Archive for May, 2011
From Russia to Bali with Dream Weddings Bali Style
May 27th
A lot of people have been asking me about destination weddings lately, and where do you get good inspiration and info on planning a destination wedding. Well, a great new international wedding magazine has emerged “Dream Weddings Bali Style” and not only is it distributed around the globe you can also download a digital version of the magazine through ZINIO. While its focus is of course Bali, it has heaps of info to help with destination weddings worldwide. In the current issue the beautiful Tanya and Alek’s wedding that I photographed at Alila Soori Bali adorns 10 pages of the magazine.
The magazine has also just been translated into Russian, which will be the perfect gift for Tanya and Alek’s parent who are Soviet immigrants. They can now share the publication with their extended family. Its also perfect timing for weddings in Bali as Aeroflot has just begun direct flights from Russia to Bali. This is kind of ironic as last year I flew from photographing one wedding in Russia to another in Bali but had to endure a number of stop overs and a long flight to get there. A direct flight would have been music to my ears and I suspect to some of the guests of Tanya & Alek’s wedding.
Here is a couple images from the Russian version of Tanya and Alek’s wedding. It truly was “One Perfect Day” – the title of their wedding story translated for you non-Russian speaking blog readers.
The latest March-June issue is one of the nicest magazines I’ve seen for a while and worth downloading. Also if you would love to see more images from this wedding there is nice story on the Style me Pretty wedding website worth checking out.
Seeing an all Russian version of the magazine and the amazing colour and culture of what Bali offers travelers, I’m inspired to post a some of my recent fine art and streetscape snaps from a few of my recent visits to both Russia and Bali. Stay tuned…
Brieanna & Luke’s Maleny Wedding
May 20th
It just doesn’t get better than this.
Brieanna and Luke’s Maleny wedding was simply magical. Between their ceremony at the new “The Little White Wedding Church” and their reception, just down the road at one of my favourite venues, “House of Laurels”, we got to drink in some of the true beauty of this place. Double full rainbows and burst’s of sunshine, followed by a short but memorable downpour. wow.
Fortunately Luke’s Best Man arrived with the umbrella just in the nick of time. I however, got completely soaked! It was worth every drop. Who says magic doesn’t happen everyday?
American Photo’s TOP TEN wedding photographers in the world – Who Me?
May 10th
So the news is out – American Photo Magazine has published their list of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World – and I just happened to make the list! Thanks to everyone that has already sent me their congratulations and well wishes via facebook & twitter. It takes a while for it all to sink in.
For those that keep asking – why haven’t I posted? Well, this has actually been quite a public personal achievement for me. Sure I’ve won a few awards over the years, and for many years I’ve been duking it out with my good friends Rocco Ancora and Yervant Zanzanian (both also on the list), at the AIPP Nationals for Australian Wedding Photographer of the Year – we seem to rotate the winner – but knowing you’re good on the world stage – well that’s a whole other ball game. Like anyone who is really passionate about their work, all you really want is to be the best you can be. Recognition, while it is far from what drives you, helps you to know you are doing a good job. I guess when I’ve been able to first hand see the work of people like Parker J Pfister, Jeff Ascough, Cliff Mautner and Greg Gibson, I’ve known I still have more to learn. And I do, even with a Top 10 ranking under my belt. That’s the great thing about this job – you don’t ever have to stop learning, growing and pushing the boundaries.
Getting on THE list, well I’m sure none of us expected it. So like the other 9 amazing photographers, it took a bit to believe it, then it made me very happy. But it has also come during a week of many happy things within Studio Impressions. And while the team have been celebrating quietly with me (and sometimes loudly), my celebration is no more important than the birth of little Sharna for Tania or Adam’s recent exhibition. Wonderful things can happen to us all – just follow your passion and love what you do -whatever goal you set yourself.
