A Few Things You Should Knowā¦
- A bit about me
My nameās Mark and Iām a photographer living in a small town in Northern NSW called Pottsville ā recently voted one of the top 10 places to retire in Australia!! WOOHOO!!ā¦? š¤Ø
Iāve been shooting weddings all over the world since 2014 ā Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Spain, UK, Bali, Franceā¦ and a ton in Sydney, where I lived for 10 years.
While I still fly to Sydney for the occasional wedding, I mostly shoot local weddings in this beautiful part of Northern NSW (thatās so great for old people and retirees!) ā the Tweed Coast (current fave venue:Ā Fins Plantation House), Gold Coast, Byron, etc. ā anywhere thatās near the sea/forests/hinterland šš¼
My wife Elissa is from Murwillumbah, hence our recent change of home ā turns out that being near your in-laws when you start having kids is a big help!
The pic above was taken on our wedding day, with Mt Warning in the background. We had a small ceremony with family at Mavisā Kitchen with a truly awesome photographerā¦ more on him soon.
- 10 Random Facts about your future wedding photographer
- Iām half English, half Japanese. I lived in Tokyo for 7 years and loved every sushi-munching-minute! š£
- I grew up in Nottingham in the UK, famous for Robin Hood, Paul Smith and gun crime! š«
- I studied French at uni and lived in Paris for a year, working at Disneyland Paris! These days my French is absolute merde. š©
- I shot our wedding! Somehow it made it to the Huffington Post, the Daily Mail, Mama Miaā¦ š¤·āāļø
- I was famous in Japan after starring in aĀ prime time tv drama. My acting is ridiculously badā¦ but well suited for Japanese tv! āļø
- My mum used to be an air stewadess back when planes had propellors, and served the Beatles on a JAL flight in the 1960s. We have aĀ signed photo on the wall at homeĀ šµ
- Iām theĀ Grounds of Alexandriaās recommended wedding photographer. Kevin Bacon RIP š· ā”ļø š„
- We have 3 little monsters ā Harry (6), Leo (5), Edie (2). I now appreciate why family photography is so important. ā¤ļø
- Iāve recently taken up cycling and have an obsession with getting KOMs on Strava. Current tally: 1 š¤Ø
- I run a site for photographers calledĀ Shotkit. I love camera gear and can pretend to be really interested to your father telling me about his fancy new DSLR. šø
- Back to you and your big dayā¦
I realise itās hard to choose a wedding photographer youāve never met. You probably have 5 browser tabs open right now, scratching your head and wondering whoās cheapest!
In an ideal world, my photos alone will resonate with you enough for you to shout THIS IS THE GUY I WANT whilst frantically prodding your finger at the screen.
Wishful thinking aside, Iām hoping that you might get to know me a tad more by reading this, and perhaps some of theĀ kind wordsĀ my past clients have written about me.
(I delete all the negative reviews that say I ate a guestās dessert or trod on the brideās motherās dogās tail.)
If you canāt be bothered to read reviews, Iāll summarise them for you ā most people say that at a wedding Iām easy-going and relaxed, which helps the couple/guests feel the same, and that Iām good at blending into the background and letting the day unfold without any intervention.
- My approach to your wedding
Have you ever been a bridesmaid/groomsman at a wedding where the photographer took you far away from the party to spend hours getting you to do weird things?
(Hmm, that sounded a bit like you were abducted and molested ā let me try againā¦)
Your Wedding isnāt a Photo-Shoot. Thatās better.
When it comes time to take some photos of just you guys and/or the bridal party, I like to keep everything really close to where the partyās happening.
I also donāt want to take up lots of your precious time ā definitely less than an hour, but I can work with 15 minutes or whatever you give me too.
We should get some nice creative shots together, but the most important thing at your wedding is that you get to spend time with your friends and family*.
Weddings are unique like that ā all your besties and family together in the one place partying together ā how cool is that?!
That crowd probably wonāt ever get together like that again, except for maybe at your funeralā¦ and we wonāt be able to get many creative shots there of you then, thatās for sureā¦ ā ļø
My point is, I wonāt treat your wedding day as a photo shoot. Iāll get lots of natural, candid and emotion-packed photos of all the action, a handful of creative portraits, and lots of drunken moves on the dancefloorā¦ but I wonāt take over your day with my camera.
* Unless of course youāre having an elopement, and itās just you guys, the celebrant, and me. I love elopements ā theyāre the best thing to come out of COVID! š¤¦š»āāļø
- My Style
I will tailor my approach based on you and your wants. Iām not the kind of photographer who will mould and sculpt you into awkward poses or tell your bridal party to do a human pyramidā¦ unless you want to.
A lot of the photos youāll see on this site are a bit āmoodyā, but that doesnāt mean I donāt capture the happy-fun-crazy stuff too!
(To be honest, although I love the look of moody, it doesnāt really reflect my personality ā see below and theĀ blogĀ for a selection of comedy moments that are more in tune with how I view the world!)
ā¦but first, Dr. Seuss has something important to say:
- āYou donāt realise itās a moment until itās a memoryā
My goal at every single wedding is to capture as many āmomentsā as candidly possible.
All those wonderful, fleeting seconds of joy, laughter, tears ā I want you to be able toĀ seeĀ themĀ afterĀ your wedding day, and relive them all for years to come.
[GALLERY]
My style is a mixture of photo-journalistic (a fancy way of saying candid or natural) and creativeā¦ with some random stuff thrown in for good measure.
How about getting ready photos?
Yes, Iām happy to hang out with you guys before the wedding and take photos of whatever it is youāre getting up to ā whether thatās putting on fancy clothes, skulling from a champagne bottle to steady your nerves, or covering up vomit from the night before (true story).
Also, bonus points for any male nudity! š
Sidenote: itās actually becoming popular to completely skip the getting ready photos.
[GALLERY]
What about family pics? Yep, I take them too. Theyāre really important, even if at the time youāll be hating all the fake smiles and extended-family awkwardness.
Also, Iām all about theĀ kiddiesĀ ā as a father, I appreciate just how precious these shots can be. If thereās a child at the wedding whoās picking his nose at an inappropriate moment or rolling around the aisle, Iāll photograph it!
[GALLERY]
Fur babies?Ā Check.
[GALLERY]
Bridal Party?Ā Definitely! Aside from the formal shots for grandmaās fridge, letās have some funā¦
[GALLERY]
Group photo of every mofo at the wedding at once?Ā CHALLENGE ACCEPTED š
[GALLERY]
Drone pics? Maybe! If weāre not near an airport, Iāll get my mini drone up in the air to catch some top-down awesomeness.
[GALLERY]
Creative Night shots?Ā Yep, we can have some fun with those too. Usually, by that stage of the day, you guys will beā¦ letās say, ārelaxedā š·š„š»š·š„š»š·š„š»ā¦ so itās nice to sneak off away from the action for a few seconds and play around with some lights.
[GALLERY]
Speeches?Ā Yep! The reactions are gold!
[GALLERY]
First Dance?Ā Ahh, every bride and groomās secret nemesis! Donāt worry ā no matter how bad you might look in the video, photos can always make you look like youāre owning the d-floor š
[GALLERY]
Dancefloor craziness?Ā Anything. Goes. šŗš»šŗš»šŗš»ššš
[GALLERY]
OK, I think Iāve covered everything.
200+ weddings later, and Iām finally getting the hang of things!! š¤Ŗ
- OK, so whatās next?
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