We had the pleasure of capturing Carly + Simon’s wedding last weekend! They had put a lot of planning into their wedding day and it was lovely. Perfect weather, a gorgeous couple and fun bridal party we had a great day. We can’t wait to show you the beautiful details and the whole day in their full wedding post but in the mean time here is a sneak peek of a few of the many photos that caught my eye from the day.

The ceremony was held in Tompkins Park, the reception at Tompkins on Swan. The bridal party photos which feature in the post were mostly taken in Fremantle around Cliff St, and also near the maritime museum.

Simon and Carly, hope you guys are having a great time in Port Douglas!! :)

Jen and Kit had a few concepts in mind for their engagement session, such as drawing inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, as well as the Chinese fable that everybody is connected to their soul mate by red string. Since the very romantic Kit had proposed to Jen in the secret garden at Abingdon Miniature Village, these ideas tied in strongly with their story and made for a very inspired afternoon!

With the Alice in Wonderland theme, we decided to make a play on size as in the story Alice grows and shrinks by eating special cake and drinking magic potions. It also helped that we were already going to a miniature village! So thinking ‘big’ I was drawn to the grand, very large architecture in Fremantle. Big vines, big doors, even big pot plants. :) We visited the big door on Croke Lane, some giant doorways on High Street, a few alleys, and of course the famous white facade on Cliff St.

When photographers say they don’t like working with kids or animals, (I do!!) well I’ve found something even more temperamental and all my techniques for kids and animals just wouldn’t work. Have you ever tried posing a bunch of balloons when the wind hasn’t decided whether it is gentle or strong, or even what direction it’s coming from? These balloons needed constant supervision as well, when they weren’t require red in the shoot we tied them to a ceramic cup, and even then they kept trying to drift themselves down the street. Going through the photos of the day, many frames had perfect expressions from Jen and Kit, only to have a misbehaving balloon!!

Our next stop was Abingdon, not only was there a maze with beautiful green hedges with the sun skimming the tops, but also miniature buildings, and the secret garden where Kit had proposed to Jen!! If it wasn’t for Jen and Kit, I would not believe this place existed only 59 minutes from Perth! I felt as though I was in England.

Our last location was at the estuary in Mandurah, with a creepy forest, native bush, a long boardwalk into the sunset, Richard and I were in heaven. It’s filled with mosquitoes though, the type that seem oblivious to the spray we’d put all over ourselves.

I’ve taken photos all around the world, at some pretty cool locations. But for me, I’d have to say this was my favourite combination of locations in one photoshoot so far. I think the kid in me just finds mazes, little buildings, big doors, pretty sunsets and creepy trees exciting. The only sad thing about this shoot (besides accidentally eating a mosquito) was that I left my favourite hat in Mandurah, on a rock in the bushes, opposite the jetty. If I’m ever in Mandurah I’m going to check that rock, even though I know that with the tides or winds it’s long gone, you never know…

A big thank you to Jen and Kit for your help with the props, locations and inspiration, it was a fulfilling and creative photoshoot. Your wedding is going to be amazing!



















]]> http://www.albedophotography.com.au/jen-and-kits-pre-wedding-photography-in-wonderland/feed 23 http://www.albedophotography.com.au/canon-5d-markiii-vs-5d-markii-7d-review http://www.albedophotography.com.au/canon-5d-markiii-vs-5d-markii-7d-review#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:52:15 +0000 albedophotography http://www.albedophotography.com.au/?p=1369 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized. To see them in all their full size glory, please view the original post by clicking here.

An update: After five weddings
After photographing five weddings on the Canon 5D III I have some more comments and some in-the-field photos to add.  Although I mentioned in the article below there is no real need for the high ISOs as we bring our own lighting gear and don’t usually shoot above ISO 1600/3200 anyway. Well, we were wrong! The high ISO ability allows us to pull colour and texture from the sky at even midnight.

The photo on the right was taken 5 hours after sunset (camera settings were ISO 25,600, 1/15 sec, f2.8, light from an iPhone) This shot definitely wouldn’t have been possible without our Canon 5D3 as we only had a few minutes to take the photo so no time to set up anything more complicated such as tripods and multiple exposures! Must admit the full moon and amazing clouds circling it did help though.

