People Talent

My Philosophy

My philosophy on shooting weddings is very simple and something I am very passionate about

• I believe in keeping things fun, natural, relaxed, and a little bit funky, but still gorgeous (of course!).
• I believe your wedding day should be about enjoying your time celebrating with your family and friends, not wasting 4 hours and travelling to 5 different locations to have your photos taken.
• I love to utilise all of Melbourne’s fabulous backdrops, but also try to avoid the usual clichéd locations that every other photographer and their Canons (or Nikons) choose to haunt.
• I think it’s important to have just a couple of more ‘formal’ shots (it will keep your Grandma happy, and in years to come you will be glad you did these) but keep the majority of images as an unobtrusive, photojournalistic documentation of your most brilliant day.
• I aim to keep you and your new spouse looking like your very beautiful, natural, selves, not some unrecognisable, airbrushed, ‘directed’ waxworks couple.
• I do my best to work so unobtrusively that you’ll hardly know I’m there!
• I like to have your images ready by the time you return from your honeymoon, so the memories are still fresh in your mind.

Your Investment

I am not the cheapest, nor am I the most expensive wedding photographer in Melbourne, but I do charge what I feel is an affordable price for my creative vision, professionalism, time, and experience. I do not believe in holding your images for ransom by not providing you with your ‘digital negatives’, and therefore making you spend thousands on prints, enlargements, and albums (You receive all of your high resolution images on a disc so you are free to arrange your own reprints and enlargements if you choose).

My packages are relatively flexible, and are based on blocks of time of 2 hours, 4hrs or 6+ hours of photography coverage. Prices start at $1695, and all packages include a specified number of 6x4 inch prints in a simple ‘slip in’ album, and your high resolution images on disc in both colour and black & white.

I also provide the option for stunningly simple (ie: not overly designed), and very reasonably priced coffee table books which are a fabulous alternative to a traditional wedding album.

Please contact me for more details.

Links I Like

Wading through a myriad of wedding suppliers to find ones that are on your wavelength can be hard, so here’s a few of my favourites:

Celebrants

Kirk Godsell - young and fun! www.kirksamuel.com.au
Margi McGregor - based in Darwin, but often comes to Melbourne for weddings www.margi.com.au

Cakes

Cioccolata Bella - 3 words... To. Die. For. www.cioccolatabella.com.au.
Babycakes - Mouth-watering little cupcakes in lots of gorgeous flavours www.babycakesbydesign.com.au

Make Up

Simone Tramontana www.misssimone.com.au
Mae Taylor www.maetaylor.com

Flowers

Flowergirls - Balwyn & Mornington www.flowergirls.com.au
Balflowers - Balnarring (Mornington Peninsula) www.balflower.com.au

Bridal Couture

Simonelli - Many of my favourite brides have been Simonelli Brides www.simonelli.com.au

Photobooth

A fun and funky digital photobooth - a great talking point for your reception and a fantastic bonbonniere idea to give your guests a keepsake of the day! www.photobooth.com.au

Entertainment

The Essentials - Jazz, Funk, Swing band. Get your guests grooving on the dance floor. www.instinctmusic.com.au

Checkout also... www.portobellobride.com.au - the lovely Kim has gathered together a select group of small, boutique wedding suppliers like myself, from across a number of fields, to form a new collective to join forces for group advertising and ‘markets’ (mini expos) around Melbourne. Sign up for her newsletter to hear of new developments!

Don't just take my word for it...

The pictures are amazing, Thank you thank you thank you. After getting them from you I almost immediately texted my girlfriends to tell them "we all look like supermodels", and they were pretty rapt too. Everyone is raving about how beautiful the photos are, so thanks again. I can't believe you captured so many moments, because I barely noticed you were there (I mean that in the nicest possible way).
AMELIA & BLAKE

We just wanted to say thank you for our wedding photography. We're wrapped with the results - you managed to perfectly capture some very special moments without a fuss, in fact you were a pleasure to have around on the day and actually made our jobs that much easier in getting everyone together in that heat!! Thanks again!
EVE & LUKE

(We) are back from our (too short) honeymoon & settling into the usual daily grind. I have been meaning to write for a while now to thank you for doing such a wonderful job on our 'wedding weekend' - we both really appreciated your professionalism, sensitivity and friendliness - it was great having you around on such an emotional (& occasionally stressful!) occasion. We both had a fantastic day.
JANET & SANT-RAYN

We LOVE the pics! Thanks so much!!
FIONA & DEAN

Wedding Blog Feed...

