brendon and shireen 8th march 2008

we return to gorgeous alverstoke for the wedding of brendon and shireen, a beautiful young couple who were surrounded by fun and loving family and friends on a very warm summer night...

a few images from home...

and then a mad dash to alverstoke where we were greeted by a handsome groom, and all the loveliness that is this heritage listed location...

brendon receiving a little flak from his mates for looking so stylish and smooth...

brendons mum and dad wondering how did their little boy grow up so fast...or that's what i think anyway...

and shireen's mum wondering when did he little girl grow into such a beautiful young lady...shireen is the only daughter with four brothers...

the priest who officiated actually christened brendon as a baby...so he too was wondering where the years have disappeared to...

love it when the couple is finally able hold hands in a formal ceremony...

we took off in the hot cars for a trip 5 kms down the road for a bit of fun on a windy road...we were only interupted by 1 grumpy farmer, 1 car load of hooligans and 1 outlaw motorcycle member...all in a days work...

then back to alverstoke where, because everyone was having so much fun, it took us a lifetime to capture this image...

a few portraits...

the bridal party were then obligated to return to the barn for their sumptious dinner...then we coaxed brendon and shireen to return to the grounds of alverstoke for some moody twilight images...

mike has been experimenting with extra light lately...creating stunning images with a unique glow...

love love love this one...by now the bridesmaids had joined in the fun...

despite loud protests from mike and i ("please dont go back inside we want to take more photos") the bridal party returned again to the barn for speeches...just couldnt resist posting this image of muzza, shireens dad, chuckling because he forgot his spectacles...

the best man was terribly nervous...but once joined by two jolly groomsmen had everyone cracking up with their speeches...

a pretty cake...

who would have thought that old fashioned lighting in an old wooden barn would provide such beautiful lighting...combined with a little spooky post-processing by yours truly...

beautiful image by mike - helped along with a little backlighting ...

love this image...

here is shireen with her lovely friend jodie and her her fiance ryan, who are considering booking us for their photographers for their wedding in january 2009..."pick us pick us - we work really hard and we are lots of fun and we are awesome picture takers!"...

another great portrait of muzza, relaxed and happy towards the end of a fantastic day...

mike chewing the fat (or sitting on his butt while i'm running around) with a fellow photographer...

a great shot of the crowd grooving to the tunes...just as i was about to join them, mike said it was time to go...bummer...

thank you, brendon and shireen, and your ever loving extended family and friends, for allowing us to share a warm sunny day at alverstoke with you...hope you enjoyed your honeymoon and wishing you many blessings for the future...

comp update: mike seriously rocked with the twilight images - BUT i held the light!!! (when the best man wasnt holding it to put his mind off being violently ill...)

martin and nichole 1st march 2008

martin and nichole were married with a joyous ceremony on the old jetty at busselton, with a sumptious reception at the incredible beach front goose restaurant...nichole is the most flawless, creative, artistic, gracious bride we have ever met (read her very funny and very yummy personal blog here)...an ideal match for her handsome, articulate, intense partner martin...



they were joined by nicholes huge family (3 sisters and 2 brothers!), martins small family and their charming children, indi and bella...here is bella's flowergirl dress that nichole handmade...







three matching frocks for three very different sisters...

a very stylish and individual gown for nichole...

luurrvve the bouquets...

while the holiday home was in full swing (organised chaos?) the brothers decided the best place was in the pool...

chatting with bella...

one holiday home, one bathroom, one mirror, one very expensive concealor, five girls...hhmmm

this is nan and pop...(no wonder she chose the hallway mirror!)...very special to nichole and who travelled from afar and despite recent illness to watch their beautiful granddaughter marry her handsome fellow...

we again completely re-arranged the lounge room for a few portraits...my apologies to the boyfriend who was contently watching the car racing...

the sisters were just itching to start working it for the camera...stay tuned...

a four generation snap before we raced off to the jetty...

martin and indi...wondering why are all these people looking at me...

arriving with dad...

love this image...yes, one of mine...the ceremony was officiated by the uber stylish and the most gorgeous and accomodating cavelle monck...just beautiful cavelle...

and also this one...one of mikes...

joint effort here, mike captured beautiful girls, ocean and birds...1970's post processing by moi...

my fav family shot...but there are more nichole!...just wait for the sunset images!

indi and bella... warming to the strange loud lady with the camera...

flowergirl of the year!

mike's gorgeous image of nichole...

martin was reluctant to stray too far away from his guests - and the yummy food - for their location shots, so mike and i scouted for close places a few weeks before and stumbled across this totally amazing abandoned villa...well, we hoped was it was abandoned - we tried all contacts possible to locate an owner to no avail...we were just a little fearful that it had been bought by an outlaw motorcycle gang who were at any minute about to arrive and begin their annual booze and fight club conference...we again reverted to the "beg forgiveness, not ask permission" rule...the following images were soooo worth any trepidation we may have had...we hope you love these arty shots guys...

the entire time we were there i kept expecting a little old lady ghostly face to appear from the turret window...

now here's the thing about serious martin...he is by far the best borat impersonator we have ever come across...seriously the real deal...the only item missing is the lime green mankini - and i even have my suspicions about that!...we would think he was finally exasperated with our weird requests and then a hear a tone perfect "great success"...

as the afternoon proceeded, martins humour started to shine through the wedding haze, especially when mike and martin found this sign at our next location...apologies to all the mums reading...

i had been waiting many weddings for the perfect couple and the perfect location for this image...

artgeo also had a pretty deck with pretty tree...

where nichole whispered sweet nothings and made martin grin...

mike's stunning silouhette image...

more of nichole's creativity with these exquisite cupcakes...

several invited guests were of mcuh smaller stature - and we had a great time recording some antics on the deck during twilight...this little boys eyes were as blue as the sea behind us...

and these little twin girls - who most of the time ran rings around their parents - secretly tried to open the love heart chocolates with borrowed knives...but it's ok - i managed to inform the mum of the impending danger - just after i had taken the shot...

funny fellows goofing around with a little cross-processing thrown in for colour...

pretty girls in pretty dresses dancing a pretty dance...

and dear sweet little indi playing chasy...

a generation photo of the men...

our humble apologies to nichole - as she was only 3/4 of the way through her superb fish dinner...but we just could not pass up on this gorgeous sunset...

another of mikes images...yes, in case you are wondering he did pretty much whup my butt this day...love this family shot...i'm thinking large, very large, enlargement for this one nichole...

and because the day is all about nichole (sorry martin - but we did warn you...) here is a pensive nichole in a little tungsten light - taken by bloody mike...

and just for the models of the afternoon - here is a closing shot of the sisters and friends - still looking damn fine...

martin and nichole, it was very important to us that we captured your individuality, your love for your children and your devotion to each other - we hope we have achieved this for you both...you guys fit together like a piece of indi's well worn lego...

thank you for treating us as invited guests, we enjoyed every mouthful, and meeting and chatting with your amazing friends and family. so happy that your honeymoon was spent eating and drinking and enjoying each others fabulous company...see you both again at the biggest park in australia!

if you havent guessed already (i did actually take some images this day) mike was incredible in his composition and ideas for martin and nichole...inspired, i'm sure, by the continual praise from borat...