Archive for December, 2009

Robyn and Nick had a lovely, small and intimate ceremony on the deck of Robyn’s parents amazing home overlooking the Pyramid Mountain south of Cairns. It was a beautiful afternoon with a slight breeze.

Nick’s Dad came from England and Nick’s Mum and brother and sister joined the ceremony from England via SKYPE on the laptop!

Vivian Reid performed the ceremony which included a reading from Nick’s Mum on the laptop!

After the ceremony I took a combination of photos of everyone and a group photo. We took a walk around the lush and lovingly cared for garden taking photos and then headed down to the timber boardwalk built by Robyn’s Dad amongst the Eucalyptus and grass trees on the side of the hill.

The caterer arrived to prepare a delicious wedding dinner and that was my cue to leave everyone to enjoy the setting sun and spectacular view from the bar!

Below are a couple of photos from the afternoon. To see some more images you can view Robyn and Nick’s on-line album.

I had a great afternoon, so thank you for asking me to capture this special moment for you Robyn and Nick.

On their 1st wedding anniversary Natalie and Rob renewed their vows in a romantic, if a little windy, beach side ceremony at the Sebel Reef House and Spa at Palm Cove.

Nat looked gorgeous in her white dress with cream coloured panels. She carried a bouquet of red roses…my favorite! The bridesmaids dresses were red and really made the theme. Rob and Nat’s daughter looked really cute in her little red dress as well! She was also the “bestman” bearing the rings for her Dad!

Friends and family came from all over to join Nat and Rob in the celebration of their marriage.

Gayle Dean was the celebrant and performed a lovely ceremony, her portable PA system helping everyone to hear the ceremony above the wind.

After the ceremony we crossed the road back to the Sebel to do a group photo and photos with family and friends with the white building and lush gardens as the backdrop. (it was also out of the wind!)

I took Nat and Rob for a walk around the Resort for some photos in the classic surrounds of one of the longest running resorts in Palm Cove. It was built in 1958! We then headed back out to the beach, the wind had dropped a little by then, but we still manged to get some great shots of Nat’s veil blowing in the wind!

Below are some pics from the day, you can also view Nat and Rob’s on-line album.

Thank you for asking me to capture this special day for you Rob and Nat, it was my pleasure!

Angela and Mark are from Darwin and chose to have their special day on tropical Dunk Island. Dunk Island is south of Cairns and a 20 minute Quick Cat ride from Mission Beach.

Friends and family came from all over the country, by car, plane, train and finally boat! The weather was a bit of an issue early on in the day…..suffice to say lashing rain and howling wind did not instill confidence in Tourism Queensland adverts!

While Bob and I were waiting to check into the water taxi we saw Leanne from Cakes by Design, deliver Ange and Marks wedding cake! It was securely encased in a cardboard box wrapped in plastic to keep the rain out! I must say that it arrived looking none the worse for wear! Leanne had seen my car at the water taxi and emailed to ask if the cake had made it all AOK! It did Leanne! Well done!

Bob and I had been booked to catch the water taxi, but due to rain and the inability to keep my camera gear dry, we quickly transferred down to the Quick Cat. We arrived on the Island 20 minutes later without having been sea sick and with nice dry gear!

Mark met me and the other guests at the jetty, the downpour had eased by now! We were very efficiently checked in by the friendly porters sporting their “Movember” efforts and shown to our room.

I made a dash through the rain to say hello to Ange and try to convince her that it would stop raining in time for the ceremony to be held on the beach. Lucky for me it did!

About and hour or so before the ceremony, the rain dried up and the sun started to shine through the clouds!

A lovely ceremony was performed by Elrae Schnitzerling, including a sand ceremony and each guest adding a shell to the sand with a wish of happiness for the bride and groom.

After the ceremony I gathered all the guests for a flower shower and group photo with the ocean as a back drop for the photos. Friends and family photos followed and then some fun with the bridal party on the beach. Sarah, the wedding co-ordinator at the Resort drove Ange, Mark and myself to the other end of the Island to do some photos on a deserted sand spit looking back towards Mission Beach. There were some very cool and interesting clouds in the background!

We rushed back to the reception at the main restaurant part of the resort. Just before entering the reception we took advantage of the last morsels of setting sun to grab a few quick pics with the bridal party.

Ange and Mark kindly asked Bob and I to join them for the reception. So we did! Thank You! The food was delicious and the staff had done a great job of setting up the room.

Thank you Ange and Mark, for asking me to be your wedding photographer in this very special location. I know it was touch and go for a while there with the weather but I would say it was all good in the end!

Congratulations!

Below are some of my favorite pics from Ange and Marks day. You can see all their images at their on-line album.

Two country weddings two weekends in a row! Even better, perfect weather with big blue skies again!