Sarah & Kristian - 16th January 2010

For me, the mark of a great wedding is all about how much of a couple's personality goes into the day, the unique details that set that wedding apart and make it unique. For Sarah & Kristian, many of the usual traditions of a wedding were thrown by the wayside (they arrived and walked down the aisle together, Sarah wore a gorgeous wine coloured dress with detailed panel that accentuated her porcelain skin, and fancy floral arrangements and a wedding cake were eschewed), and what remained was the essence of their relationship and themselves, shared with family and friends at the beautiful Crittenden Estate Winery on the Mornington Peninsula.

Cool details: A table was set up near the entrance to the restaurant, with a collection of framed photos from family weddings past.

Date Published: Thursday, 21 Jan, 2010

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Alice & Adrian - 9th January 2010

Ah, Melbourne in Summer, one day freezing cold, the next stinking hot! Luckily for Alice & Adrian, the forcast 38 degrees for their outdoor wedding in the Edinburgh Gardens only ended up being around 34 - still pretty hot, but not "sweat dripping down your face" kind of hot! So under the shade of market umbrella's and with the help of some little fans and icy bottles of water being handed out to guests, their beautiful ceremony - complete with readings as diverse as Ernest Hemingway and Dr Suess, and a runaway 3 year old ring bearer - took place in front of the old gorgeous old rotunda in the gardens.

Cool details: The self confessed 'lefty, vegetarian, greenies' had a full vegetarian menu at their reception at the nearby Matteo's restaurant, with each table named after a suburb or town they had lived in during their lives. The 'bridal car' was a silver Prius from www.ecolimo.com.au. And just to prove that not everything has to be so serious their bridal waltz was a slow dance that morphed into the good old wedding staple - the Chicken Dance! (See above...)

Date Published: Thursday, 21 Jan, 2010

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Cath & Anthony - November 28th 2009

The thing with weddings is that as much as you plan and plan and plan, sometimes there are things that are just out of your hands... like the weather. What do you do? Will crying and complaining change it? No! So you do what Anthony and Cath did when a torrential downpour put a downer on their plans for an outside winery wedding - embrace it and have fun with it! The ceremony was relocated to a tasting shed on the property, and the guests shuttled down the path by groomsmen wielding big brollies, and in a touch of good fortune, the skies cleared just long enough for us to get out and take some fun shots in the vines. Cool Details: In an attempt to surprise Cath with their favourite musician, Anthony invited local singer / songwriter Chris Pickering to the wedding to play "their song" for their first dance. Unfortunately touring commitments prevented this from happening, but Chris did provide the next best thing - a personal recording of the song addressed to the happy couple.

Date Published: Thursday, 21 Jan, 2010

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John & Luisa - November 7th, 2009

On a beautiful day, at a beautiful location, a beautiful couple tied the knot in front of their closest friends and family. A love story that was 8 years in the making, Luisa looking stunning in a 'Hollywood glamour' kind of way, as she married John at Gardens House in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Cool Details: As one who has seen many couples in love over the years, and a way of looking at each other to convey that emotion, I have never seen a groom so smitten with his bride as John was with Luisa. Even when he thought no-one was looking (including her) his eyes were alight with a combination of love and happiness and pride at his new wife. Even for a seasoned professional like myself, it was a very touching sight!

Date Published: Tuesday, 15 Dec, 2009

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Lorraine & Dan - October 31st, 2009

This was the day when everyone in Melbourne went "Yeah, Summer's here!", the Spring Racing Carnival was in full swing, the sun was shining, and late in the afternoon, on Mother's Beach in Mornington, Lorraine & Dan swapped wedding vows with a perfect backdrop of calm blue waters, cloudless blue skies, and long afternoon shadows creating gorgeous effects on the sand.

Cool Details: When introducing each speaker during the speeches, the MC would read an excerpt from a little book published in 1913 called "Don'ts for Husbands" - written by a very dry humoured British woman, Blanche Ebbutt. Some of her pearls of wisdom include "Don't give up cricket, or football...or whatever sport you have been accustomed to just because you are married. Athletics will stop you from becoming flabby." and "Don't insist on having the last word. If you know when to drop an argument, you are a wise man." Smart woman that Blanche!

Date Published: Wednesday, 4 Nov, 2009

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