A Wedding in the Family

This Sunday just gone I photographed my nephew's wedding. Jacob married his girlfriend of four years, Melissa Bastin. They are such a sweet couple and I know they will be very happy. I was happy to photograph their wedding, knowing that it was the best gift I could give, and that I would probably only fret if anyone else did it! The bonus for me was that I got to get up and sing my version of Aint No Sunshine with the band that night. I got a rousing applause for my lead break as well! Talk about too much fun! Photography, and singing with a band again..all in one day!

Congratulations Jacob and Melissa!

Me and My Ricoh

I have often spoken of my fondness for the Ricoh GR Digital, of which I am a proud owner. Recently, Ricoh Australia honoured my fondness and my photography by including two of the many images I have taken with this camera by using them in their latest brochure.

This is a great camera. For SLR users who want a quality 'carry-around', its perfect. An excellent lens, complete exposure control with live histogram and 8 megapixels of image quality. I took it with me to Argentina and Canada, and I am now rarely without it. I just love it.

Get yourself one!

Better Photography and Me

Once again I have been honoured to be among the photographers whose editorials feature in Better Photography magazine. Issue 47 of Better Photography is out now. My editorial in this issue concerns itself with being creative with your compact camera and highlights images I have taken with my Ricoh GR digital, which I used in Argentina and Canada and the Kodak 6490 which I took to Peru.

I have been writing for Better Photography magazine now for some time and I am pleased to be among its longest serving writers. Its a great magazine - the second best in the country! ;-)

A Chip off the OId Block!

It would appear I am falling behind the rest of my family in that I have never won anything. My son, Nathan has now become the proud winner of Australian Traveller's photography competition with the image above. It was taken about three years ago when he was thirteen on his newly acquired Fuji S1. I am so proud of him. He has won a Canon 400D digital SLR camera...which will be a bit of a problem, seeing as we are a Nikon family. Nonetheless, well done son! A proud Dad pats you on the back!

New Total Image and Better Pictures

Well, the Autumn 2007 Total Image and Better Pictures are on their way...at long last. It contains a feature on the Art of Reduction and Buying Your Digital Camera, as well as Greg Beyer's great article on images by the water. The cover image of Total Image was provided by Greg. Its an image of his daughter taken recently while on a family holiday. I loved it. The Better Pictures cover is from a wedding I photographed a while back. The bride is Pia Reynolds, the daughter of Mario Nicotera, one of my good friends, fellow photographers and contributors to the magazine. Pia is a beautiful girl with captivating eyes.

Look for these covers at participating photo retailers and Camera House stores across Australia!

Steve and Michelle's wedding

Another weekend, another wedding? Well, sometimes it can feel that way. But people like Michelle and Steve are the kind who remind you that you are there to photograph a very important event. It may be another wedding to you, the photographer, but it is their 'day of days' and you are the one honoured with task of capturing it and creating from it. Steve and Michelle are lovely people, and being a part of their day was, as I have often said, an honour.
Congratulations to you both.

A dog of a wedding

I've learned over the years that you should never close your mind to the opportunities that present themselves. That is especially true of photography. Your options for photographs should never be limited to the actual reason you may have turned up anywhere.Case in point...

While photographing a wedding recently, I found myself being followed around the house by an old mutt that seemed to have taken a shine to me. While doing some candid photographs around the house, I turned to see the dog behind me, on the floor. I lowered my camera to its perspective and without even my eye to the viewfinder took this portrait. Its a great stock shot that could find itself on a calendar or greeting card, perhaps with a funny caption...

Either way, it was an image I had no intention of taking on a day when I was there to do everything else but portraits of a dog..

So, keep your eyes open folks!

I agree with you, W.C!

W.C Fields is renowned for saying "never work with children or animals'...and I have listened to his advice as often as possible. Not that I have anything against children, or animals. I have been known to eat a few, ah, animals that is. But I have avoided photographing them as much as possible. Its just not my thing.

But, wouldn't you know it? Kodak Australia needed some images, supplied the baby, and off I went. While I naturally went about capturing the smiling baby images they required, I also managed this one too. This is probably one of my favourites from the shoot, not that Andrew wasn't cute. He was very cute. Its just that this is a departure of the smiling baby shot I was hired to capture. Its more about that beautiful little crop of hair babies have...and that baby smell...

OK, now I am just getting all girlie on ya...

An Australian Icon

I had the privilege this week of meeting and photographing an Australian Olympic legend, Cathy Freeman. Cathy is an Olympic Gold Medallist and has represented Australia and won medals in many international running events. She is well known for her victory lap draped in the Aboriginal flag, a symbol, as she said, of her origins and one of the most Australian things she has done.

I was asked by Penguin Publishing to cover the official launch of her autobiography, Born to Run. For a woman who has seen and stood in so much limelight, this friendly and unassuming lady was so unaccustomed to it, and her humble, natural manner was refreshing and new. I asked my old friend and offsider, Greg, to take a picture of the two of us.

Jasmine and Vince

One reason I enjoy wedding photography is the opportunity it provides me to experience and learn from other cultures. Vince and Jasmine's wedding was just that opportunity. I have been to Vietnam twice and I enjoyed it very much. The photography in that land is wonderful. But this is the first time I have been to a Vietnamese wedding.

Vince and Jasmine's wedding took place over two separate days. The first day I covered the ceremonies, in which offerings were made to ancestors, families were officially welcomed and introduced to each other and all wore traditional Vietnamese ceremonial attire. The second day was more like the weddings I am used to covering here in Australia. Jasmine wore a white dress and we went into the Dandenong hills to do some photography before heading for the reception.

It was great fun, and I enjoyed it very much, even though they worked me like a soldier! ;-)

Joy and Matt.

Congratulations to Matt and Joy, whose wedding I photographed over the weekend. I enjoyed the process, and it was lovely to once again be honoured with the task of capturing an important day. Matt, I know you weren't into the photo thing, but you were great to work with. Joy, you lived up to your name!

Loving Them French

As part of my ongoing (but relatively new) relationship with Cokin Filters, I have been asked to become a part of their Cokin Experiences website. I am an avid user of Cokin filters, and despite the fact that I shoot entirely digitally, I still believe in using filters to create the image as much as possible in camera. I use filters to give me a better image in terms of colour, exposure and effect and this saves time in post processing. These filters would definetely include some of my favourites such as the Cokin G2 Grad, the Circular Polariser and their Blue-Yellow 173 Polariser. I have used these filters extensively here in Australia and during my recent trip through the Canadian Rockies. It is an honour to be a part of the Cokin Experience and have my work honoured by this long standing French photographic company.