Whilst I’m updating you, I might as well mention that the 5D3s 61 autofocus points are over-rated. Since we frequently shoot on prime lenses with a tiny depth of field, there’s nothing we can trust more to lock onto our subjects eye that the single centre focus point, locked focus, and recomposing. The camera was, for some reason on 61 point autofocus mode this morning. I gave it a try, and hated it! Unless my subjects are moving towards me, I don’t think anything beats single point focus. Well not yet anyway…

Initial  field test and review
Yay!!! I picked up our pre-ordered Canon 5D Mark III today. A whole day earlier than it is even meant to be released anywhere in the world, so boy were we excited!

Although, as wedding photographers we probably don’t need the upgraded version, since we recently bought another Canon 5DII, and we also use a Canon 7D which are more than amazing enough. But the fact that this camera merges the best features of both of our existing camera (the full frame of the Canon 5DII and the ability to take 6 or so frames per second on the 7D) plus displays low levels of noise when using high ISOs up to 12,800 was too hard to resist! To give you an idea, the highest ISO we are happy with on the 5DII or 7D is 3200 at a pinch. So that’s at least 2 stops better (or the ability to take photos where it is 4+ times darker) compared to the 5DII/7D. Plus Richard likes new toys!

Tonight we took out our new baby on a test around Perths CBD, and honestly had to look hard for an alley dark enough to actually need the use the maximum native resolution of ISO 25,600, and that was whilst using a lense that only had a maximum aperture of f2.8.

The focusing locked on as well, if not better than our Canon 7D. The only time we had trouble was when it was almost to dark to see and there was no contrasty area to focus on. We did a test using f1.4, 1/400 shutter, ISO 12800 whilst photographing me walking directly towards the camera in low ambient light in AI focus mode. The success rate of sharp photos was about 80%, better than we would expect from even the 7D. The success rate of the 5DII in this situation would be about 0%!

The 3.2 inch screen, slightly larger than the already huge 3 inch 5DII made everything look beautiful and clear.

A new feature of the 5DIII is the silent (well pretty quiet) shutter mode, which will come in handy when photographing a wedding ceremony in a church, where every little sound echoes.

The 5DIII battery is the same as the Canon 7D and the 5DII which makes me happy,(and is convenient) and there’s a dual axis electronic level (by pressing the info button twice), there’s no more excuses for crooked horizons :).

I had a play with the built in HDR feature, although not great for on people photography, it may have some use for landscapes and architecture photography. This is a new feature that does not exist in the 5DII or 7D. I was surprised the photo created in camera is only saved as a jpg, however the raw images used to create it are also saved in the default mode. Whilst the processor is meant to be much faster than the 5DII, the camera did take a little while to process the HDR as well, probably slower than the iPhone with the ProHDR app. :( And in general wedding shooting conditions I have never maxed out the buffer on the Canon 5DII anyway.

If any advanced amateur photographers are reading this trying to decide between the 5DII and the 5DIII I would recommend the 5DII and to use their savings to buy better lenses, as good glass makes more of a difference to the photo than what camera is used. The main benefit of the 5DIII compared to the 5DII is the ability to focus in really low light, and also to take photos at very high ISOs. To be honest, unless you are photographing something as fast paced as a wedding you can just use a torch to help with focusing in the dark, and a tripod or bounced flash to reduce your need to high ISOs.

At the end of the day, it’s just another tool, although a very sexy, fast, intelligent one! To quote one of my photography idols, Jerry Ghionis “a better microphone doesn’t make you a better singer, and in the same sense a better camera doesn’t magically create better photos”. But if anyone ever holds their wedding in a dark alley at midnight, where flash photography is not allowed, they can be reassured that we will still be able to take a decent photo! :) And as a wedding photographer, being prepared for anything is what it’s all about!

New Canon 5D mk III 

Test shot: 1/80, f2.8, iso 12800  (hires)

Test shot: 1/40, f5.0, iso 12800  (hires)
]]> http://www.albedophotography.com.au/canon-5d-markiii-vs-5d-markii-7d-review/feed 13 http://www.albedophotography.com.au/queens-gardens-and-frasers-restaurant http://www.albedophotography.com.au/queens-gardens-and-frasers-restaurant#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:22:50 +0000 albedophotography http://www.albedophotography.com.au/?p=1223 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized. To see them in all their full size glory, please view the original post by clicking here.