So I am very humbled to be on this list with the calibre of photographers there, and I am very thankful to all the people that helped to put me there. Not the least of whom are my wonderful clients who trust me to do the best I can do on their most important day. The fact is I am only as good as my clients allow me to be, and I really am very very lucky to work with the people I do. A special thank you to Tarryn and to Zoe & Simon, whose photos grace the pages of American Photo. Of course thanks to the great team at Studio Impressions who share my passion for creating images that really mean something, and to my supportive little family who keep it all in perspective.
I have my copy of the mag……hot off the press and air couriered via Gabe, who does our album designs and just happened to be heading home from LA the day it came out…….
American Photo have posted the article online, you can read all about it on the Pop Photo website, here.
And it was a wonderful surprise…….. four amazing Aussies on the list………
Good things happening everywhere…..
May 8th
Things have been busy lately, busy, busy, busy. I haven’t posted half the stuff I have wanted to tell you about. So much to share. Here’s a couple of the things that have made me smile lately.
Last night I went to the Queensland Centre for Photography (QCP) to see an exhibition called “ALT. Eight Alternate Queensland Photographers”. Opening night & two Studio Impressions staff in the eight – Nicola Poole & Adam Finch. Nicola did a collaborative with her Dad & the legendary Ian Poole. It was fascinating to see similar scenes of Brisbane from the perspective of two generations. Amazing the familial resemblence in their work despite the very different approaches. Visit QCP & check it out for yourself if you can.
It was really special though to see Adam’s work. You have all seen his brilliant wedding work posted on this blog, but there is a whole other side to Adam’s photography and it was on show last night. Adam does some fantastic streetscapes, but not like others you would see. His streetscapes are stark and haunting. They are usually devoid of people but not emotion. For such a brilliant people photographer to leave people out of his streetscapes is not only fascinating, to me it makes a strong statement about Adam and his ability to relate to the world on multiple levels. His exhibition last night was titled “Blandscapes” and it really challenged you to see beauty in some of the most ordinary surrounds. Some prints I’ve seen before as he worked on them at the Studio, but to see them enlarged to 70inch in length and starkly hung on a white wall, every pixel open for interpretation, well it was very impressive. Adam, you should be very very proud mate. Hope this is the start of many more exhibitions.
The exhibition opening night has not been the only great news we’ve had in the studio of late. Just before Easter, one of our staff, Tania Brown, welcomed her second child to the world. We’ve all said our personal congrats, but for those of you who know Tania well, I thought we would post a little pic of the beautiful Sharna Danks-Brown here for you all to ooh & aaah over. Congrats Tania & Lance & Kayden. Welcome little Sharna!
Belinda & Joel
May 4th
On a weekend defined by a Royal Wedding, I funnily enough found myself with some time off. So grabbing this rare opportunity I took the boys & Penny up to Noosa for some R & R. A few days at the beach, surfing some waves, building monster truck stadiums in the sand (my boys don’t do sandcastles – not interactive enough) and eating good food was a great way to recharge my batteries. Penny said how she thought it was funny that I chose Noosa for a getaway because I seem to be at Noosa, the Sunshine Coast or the nearby hinterland so regularly with work this year. Still, wedding or no wedding, this part of the world is always a joy to visit.
It made me want to share a recent Sunshine Coast wedding with you. This one rivals the Royal Wedding for style, but thankfully, was a little more laid back and a lot more personal.
Belinda & Joel, chose The Plantation at Cooroy to share their love with family and friends. Their vintage inspired theme in the country surrounds of Cooroy really set the atmosphere for this wedding. A really relaxed affair with good food, good friends & good fun. Lots of touching moments, accompanied by a few tears and lots of laughter. Belinda looked elegant in a Johanna Johnson dress - like a movie star and I don’t think Joel could have been any more in love.
Belinda & Joel, thank you for sharing this beautiful day with me and adding to my wonderful memories of this magnificent part of the world.
If you would love to see more images and read more about the day, Rock n Roll Bride just posted a story on Belinda and Joel.
