I often get asked by other wedding photographers disheartened by difficult couples – ‘how do you get such great clients to photograph all the time’.  The simple answer to this is I design my marketing, website and style of photography to attract the clients/couples that I want to photograph.  So in some way I pick them as much as they pick me.

It’s not just luck that I attract fun laid back couples but something that I have worked on for quite a few years.  When I design my website and advertisements I firstly think about who I am trying to appeal to and base my concepts and imagery around this.

I have a great job as it is but it is made that much more enjoyable when I get to work with couples that not only love what I do but are great fun to photograph and appreciate what I do.

My photography doesn’t appeal to everyone and nor do I want it to, if you try to it dilutes the message your photographs convey you can make your work look bland and you just become another photographer.

Some of you may have noticed that the new website has more content on me personally which was a deliberate step as when your choosing a wedding photographer it is almost as important to know the person behind the images as the quality of the photos.  The reason for this is the bride & groom spend all day with the photographer, the only other people in this privileged situation is the bridal party, their closest friends.  If you don’t get along and like the photographer then it’s seriously going to dampen the mood of the day for you.

Where you can start to get problems with brides is when they don’t value your work or don’t trust you.  We try to combat this by not discounting our work and not being the cheapest out there.  The trust issue we deal with by earning their trust through the process, chatting to them, answering questions, doing the pre wedding shoot etc.  Trust also comes from reading this blog as they can see in the lead up to their wedding the standard of work I do and it puts them at ease.

So now by the time a potential couple has looked through my images learnt a little bit about me and my style they are either going to enquire further or say no thanks it’s not really my style.  My enquiries have gone down since designing my website and advertising this way but the bookings have gone up.  This is because the enquiries are more qualified and more likely to love what I do, so it is a win/win less consultations but a higher percentage of bookings!

So next time I am asked this question maybe I should say that in a way I picked them as much as they picked me!

I couldn’t do a post without a few images so here is a couple from Lisa & Andrew’s wedding at Potters a few weekends ago.

We made the most of the good weather and beautiful location to get some great bridal party images.  It is so easy shooting weddings at venues like Potters where the ceremony and reception are all at the one venue, everyone is relaxed and enjoy the fact that once the arrive they are there for the day and don’t have to worry about transport etc.

Helen & Brad were both a pleasure to photograph and you could really see the connection they had and I think it shows in the photographs – congrats guys!

When Elisa & Rahoul told me a few things they had planned for their wedding like the opera singer and the bollywood dance they put together as a surprise I was really looking forward to photographing the festivities.  Everything just worked together brilliantly and Elisa’s dress was amazing and offset by the bright red of the bridesmaids it really made my job too easy.

I found it hard to narrow the images down for this post so their are a few more than usual – enjoy!

Reception – Potters Receptions

Flowers – Debbie O’Neil

Cars – Fleetwood Limousines

groom & groomsmen

wedding dress

wedding flowers

henna tattoo

bride with bridesmaids

potters chapel

fleetwood limousines

sun flair photo

bridal party having some fun

gallery at potters

dancing

bollywood dancing

fun fun fun!

We have around 19 wedding to shoot before the year is out so I will try and blog as many as I can so watch this space.

bride

bride with bridesmaids & brideman

mother of the groom

flower girl & page boy

wedding couple

bride & groom by the creek

bridal party

Saturday’s wedding was a Canadian/Aussie wedding, Robbie & Carly got married at Montsalvat in Eltham which is a beautiful venue as you will see with a real old world feel to it.  We had heaps of fun with the bridal party during the day and as I stayed for the reception into the night as well.

The boys thought this would be a fitting tribute to the Canadian visitors for the wedding.

I like the urban feel to this shot and the harsh sunlight actually helped in this image.

I love this shot of Carly as it really accentuate her eye’s and captures her personality.

A nice moment during the vows.

This shot shows off the building, cars and the connection between Robbie & Carly so it’s a winner.

The bridal party all together for a bit of a stylised group portrait.

The light coming through this window was perfect for this intimate portrait.

Photos come out so much better when you can capture real laughs and real moments instead of fake ones.

Here’s a shot you don’t see every day!

Another nice shot using some off camera flash and getting in the beautiful architecture in the background.

The first dance.

I love the reactions you can get during the speeches.

Torrie & Steve got married on the Sunday at the beautiful Potters in Warrandyte, I would have to say they were close to the most laid back couple I have photographed.  Couple that with a crazy bridal party and you have yourself a pretty fun day with lots of laughs.

The boys looking ultra cool while getting ready.

The boys stayed up playing poker all the night before so we wheeled the table out again for a few pics.

We re arranged a bit of furniture at Torrie’s parents house to get this lovely shot.

A nice candid moment between Torrie and her mum that is just priceless.

What a smile, moments before walking down the aisle and still so calm.

It’s great when you can capture the look in the couples eye as they lock eyes with each other during the ceremony.

Steve’s nan showering them with rose petals.

Beautiful.

We took advantage of some back lighting down by the creek to get this fun image.

The boys were crazy but heaps of fun, this shot captures that.

This is a classic, the detail in it was amazing it even had the cat sitting under the bed which you can’t see from this angle.

The gallery at Potters is great for shots of the bride before the ceremony and there was some beautiful light coming from this window.

This was taken in front of the same window but it has a totally different feel to it.

This is of Damien and the best man practising the exchanging of the rings before the ceremony.

I love capturing moments like this where you can just see the happiness in Carly’s eyes.

This was taken in front of the waterfall out the back and it really shows off Carly’s amazing dress.

I had to include this photo, do you remember the pop out comb/mirror from back in the late 80′s that she is holding complete with the fluro colour, classic.

One of the few quick shots we did outside in between the rain.

The next two shots were taken in the Gallery and they really show the connection they have.

The bridal waltz.

A nice moment in the father daughter dance.