Jade and Aaron’s wedding was an epic 18 hours of joy and celebration!

We arrived at the girls house in Dianella at 6am, where he found the Brides and bridesmaids already preparing for the big day ahead. They had literally been up since the crack of dawn! The girls got dressed in their traditional red Vietnamese wedding dresses. The boys arrived dressed in their traditional costumes and carrying gifts in true Chinese/ Vietnamese tradition arrived at the bride’s home. They lit firecrackers, a tradition to alert the bride’s family that they have arrived. The gifts are considered symbolic of the wealth that Aaron has to offer in exchange for Jade’s hand in marriage. Their main gift they had brought was a suckling pig. So technically Aaron managed to swap this one pig for his beautiful bride. What a fantastic deal!

The next test for the groom was a series of Chinese games, which Aaron and Groomsmen Jeffrey, Anh and Sasha passed with flying colours. This was really entertaining, involving pushups, eating coffee beans, remembering Jades mobile phone number, giving Jade and the bridesmaids Adelene, Chi and Jennifer massages, and a bit of dancing and singing. The funniest game was when one of the groomsmen had to pass an egg from the top of Aarons shirt to the bottom of his trousers, without cracking it. This resulted in some hilariously incriminating photos. Well done to the bridesmaids for coming up with such entertaining and clever tests!

This was followed by a Tea ceremony, which is the official event during which their extended family meets the new spouse and welcomes them to the family. The ceremony usually begins with parents, to express gratitude towards their parents for looking raising them, and is a time for their parents to offer advice to the soon to be married couple. This is followed by other family members, who drink the tea to symbolise their acceptance of the new bride or groom into the family.

The formal ceremony was held at the beautifully manicured Queens Gardens, in East Perth. Jade had changed into her white wedding dress and looked amazing. After the ceremony, we took the formal family photos here and then some with the bridal party. It’s a great location, with water lily-filled lakes, pretty flowers, huge trees and manicured lawns.

We then headed to the popular wedding photography location, Claisebrook Cove in East Perth for some more formal bridal party photos. We took some fun photos up on the limestone wall, the perfectly manicured green hill, the bridge and down by the Swan River. The sun was still really bright as this stage, but with our portable super powerful portable studio lighting we were able to get some amazing shots! The sky looked amazing, bright blue with fluffy white clouds. We also managed to fit in a quick stop at the Blue Boat Shed in Crawley for sunset where some dolphins made an appearance :).

The reception was held upstairs at Fraser’s Restaurant, perched high above the city of Perth and the beautiful Swan River in Kings Park, with spectacular views of the Perth CBD and menus designed by celebrity chef Chris Taylor. What a great way to end such a fantastic day!!

A special thanks to Chris from Deprimo Wedding Photography for assisting on the day.

Crazy weather today for Australia Day Fireworks 2012. It was 42C in the morning, but by late afternoon dark stormy clouds began forming. We had stayed back at a friend’s BBQ a tad late so didn’t have it enough time to make it to the south side of the Swan River, but after seeing the sky we knew we had to take some photos… So we went to a car park roof top in the centre of Perth.

The lighting began just before the Australia Day fireworks started, creating an amazing display natures and man’s pyrotechnics complemented each other. It was an awesome skyshow!

Two years ago, on top of Mount Dale in the Darling Scarp, during one of the DEC controlled burn offs,  kneeling of a pie of broken glass , looking over the hilltops Dave yelled to Michelle “will you marry me?”
Prior to this, Michelle and David had met in their second  year at UWA whilst both studying a Bachelor of Science. Their romance grew over their Biochemistry class as the light from the Bunsen burner flickered off their safety glasses. They had admired each other across  the lab bench until there was an extra sort of Chemistry going on! But now on the top of Mount Dale, as the bushfire smoke drifted past and blood poured out of Dave’s knee, Michelle accepted.