I arrived to take photos of the boys getting ready at the farm at 11am. I walked right into the middle of a frenzy of ties and coats flying all over the place! I took some shots of Dave on his own, using the natural light from the lounge room window. Then we all headed outside to do some shots around the farm. The boys assured me they had been working on the gardens all week! For backgrounds we used a very rustic looking water tank, the shed where the drilling rig is kept (among other assorted farming stuff I bet!), the charming timber fence on the driveway and of course the garden!

Some shots with Dave’s Mum and Dad and then I headed out the door as the boys were about devour chicken sandwiches for lunch!

The girls were getting ready at Eden House at Yungaburra, so I hot footed it over to there. Things were going well when I arrived, with all the bridesmaids dressed and ready to go! Excellent! I did some photos of Mel’s gorgeous “latte” coloured dress, then the girls helped her put it on! Mel was stunning!

Eden House is a great place for photos with classic furnishings and great gardens! We did photos in and around the garden before I left to go to the church.

The Yungaburra Catholic church is a lovely, picturesque little timber chapel. Little being the operative word! All the guests crammed into the church to await the arrival of the bride. Actually, we heard the arrival of the bride before we saw her! The wedding cars were three very cool V8 muscle cars in the form of GT, XW and XY Ford Falcons!

The ceremony was performed by Father Hillary Flynn and went for around half an hour. After the ceremony, outside the church we managed to gather everyone for the group photo with the church in the background. Family photos followed, before we left to do photos at the bamboo farm.

The bamboo plants make such an excellent background for photos. All the texture and different colours make everything a bit more interesting.

From the bamboo farm I followed the petrol fumes and black lines of rubber on the road to the next location for photos! Back to Tolga, a quick stop at a paddock full of sunflowers and then onto the next door neighbours place. They have a great avenue of gum trees along their driveway and the light was perfect as the sun started to drop below the horizon.

The reception was held in a giant marquee at Dave’s parents farm. Mel and Dave’s Mum’s and other assorted helpers had set up the marquee that morning and it looked amazing!

A few quick sunset shots with the dogs and I left them to it to enjoy the roast that I could smell cooking on the spit!

Mel and Dave, thanks for asking me to be your photographer. You guys were fun and it was a great day!

Below are some of my favs from the day. Check out Mel and Dave’s on-line album to view some more of their images.

I love photographing weddings on the Tablelands! Nothing beats a big blue sky with interesting clouds overlooking wide open country with rugged mountains in the background and long rusty grass in the foreground!

First stop was Jarmille and Danny’s place at Atherton to photograph the girls getting ready for the big day! Everyone was very calm when I arrived with all make-up and hair complete. I took some shots of Jarmille’s gorgeous dress on the hanger, along with her shoes, flowers and jewellery. The girls looked terrific in their persimmon and lemon coloured dresses. They poured Jarmille into her dress, put on her earrings and slipped on her shoes. Jarmille’s Dad helped her with her necklace to complete Jarmille’s stunning look.

I took advantage of the natural light coming in the window for some shots of Jarmille on her own.

Then we moved outside to the front door where I fell in love with 2 big emerald green pots on either side of the door. Not only do they make an interesting addition to the photos, they now also look fabulous at my front door after I went to the nursery this weekend and purchased a set the same!

While we were taking photos of Jarmille and the girls and her family at the front door Robert and Natalie from Cairns Limousine Service pulled up on the street in the super stretch limo. This got the neighbours out! It also indicated that it was time to get this show on the road!

I left the girls and headed to the Yungaburra Chapel where the ceremony was to be held at 2pm. Shortly after I arrived the boys made a well timed entrance looking very sharp in their black suits. A few quick shots of Danny and the boys before they were herded into the Chapel to await the arrival of the bride!

The chapel was packed to capacity with standing room only! The ceremony went for about half an hour, before everyone moved outside for congratulations! I managed to round up everyone for a group photo in front of the Chapel before it started to rain! (those clouds were interesting for a reason!).

We took some family photos on the veranda of the Chapel, then it stopped raining and we finished them off outside.

The bridal party all piled into the limo and we headed off to Tolga to take some photos at the Heritage Museum. The man who owns the museum and made and restored all this incredible old stuff, had kindly parked his yellow fire engine out the front for us to take photos on!

After that a walk along the road for some photos and then everyone piled back into the limo to drive to Atherton to take some photos at the bamboo farm. The drive way has a great archway of jacaranda trees and the purple blossoms laying all around looked lovely. Bamboo makes an excellent back drop due to it’s colour and texture. The groomsmen were very helpful carrying furniture all over the farm for me!

Racing against the clock we drive back to the reception which was held at the Malanda Dairy Centre. The bridal party and parents made their entrance followed by the new Mr and Mrs Poggioli!

Phew! What a day! Thank you for having me as your photographer Jarmille and Danny, I had the best time!

Harry from Sosure DVD Production and I worked side by side to capture the whole day. Harry worked on into the reception to get the festivities after I left!

Below are some of my favorites from the day….there are too many favorites! To all of the favorites go to Jarmille and Danny’s on-line album.