Adelaide wedding photographer capturing stories, not just taking pictures
A quick preview for the lovely Samantha & Tristram – who held their wedding 2 hours north of Adelaide at Bungaree Station in the Clare Valley. I love the Clare Valley, but more than the place, the people who choose to hold their wedding in Clare are always a delight to photograph.
The reception was held in a sheep shearing shed! Pretty awesome, and all the rustic country style details were done by Samantha and Tristram – great effort.
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“You can’t not eat food if an Italian offers it you, Joel,” insisted Christina. So I picked out a slice of cheese from between mounds of meat. I don’t normally eat on a wedding day, as I’m too busy to get hungry, but I never want to offend anyone. Such nice families on both sides, but Christina’s parents in particular reminded me of my Oma; so loving and kind – and constantly eating or offering food :D.
Christina and Shaun (especially Shaun) made it pretty clear when we first met that they didn’t much like having their photograph taken. However, I think they did a wonderful job during the posed kind of photos, and the all the really natural photos turned out great in my opinion (am I allowed to say that about my own work? Probably not, but anyway..), especially the ceremony; having snuck into the St Francis Xavier Cathedral a handful of times for some peace and quiet, I knew it was really dark in there.
The Italian Centre was a great place for a reception. The staff are courteous and professional and the setup is pretty amazing. Christina and Shaun had 3 videographers (from Cinecraft) on the day, which prompted Shaun’s father to refer to us as recording a reality TV show (good point), but I think it’ll be a reality TV show to treasure for generations to come.
Thanks so much for having me there to capture the day for you, Christina & Shaun!
Anneke & Jamie reside in Sydney, but are both from South Australia originally and chose to hold their wedding at Pikes winery in the Clare Valley. A great place for photos – but what I love about these photos is Anneke and Jamie were so relaxed, open and comfortable together the photos would have turned out great if they chose to marry anywhere. Being from Sydney a lot of the work preparing for the wedding was also done by the families residing nearby – but Anneke and Jamie’s personalities came through with fun games (giant connect 4, chess and jenga) for guests to use while we took photos around the winery, a keg set up and beautiful flowers throughout.
When Anneke and Jamie first contacted me I was overseas in Japan (shooting this wedding in Okinawa) and so we Skyped. I had a fairly long beard at the time and so was nervous meeting over Skype (first impressions last and all). But we got along really well and were on the same page photography wise – covering the day naturally with some enjoyable portraits thrown in for measure. By the time it came to start organising the details and timing we Skyped again. This time I had long hair. I think I said “I wear a suit but with hair like this I look a bit like a hippy”. “No worries at all,” said Jamie, “You’ll fit in fine with a few of the guests.” Truth be told I felt more than comfortable amongst all the guests, and Jamie’s and Anneke’s families; a fantastic fun-loving down to earth group of human beings.
Anneke & Jamie married at Pikes Winery in the Clare Valley – when so much effort is put in by the bride and groom, their family, friends and other vendors, and a couple loves each other so much, this is what happens:
Full wedding story coming soon.
Brooke & Troy were the maid of honor and best man in the third wedding I ever photographed as Joel C Photography. We gelled well in front of and behind the camera on that day and not long after they placed their faith in me to capture their wedding day photos. That was 18 months before their wedding! Thanks so much for trusting me: I hope you enjoy your photos, it was a great pleasure to be there Brooke and Troy!
Brooke and Troy have an interesting relationship. Just when we started taking photos I remember Brooke turning to Troy and saying “Now don’t be a dickhead!” And to be honest my challenge while photographing Brooke and Troy was the capture the brief sweet moments they shared between the goofing off and banter :D. The bridal party weren’t much better – for any of you reading this: My name is Joel; not Jimbo or Jack 😀 But in all honesty it was a really fun day and Brooke and Troy have lovely friends and family.
After a fiasco with the Adelaide City Council not allowing Brooke & Troy to hold their wedding at Rymill Park in Adelaide’s east, they found Stockade Botanical Gardens for their ceremony. The photographs taken at the jetty are from Semaphore Beach – near The Palais (where the reception was held).
One of the beautiful things about weddings is they are an opportunity for family and friends to reunite. It was lovely to see family coming from all around Autralia to celebrate Brooke and Troy’s commitment to each other.
Little-known fact: Just after Troy proposed to Brooke, they slow danced to “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” by Pearl Jam, and this became their first dance. Thank for being a wicked couple, we wish you all the best in married life and for your honeymoon. (in the Maldives?)
It’s always great to have photographed a couple before the wedding day, and I was lucky enough photograph Nicole and David’s second son, Blake’s, Christening at The Monastery. It’s a massive institution with Nun’s quarters and nice gardens – located 15 minutes away from Adelaide city on Cross Rd.
Nicole was really excited about the photos, she was excited about pretty much every part of the day actually! When Nicole’s Dad saw Nicole in her dress for the first time, he had the perfect reaction; “Beautiful, just beautiful”. And when Nicole subsequently became a little teary and told him to stop, he kept on, “Gorgeous, oh, you just look gorgeous”. Great Dad. There were plenty of tears and hugs (like any great wedding should have!), and the speeches at the Grand Chiefly were lovely. The photobooth was also really popular at the reception and guests danced into the night to the awesomely talented DJ Josh. See here for my favourites from the photobooth.
Congratulations again Nicole and David!
From the wedding of the awesome Machiko & Kris. Aki and I were lucky enough to attend this wedding as guests – but of course I brought a camera just in case. So glad I did!
Safety Check
Papparazzi realising what's about to occur
Dolphin Form
"Please don't faceplant!" (He didn't; he's a pro 😀 )