Which is the short story of how it came to be that we were photographing  the lovely Michelle and David’s wedding!  After a false start knocking on the door of the wrong apartment at Ascot Quays, (correct number, incorrect wing) we arrived at the girls, to find them  busy getting ready. Naomi, Jen and Maid of honor Natalie were having the finishing touches of their makeup applied, before the dramatic moment when Michelle emerged in her stunning wedding dress .

Michelle and David’s ceremony was in one of the most photogenic wedding locations, on the eastern side of the Hyde Park under the shade of some huge Moreton Bay Fig trees.  As you can see from the photos, Michelle and David have an amazing chemistry, and spend a lot of time laughing together,  which made for some great photos!

Thanks to the lovely CHOGM and the Queens’s visit,  Michelle and David had decided  to change their wedding from UWA Sunken Gardens to Hyde Park.  I do enjoy photographing weddings at the Sunken Gardens, but absolutely love the location the ceremony was changed to. Think I need to  partially thank the Queen for getting us to go somewhere new :) The location bridal party photoshoot was also at Hyde Park,  the huge trees made awesome backdrops. The sun was creating a beautiful glow, and the backlit trees and rays of light makes this place one of my favourite natural settings  for wedding photography.

The day had been planned so that we could take sunset photos right before the bridal party’s grand entrance into the Ascot Quays reception centre. Since there was a picturesque spot on the river near the venue, we chose to take the photos of the bride and groom there. Although on the day the allure on the turquoise swimming pool was too much, and we had an impromptu photoshoot there as well!

The reception  was very entertaining, and I would have to say the speeches were one of the highlights. Bridesmaid Natalie who had travelled all the way South Aftrica shared how much she loves David, but she’s letting Michelle have him. Dave’s speech was hilarious,  and his brother John provided us with some insights into Dave’s childhood, such as his hate for doing the dishes until every last dish had been used. He would find  Dave eating  dinner out of up  turned pot lid, and drinking his juice out of a vase. If Michelle didn’t know him well beforehand, she does now!

Thanks guys for a great day :)






































]]> http://www.albedophotography.com.au/wedding-photography-hyde-park/feed 14 http://www.albedophotography.com.au/wedding-photography-michelle-khoa http://www.albedophotography.com.au/wedding-photography-michelle-khoa#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:37:47 +0000 albedophotography http://www.albedophotography.com.au/?p=1176 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized. To see them in all their full size glory, please view the original post by clicking here.

Michelle and Khoa

Photographing a Vietnamese/Chinese wedding is quite different than Western weddings, and we always look forward to the variety. One of the main difference is the time involved due to the intertwining of Western and Eastern traditions. Often most wedding preparation start at around 4:30am and continue until midnight. Lucky for us we don’t normally have to start till 6 or 7am :). For Michelle and Khoa’s wedding, we arrived at Michelle’s parent’s place at 7am to photograph the girls getting ready.

Soon after, Khoa and his family to arrive to pick up his bride Michelle. Khoa and his groomsmen presented his gifts covered in red cloths to the bride’s family and was given permission to greet the bride and whisk her away for the tea pouring ceremony which was held back at his parent’s house. Traditionally the groom’s family gives gifts covered in red cloth, as the colour red is considered to be lucky in both Vietnamese and Chinese traditions.

Once we were back at the groom’s house a tea ceremony took place in front of the family altar. Michelle and Khoa bowed their heads to the altar asking for their ancestors’ blessing before taking part in the tea ceremony, where Michelle and Khoa served tea to their parents and relatives. In return their family presented them with gifts and gave their guidance to the soon to be newlyweds.

We then had a short break for lunch before Michelle changed into a beautiful layered wedding dress. Next we headed to St Michael’s Church in Leederville for the Catholic ceremony. After the formal ceremony we went to John Oldman Park on Mounts Bay Road and the Crawley Edge Blue Boatshed to photograph some bridal party shots. With plenty of time left we tried to sneak to the roof of a car park to take sunset photos but were foiled by security. But we had managed to take some stunning cloud pattern photos during the day which more than made up for it.

