The ceremony and reception were held in the gorgeous grounds of the Dromana Estate Winery on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. With the Bride and Groom living in Queensland, there were, of course, guests who travelled to be part of the day, and Melbourne turned on some of her most stunning Autumn weather to charm not only the visitors but also the locals.

Sharni arrived at the winery by Rolls Royce, and was then led in on Scott’s arm to the ceremony by Casey and Larna.

After a touching ceremony, Sharni and Tom, along with Larna and Best Man Matt for a wander about the winery for a few photos.

By early afternoon, we were back to the rooms for some delightful food and drinks, along with the all important cutting of the cake (that Tom had been boasting about all day). The speeches were emotional and touching, and then it was outside to enjoy more drinks and dessert, along with the gorgeous afternoon light.

Yarck is a tiny country town just outside of Melbourne but boasts one of the finest places to eat in Victoria – The Tea Rooms of Yarck. On our arrival to Yarck, we headed to The Churches to meet the lucky couple (separately of course). ‘The Churches’ in Yarck are two churches standing side by side that have been converted into convenient accommodation right across the road from the town hall where the ceremony was taking place. Right next door to the hall is the The Tea Rooms of Yarck, already a bustling hive of activity readying preparations.

The couple got to share their love with each other, along with their love of outstanding food, great wine, fantastic friends and family; the detail and creativity and personal touches that went on behind the wedding were almost astounding.

Behind the first door I knocked on, I found Wes and Best Man Dave. Dave was busy finalising his speech, while Wes was looking relaxed in the last few hours of his bachelorhood. Wes had bought his ‘mistress’ to Yarck, and along with Dave, had managed to sneak in an early ride on the morning of his big day.

Jacs had plenty of support from her family, sister Kat was Maid of Honour and the bond between the two was obvious.

Lily May had been practicing her smile all week, and had squeals of delight echoing around the room as she got dressed up. Her outfit included a cardigan that Jacs’ had modified to better suit the occasion.

A lot of the details that highlighted the day, including flower settings, personal touches and even the cake were designed and made by Jacs, her proud mum Jen and a supporting cast that included plenty of the rest of the family.

After the ceremony, Yarck was bathed in some glorious afternoon light . As the sun dropped down behind the mountains, the whole town just seemed to glow softly.

In between the mouth-watering courses of food, the speech’s were entertaining, and evidence of closeness of the bride and groom’s families, and of the love shared between Jaclyn and Wes. Dave’s stories highlighted some of Wes’ cycling antics and bought to light some of what Jacs’ would have to endure, now that she had officially become a ‘Cycling Widow’.

After the main course, guests were led back to the hall where Wes and Jaclyn got to respond to all the warmth and thank the guests. Then it was on to desert (“Make sure you have some tiramisu – its to DIE for!”) and dancing.

We got Emma’s early in order to catch her getting ready for her big day. Mum was being tended to by the hairdresser and makeup artist, Dad was busy getting handsome, so we got to play with, and of course photograph Emma before she got dressed up.

Of course, it didn’t take long for her to get all dressed up and ready for her Christening, cute as a button!

Once she was dressed, Emma’s new God-Parents, Chris and Bridget, arrived and before long we were all off to to the Macedonian Orthodox Church of St Zlata Meglenska for Emma’s Christening.

Following the Christening, celebrations moved on to a wonderful reception held at Lakeside – Taylors Lakes.

One of Bobby’s great friends George was honoured to be the MC for the afternoon and after introducing proud parents Eve and Bobby, announced the arrival of Emma with new God Parents Chris and Bridget.

One of Bobby’s great friends George was honoured to be the MC for the afternoon and after introducing proud parents Eve and Bobby, announced the arrival of Emma with new God Parents Chris and Bridget.

Chris cut Emma’s cake to begin the festivities, leading into plenty of food and drink. Of course at any event like this there are speeches, here guests were treated to something a little different. Knowing some things are said better without words, Bobby played amazingly on his piano accordion, dedicating a song to his daughter Emma. This kicked off the dancing, and there was plenty of encouragement for the band.

The rest of the afternoon was spent amongst a mix of food, drinks and more dancing. Congratulations Emma, Bobby, Eve, Chris and Bridget.

Over the ranges and on towards Kyneton, all of a sudden there was a glorious sunrise and the fog and cloud had disappeared leaving a bright day.

Heading out to Stage 2′s time trial course, the first thing I noticed was how misleading the profile of the course looked. Far more undulating and far less ‘down hill’ than it appeared on paper. The second thing I noticed as soon as I got out of the car was the strength and direction of the wind. A strong primarily tail-wind could mean minimal time gaps over the 6km course.

I picked out a spot a few hundred meters from the finish, and waited. A few riders came out early, warming up and checking out the course, but before long the stage was underway. Nathan Elliot, race leader and wearing the #1 bib, came through first followed by a procession of riders. 4 mens grades and 2 womens were all completing the same course, leaving the start with a 30 second time gap and racing towards the finish.

One of the exciting things about shooting a time trial is that there is plenty of action. By the time the riders reached my position, the time gaps were far more varied, but it was a matter of check for traffic, frame, focus and fire, move off the road. Rinse and repeat. Of course with around 250 riders hurtling towards me at somewhere between 40 and 50km/hour, mixing it up a little became a priority, trying to get a variety of shots and making the images look a little less like shooting fish in a barrel.

Mens A Grade Winner Shane Miller Powers toward the finish line

After the time trial, it was into Kyneton, eat and back out to the sale yards in preparation for the afternoon’s Stage 3 – a 70-odd km out and back course that would test the riders. I took up position at the KOM point and waited for each of the grades. Despite the wind earlier in the day, and despite the openess at the top of the hill, the position was warm with almost no wind, the jacket was off and I was down to a T-shirt at one point. Mens A grade came through on their return leg before the Women’s B had passed for the first time, so after a quick mental battle internally, I jumped in the car, raced off in order to overtake A grade and find another spot to shoot from.

I found a spot about 10 kms from the finish close to the top of a longish drag out of a gully. Here was a great spot to be able to shoot quite a bit, with some action going as attacks went, but most grades going slow enough up the hill to get quite a few shots.

An awesome day out, and unfortunately due to prior commitments, I wouldn’t make it back for the 4th and final stage. All competitors deserve a huge congratulations, from what I saw, the people I spoke to and various reports, the racing was exciting and captivating. Thanks must also go the Luke McDonough and his crew of officials, organisers and volunteers along with all the sponsers, all without whom, the event wouldnt be what it is.

Stage 2 photos are available here and Stage 3 are here

There is also a facebook album setup on our facebook page – www.facebook.com/ashmilnephotography

Cheers

Ash

Images from Stage 1 can be found here

Week 14: Hullo Mr Rabbit
The softness and select focus on this really draws me in.

Week 15: Easter with Yia Yia and Grandpa
Lucas loves to be with people, this week and next week he got to spend loads of time with his grandparents.

Week 16: Road Trip to Bairnsdale

Week 11: Handsome Man

Week 12: My New High Chair

Unfortunately, the busier I get, the less time I have to keep pushing out images that show how busy I have been. I guess the other side of the coin means that if I’m posting too much, it could just be that I’m in a quiet patch. No sign of that happen at the moment however.

Luckily I haven’t been so busy that I went without taking photos, although there has been a week or 2 where I’ve been cutting the deadline fine.

Enough excuses .. here are some photographs that will bring you up to date with Lucas’ growth.

Week 7: Innocence
Natural light.