A few weeks back I flew to Canberra (and visited the shiny new airport there) on assignment for the popular eco-mag Sotokoto in Japan. They were doing a story on Jackie French’s gorgeous property at Neverbreak Hill, in the Araluen Valley 2 hours outside Canberra. Jackie French, for those who don’t know, is Australia’s most popular children’s book author and has about 132 books to her name. But she doesn’t just write kids books. She is an educator on sustainable, edible eco-landscapes and her beautiful garden is a showcase property.

An inspirational woman, and an inspirational experience in general. I love how photography opens such interesting doors!

I quite like the layout of the 6 page spread – they had to deal with a veritable sea of green but I think they overcame that pretty well. Nice one, Sotokoto!

Special thanks to Steve Jarvis, Jane Kitagawa, Torsten Juelich and Tao Kong.

Lovely Yassinta. Sweet Andrew.

We met at a cafe/bookshop in Port Douglas at the start of the year. They had flown up from Melbourne, and had their little baby boy with them. We all sat and cooed as he beamed up at us, while we chatted about their wedding photography. I was struck by their innate cuteness – such a sweet, sweet couple full of love for each other, their family and the world. I knew their wedding day (still many months away at that point) was going to be big, beautiful and emotional, blending big Italian and Indonesian families and friends in a destination wedding extravaganza.

Wow, how right I was. Tears, hilarity, emotional speeches and tight loving hugs.

Yassinta and Andrew: It was a privilege to be there to document your wedding. Thank you!

Click below the fold to see a whole lot more…..

A collection of some of my favourite wedding photos… please have a look and see what I’ve been up to. I love what I do.

Music 

Artist: Bell Plaines
Song: Any Minute Now

If it’s loading too slowly for your connection, please change the resolution to 240p in the video menubar.

Queensberry Albums:

CHANGING THE WAY WE TREAT OUR MEMORIES

Queensberry dates back to 1969 and Heather Baugh’s handcrafted leather business in Auckland, New Zealand. Today Queensberry remains a family business and Heather continues as creative director.

From the start, Heather cared deeply about the experiences that people have with the memories of their special days. She is driven still by the desire to create treasured objects to reflect and express people’s memories – exquisite, bespoke, handmade photographic albums and books.

Click here for more about the Queensberry story.

Our album-makers and photographic technicians possess a wealth of history and experience, and live and breathe the Queensberry craft. They hand make each album and book from the finest materials, and print each photograph in the knowledge that our albums will hold treasured memories forever.

We select leathers from the finest tanneries, as well as the best man-made alternatives. Our papers and boards come from environmentally sustainable European mills. They’re made to our specifications to ensure their suitability for long-term photographic presentation, and textured to enhance the paper’s natural qualities.

We’re committed to creating the best bespoke albums in the world, and are proud that our products are treasured around the world for the memories they evoke and the stories they tell.

Our goal is to make each page you turn one to remember.

I started using Queensberry Press Albums for my standard print package album in 2011, and it has thoroughly spoilt me as I will probably never use another company again for wedding albums/books. Their albums are simply lovely.

Marta and Jason took a weekend off from their hectic design-studio/parental roles in Sydney to visit Palm Cove and get quietly, beautifully married.

I fell in love with these two gorgeous people (just look at the knockout dress Marta was wearing!), and we had an absolute ball strolling around Palm Cove shooting photos of their big day.

Click below the fold to see more!

The Sunshine Coast Hinterland of Mooloolah is a magically romantic part of the world. Georgia’s family own a small farm there and it was the perfect location to host this gorgeous wedding, despite the chilly winds that swirled around us all day.

It’s not often that a wedding is officiated by a former Governer-General and Anglican Church Archbishop. Dr Peter Hollingworth married Georgia and Ivan in a lovely, grand ceremony and I enjoyed the theatre of it all.

I must confess that Georgia is actually a young cousin, her big brothers were my childhood companions and to have us all together (my own brother included) in the one place at the one time for the first time in over 10 years was a particularly joyous occasion. The party went long into the night and my brother and cousins managed to hijack one of my cameras and shoot blinding flash into peoples faces all night long resulting in a grand total of 2000+ images to sort through in the post-production process. I didn’t mind at all. The party pictures still crack me up, months later.

Click below the fold to see more….

Rene and Mat came up from Melbourne with their dearest friends and family to put on a huge wedding extravaganza that included a raucous reception at the magnificent Flames of the Forest Venue and a traditional Scottish ritual that involved passing around a quaich (a bowl with handles either side) full of Scotch to every guest.

I know, I know. I gush over every wedding I shoot but you know, I just can’t help it. Being intimately involved in someone’s wedding day is such a special experience. I become, for a day, a member of their family and am witness to some of the most beautiful moments in their lives. So I can’t help the gush.

Rene + Mat were such lovely lovely people, everyone around us spent the whole day laughing and smiling and it was quite sad, at the end of the day, to have to say good bye to them all.

Click on the more button to see….well….. more.

Gorgeous Cynthia! When I arrived to shoot her preparations, she threw her arms around me and gave me a hug worthy of old friends. Her family and friends were equally as generous with their affections! And so the fantastic day began. She and Tim just adore each other and it was all about having as much fun as possible all day long!

If you want to see the photo’s nice and large, just click below the fold for a slideshow.

Yes, I know, I know. I have been SOOOO late in uploading all my work from this years wedding season….. Spent the past week going through all my work and remembering some absolutely beautiful times and people!

Daina is an extraordinary woman. She thinks big, laughs loud and often and she and her husband Daniel are so madly in love that it’s hard to imagine a time when they weren’t together! Their wedding was a giddy, hilarious circus of fun. Looking back at these photos made me laugh out loud. Seriously!

For a look at the photos in a larger format, please click the “more” button to reveal the whole post.

Anna and James are Australian’s living in New York. They dreamed up a beautiful destination wedding for all their friends and family in a far away place called Port Douglas… They stayed in a beautiful home, they booked the beautiful St Mary’s Chapel and they put on an amazing party with a wild swing band called the Swingin’ Alley Catz at the award winning restaurant Salsa.

Take a look at the video slideshow (go fullscreen if you have a fast connection!), or scroll down past the video and click on the first image and work your way through the gallery.

Click the “more” button to see these pics in a larger format.