After sunset, we drove to the reception which was held at Xintiandi Restaurnt in Northbridge, formally known as Old Jade Northbridge. Michelle changed into a third outfit, a stunning red dress. The guests were treated to a 10 course meal and then celebrated the night away.

I loved Emma’s family as soon as we met at the client meeting. They were so interesting and entertaining, I think the meeting went a few hours longer than usual, we got along so well! So I was quite surprised when I arrived to Emma’s house in North Perth to discover the place very quiet indeed. No bridesmaids running around, and not a hair stylist or makeup artist in sight.

There had been a power outage that very morning, and the Bride and her lovely, exponentially fun and crazy bridesmaids Sara, Emma, Anita and Sonali had walked to the nearby (generator powered) recreation centre to borrow their electricity to style their hair. What’s a wedding without a few dramas?

The rest of the day went much more smoothly, we are happy to say. The reception was held at the magnificent St Mary’s church, in Leederville. This is one of our favourite Churches in Perth. Ben and his groomsmen Mathew, Mitchell , and Emmas brothers Adam, and Mark looked very smart.

After the ceremony, all 150 guests went to Hyde Park for a garden party. A very clever idea, this was a mini celebration for the guests. The wedding cake (made lovingly by Ben’s mum) was cut and the champagne flowed! After distracting the guests with food and drinks, Emma, Ben and their bridal party snuck away with us for photos in the park. After a bit of a break, we met the bridal party at John Odman Park, where we had a quick stop on the bridge and on the hill with the Perth CBD in the background.

The reception was held at the elegant and contemporary Bells Function Centre at Barrack Street Jetty opposite the Bell Tower The large windows provided a magnificent view of the Swan River, Kings Park and Perth city. During the speeches Ben admitted that Emma was a bit of a “netball queen”, and we have a feeling that this sporting streak in some of the guests may have been an influence in the competitive fight for the bridal bouquet by the single ladies.

Emma and Ben make a wonderful and very fun couple, a “complimentary contradictions” according to Emma’s Dad. We wish them the very best as they embark on a new beginning together!

EMMA AND BEN’S FULL GALLERY

I recently had the pleasure of photographing Ruth and Mark’s wedding at the picturesque Araluen Botanic Park.

Since I did not have any weddings booked for the weekend, I took the opportunity to second shoot for Matt from Allora Photography. I used the wedding to experiment with my shiny new tilt-shift lens and to try out some new ideas. A big thank you to Matt for the invitation to second shoot :)

Here’s a few of the photos I took, on my 90TSE tilt shift lens. The full wedding blog is available on www.alloraphotography.com.au

Vera Wang had fun designing her “witchy” black wedding gowns.

The prolific wedding dress designer shocked the industry with her Fall 2012 show this month.

Vera presented a selection of black gowns in a stark contrast to the conventional white dress.

Vera Wang, the woman responsible for all three of Kim Kardashian‘s wedding gowns to Kris Humphries, debuted her Fall 2012 Bridal Collection at New York’s Bridal Fashion Week and her usual white hot collection was more Dark Knight than Snow White. Models traipsed down the runway draped in tulle, organza, Chantilly lace, chiffon, silk and other traditional fabrics, but Vera gave in to her dark side, introducing a 16-piece collection in shades of jet black, nude and caramel. Not a single ivory white gown walked down the runway aisle.

“I found black to be fresh and tongue-in-cheek,” Vera told the New York Times. “I did take it to a witchy kind of place. For me, it helped build a sense of mystery that I was hungry for. And it added this sensuality and sexuality, and a little bit of severity, too.”

As one of the most sought after wedding designers in the world, Vera, a former Senior Fashion Editor at Vogue, can certainly afford to break a few fashion rules, but can she transform a shade associated with funerals and mourning and get brides to say, “I do” to black?

“I wore white on my wedding day,” she remembered. “I was very frustrated, it being so traditional at the time, but the bridal industry wasn’t so evolved back then.”

Sex and the City‘s Sarah Jessica Parker famously wore a black gown in 1997 to wed Matthew Broderick but to this day the actress admits she regrets her decision. Given another opportunity Sarah has promised to “white it up,” she told Haper’s Bazaar. “I’d wear a beautiful, proper wedding dress, like I should have worn on that day.”