little tour around Wellington to get a variety of cool portraits.
We hope you guys get to take away wonderful memories of New Zealand!
We started out with an adventure exploration of the Botanical Gardens – I am ashamed to admit I hadn’t been there in a very long time myself, so it was a good reminder how cool it is there!
Then we headed to the Wellington waterfront for a different look:
We finished up at the train station, and I’m glad we did, because these are some of my favourites.
Mar7
Yesterday morning I awoke to the sound of rain and some ominous clouds outside the window. We left home for Wendy & Duncan’s wedding feeling a little apprehensive about where we would have their photos given the weather. But all day, the weather did whatever we needed it to. They were married on the grass outside the wonderful Gear Homestead, under perfect cloud cover and without a drop of rain until the very end of the ceremony. Later, when we reached Whitireia Park for photos, the light was more perfect than I could have imagined. And, by the time we arrived back to the reception, the setting sun was a perfect backdrop.
The details of their day were perfect too – from the gorgeous garter Wendy was given which contained pieces of her mother’s and grandmothers’ dresses dating back to 1901, to the amazing guard of honour that Duncan’s friends from the fire service formed at the end of their ceremony. We had a lot of fun and have a heap of pictures to prove it!
Wendy loves red, so it was included perfectly in their wedding:
Getting ready :
Getting married!
Whitireia Park, where we were able to explore heaps of options with the amazing setting:
Couldn’t resist a little drama!
Back to Gear Homestead for more amazing light!
And time to celebrate
There you have it! Thanks so much for letting us be there on your amazing wedding day Wendy & Duncan!
I’m trying something a little different here with the blog posts, so if you’d like to see more photos, here’s a little slideshow:
Feb27
Yesterday was scorching hot in the Wairarapa, with just the tiniest of breezes making it comfortable in the shade. With hills all around us, and birds flying amongst the vines, Nick & Niki were married under the umbrellas at Coney Wines. Surrounded by their family friends, it was easy to see how true the sentiments Nick’s father expressed in his speech were – this was about two amazing families coming together. Nick & Niki had a perfect day – sweet, relaxed, and full of laughter. We learned about Nick’s Central Park proposal in New York, about Nick’s budding talent as a poet, and got a strong sense of how good these guys are together.
On to the images! We arrived a little bit early to make sure we could capture some of the details.
Niki’s Dad was so proud and so sweet:
I love these moments as the new husband and wife walk away together.
The wonderful people at Coney Wines gave the bridal party a little hamper to take away with them to help them out a little on the photoshoot, and it was such a nice way for everyone to chill out and relax a little bit – there were loads of really gorgeous natural moments.
Of course, we’d never say no to a group wanting to go running through the vines…
Niki’s dress was amazing, and I love how elegant they look in these images.
Seriously. Check out the gorgeous bride! As I was shooting these Nick was saying she looked like a fashion model, and I have to agree.
This little location was only a minute’s drive from their wedding venue, and it was absolutely quirky & gorgeous!
It was around 6pm by this point, and the light was amazing:
After dinner & speeches, the dancing began, and everyone got involved in some pretty rowdy Greek dancing – it was fabulous!
At the same time, people were having a blast outside at the photobooth – we even got the bride & groom and some huge family groups involved!
Nick & Niki – your day was such a lot of fun – thanks so much for letting us be there and we hope you have an amazing time on your honeymoon in the Whitsundays!
Feb20
Janine & Ryan are getting married this December at Erskine, and when we went there to be shown around, we decided to have their lifestyle engagement session around the property and nearby at the beach in Island Bay.
After being wowed by the property and all the cool things we’ll be able to do there come their wedding day, we went on a little photoshoot. Every corner holds something new and cool, so it wasn’t hard to do!
These two both swear that they’re not good with having their photo taken, though I’m sure you’ll all disagree…
I absolutely love it when couples just naturally make each other smile like this – what a happy bride-to-be!
If this is what’s to come, I can’t wait for Janine & Ryan’s wedding!
Feb20
Yesterday was bathed in sunshine, yet not too hot. We wandered along the Wellington waterfront, and Jen’s veil blew behind her in the wind. People swimming and rollerblading and walking stopped to congratulate them and cheer and clap for them. We had spoken earlier about how sometimes it just feels like Wellington needs to rain until its out of its system, and it obviously had, because the weather & atmosphere in Wellington for Jen & Dean’s wedding was fabulous!
Their day was very sweet, and it was a fabulous choice to base themselves around the waterfront. As they chose to have a First Look and get photos beforehand, we had plenty of time to roam around in the area, which was great for photos. The bride & groom found quiet moments together amidst the craziness around us and it was easy to see how good they are together.
We started off at the Museum Hotel, which was gorgeous as always. Jen & her bridesmaids looked amazing, and so did the wedding details. Their fabulous flowers were provided by The Florist:
We headed off to Waitangi Park to start our waterfront photo adventure, and it was fabulous from the beginning:
Jen looked absolutely stunning.
These guys were total naturals at having their photo taken too, though I know they didn’t think so!
One of my favourite bridesmaids’ photos ever. It has this really cool feel to it.
Not to be outdone though, the boys had already had their awesome photo done by Michael earlier. Dean is pretty keen on a bit of skateboarding, so, needless to say, this is pretty epic.
After the ceremony, we had time for a couple more pictures as the light started to get really pretty:
We also had time for a group photo, and I’m posting this mostly because I’ll probably go down in their family history as being far braver than I really am by standing in the water in front of The Boatshed to take this while stingrays swam around me:
Jen & Dean’s first dance was super cute:
And we had a little photobooth action going again, which was fairly well received!
Thanks so much to Jen, Dean & their families for having us, we had a great time. Congratulations on your beautiful wedding and we wish you so much happiness in the future
