Ainsley & Nathan

Ainsley & Nathan, I know you have been hanging out to see some pics of your day. Wow there are so many great pics, so here is a quick preview and you can see the rest on our big screen when you get back :-)

Location: Pacific Palms, about 3 hours north of Sydney.


The Green Cathedral is like a natural chapel in the rain forest and perfect for weddings.
It's a rain forest!! So of course is started to rain half way through the ceremony. Ainsley using the international sign language for 'umbrella please'.

Did I mention it's a rain forest? Ainsley and Nathan heading back through the forest to the reception venue to complete the ceremony.
Fortunately the rain was over quickly and it was safe for the release of the butterflies, who surprisingly didn't seem in a hurry to get away.
The storm clouds were still lingering in the sky as we headed down to the jetty and beach for some photos.
The girls just couldn't resist jumping full on into this sandcastle.
Some kid probably spend all afternoon building this :-)
I love the colours in this shot.
The guys
I promised you guys we do something funky in a car park :-)
We finished up taking photos at the beach as the light was fading fast and it was getting too dark to shoot, especially as I refuse to use flash unless I absolutely have to.
So as we were packing up I just turned on the headlights of my car to illuminate Ainsley and Nathan and create this moody image.
Towards the end of the reception we headed out to the edge of the forest for some more pics.

Despite the rain and everything is was an awesome day, see you soon guys.

-Chris

Nikki & Anthony

Another excellent wedding! We knew it was going to be a good one, cause we had so much fun with Nikki and Anthony during their pre wedding shoot.

Having shot Nikki's sister Liz's wedding in January it was great to see all the familiar faces again.

I think our style really suited this wedding, since it was fun and glamorous all rolled into one.

Nikki getting ready at her Mum's place.
Nikki and her Dad just before leaving for the church.
Nikki and her Dad walking into St Mary's Church in Hunters Hill.
What everyone came to see
After the church we had barely any day light left for photos, so we quickly headed down to Balmain for some photos. Somehow they arranged to get access to the Dawn Fraser pool at Balmain which was a cool location for photos.
The light was fading fast now. There was only about 15mins time difference between the shot below and the previous one. Fortunately we like a challenge :-)
Speaking of challenge, before heading to the reception we all hung out at the Cohibar at Darling Harbour. It almost pitch black in this room but I think we got some cool moody shots.
Still shooting in a dark room we used our video light and a fan to create a funky pattern.
The reception was held at the Italian Restaurant, Al Ponte; Harbouside Darling Harbour.

Yeah, party time.

See ya,
-Chris

Elaine & John

This wedding had it all and was so much fun that I am having a real hard time picking my favorite images.

Elaine and John had a traditional Laotian ceremony the week before (see previous post) to pay respect to John's background. But today it was Elaine's turn with a traditional Filipino Catholic ceremony, complete with candle, cord and veil ceremonies.


Elaine's Mum is helping her to get ready; check out the lace work on Elaine's dress.
We took a couple of pics of Elaine just before she headed off for church.
Oh yes, the 4m veil! Looks great though as Elaine and her Dad prepare to walk down the isle.
Elaine and John during the cord and veil ceremony which is a traditional part of wedding ceremonies in the Philippines.
After the ceremony we headed for Observatory to take some pics and chill out.
There is that veil again, cool!
The reception was held at the Argyle Centre in The Rocks, complete with Latin dancers.
I absolutely love the father-daughter dance, I wish more people would do it cause every time I look at the images I can see so much emotion. Yeah I am a big softy :-)
John and Elaine take a break from the reception and decide to spend it with us and our cameras in the courtyard of the Argyle Centre :-)
After the reception we all headed off for a harbour cruise. I am going to skip those images and head straight for the night shots.
Following the harbour cruise John, Elaine and their overseas families headed back to the hotel. We took this opportunity to take some more photos. Images taken at low light have this incredibly soft warm and romantic look to them. Of course you really have to know what you are doing, and we are working on this technique to archive a unique look.

Elaine and John in the lobby of the Marriot Hotel
and finally we went back to their room to finish of with some moody shots.

-Chris

Elaine & John Lao Wedding Ceremony

Elaine and John are celebrating a traditional Lao wedding ceremony the week before the actual church wedding. Having the traditional ceremony shows their respect for and interest in preserving their cultural heritage.

Elaine and John feed each other egg and rice to symbolize their humble past.
Their wrists are tied together by the elder to give them their blessings
Elders and guests tie a white cotton string on the wrists of Elaine and John.
Some details of the traditional Lao wedding costume.
The weddings outfits are made of handmade Lao silk

Diane & Roger 30 March 07

Diane getting ready

Mum and Dad's reaction when they see Diane in her wedding dress for the first time.

Diane arriving at St Peters Chanel Church in Hunters Hill
...while Roger is waiting patiently