I’m lucky enough to say that 99% of the time I love my job. In truth, I’m not sure it’s right to call something you enjoy this much a job. Heath and Samara’s engagement shoot is definitely one of those experiences that on so many levels transcends anything remotely ‘job-like’.
Katie has already told the story of how this shoot came about so I’ll be brief. In short … Samara lives in South Australia. Heath lives on the Gold Coast. Separated physically but connected by their feelings for each other and modern technology. Not only are they apart from each other, they’re also planning their wedding at the same time.
In August, Heath and Samara happened to be together on the Gold Coast at the same time for only two days. They were happy to travel to Toowoomba for the shoot but Katie and I were itching to try something new. Specifically, Katie wanted a field of long grass. No fields of long grass to be found in our town, and we didn’t know any fields of long grass on the Gold Coast, so Samara and her mum (Leanne) were sent on a mission.
Now, for photographers, letting other people pick your locations is a usually a big no-no ’cause you never know what you’re going to get. Especially when you’re driving two hours to the location and you only have limited time with the couple. As a result, we were in two minds as to what to do.
Katie and I had a discussion that boiled down to “Do we play it safe? Or do we take a risk?” Something that helped us make the decision was a blog post by Chase Jarvis that I’d read a few days earlier. You can read it in full here.
His post finished with this line, “If ever given the chance to go or not to go, for the sake of making art, you should always go.”
Go we did. Amazing locations, amazing light, gorgeous couple with a soulful and palpable connection. It’s the stuff of which dreams, not jobs, are made.
So, you’ve waited and now you’re back to see the second half of Heath and Samara’s engagment shoot… it was worth the wait!
The second location of Heath and Samara’s shoot was beautiful Stradbroke Island. Samara’s brother suggested the location, and it was amazing!
After the long grass, we jumped in the car and drove to Samara’s parents house, jumped on the family boat and cruised over to ‘Straddie’. We hadn’t see the location before we arrived, it had just been described to us as a ‘cool forest of dead white trees on a secluded beach’… Oh my goodness! It was unreal!
A big thank you to Heath and Samara – for being such a gorgeous couple! I soooo can’t wait to shoot your wedding in December! Also, thanks to Samara’s mum for location scouting and finding the grass field I so badly wanted! And to Roger, for his suggestion of this beautiful beach location (and for captaining the boat).
Matt has done up a video and it’s incredible – we will be posting it very very soon!
Katie [shadowplay]
This photo was taken on the boat on the way over -
Some sunset shots, just before the sun went down -
I love the connection between these two… *sigh* -
The EPIC location -
This shot so reminds me of the movie “The Notebook” (one of my faves) -
I love the colour of the water –
I love this location! -
We shot until it was dark, we didn’t want to leave! -
We have been doing so many formal shoots lately which has been great. The only problem is… we can’t post the photos until after the formals – which is driving me crazy, because I just want to show them all off! I understand though, of course the girls don’t want anyone to see their dress before the day.
The good news is that Hayley graduated a year or two ago now, so I can show you her the photos from her shoot! No … it didn’t take me a year or so to finish the photos. Hayley was excited to get back in her beautiful satin dress again to do a super fun shoot with us. After all, you don’t have to be in grade 12 to do a formal shoot.
As with all our shoots, we try and find locations that are unique and don’t look like “Toowoomba” locations. Here are some of my favourite shots from the day…
Today we had a formal shoot with Raquelle…. it was sooo much fun! Matt even took a break from his video cameras to 2nd shoot with me.
So, there’s good news and bad news… the good news is that the photos are AWESOME … and the bad news is that we have to wait until after Raquelle’s formal to show them to you! We are busting to show off the photos but you can’t see the dress before the formal.
At the end of November we’ll be able to unleash heaps of photos from all the formal shoots we’ve been doing.
Until then, here’s a headshot of the gorgeous Raquelle.
Yesterday we participated in our first Wedding Expo. It was at the Burke and Wills in Toowoomba and we learned heaps, met some really great couples, brides-to-be, plus lots of other lovely wedding vendors. We really did feel like the new kids on the block but we had such a great time that we soon forgot about that!
Our beautiful and super-talented friend Sharlene helped make our site extra special with her creative skills … she’s amazing! We are trying to convince her to start a business decorating weddings and events … Don’t you think she should?
Thanks heaps to everyone that stopped by our booth. Here are some pics of our setup!
Katie posted some of Sally and Daniel’s ‘Take 2′ photos a while ago … I’m only now getting around to blogging their video.
Here’s a recap …. Sally and Daniel were married in March 2008. Another photographer did their actual wedding photography …. unfortunately, they were not very happy with the photos. So, in early June Sally and Daniel decided to do a “Take 2″ Shoot with us!
This shoot was all about the photography but Katie let me tag along just for fun. The video was done and edited way back in June, a couple of weeks before the launch of Shadowplay actually. I’m only just getting around to posting it now.
Take 2 shoots are a perfect excuse for any bride to get back into their wedding dress and get some awesome photos!
You can check out some of Sally and Daniel’s photos HERE
Katie and I have been married for nearly 3 years now. As a couple who spends most of their time behind the camera, we don’t have many photos of ourselves. So, while we were in Armidale visiting our friend (and awesome photographer) James Day, I organised for James to do a ’sweetheart’ photoshoot with us.
Not only did we have a fun shoot with James and receive some beautiful photos to cherish, we also got to be in front of the camera for a change and to feel something that we’ve seen couples experience on our own shoots.
It’s a special thing to take an hour or so in amongst the ‘busy-ness’ of life and just totally focus on one another. Initially we were really nervous about being photographed but within a few minutes we’d forgotten that we were on a photoshoot and we just devoted our attention to one another.
* Thanks James for the photos and for creating an atmosphere in which Katie and I could connect with one another.
The video footage was shot by our good friend Madeleine and James’ girlfriend Lauren – both of whom hadn’t really used a video camera before. I think they did an awesome job and the video is a cool keepsake for us as well.
