love | light | laughter
AUCKLANd wedding PHOTOGRAPHER | fine art documentary photography
Im so thrilled to share with you amazing West Auckland morning engagement photo shoot with Yvonne & Ethan - forest + beach. Couple come to their pre-wedding session from Singapore, it was such a honour to be their photographer and capture so magical natural moments of love and connection, such romantic time!
Enjoy these memories from couples engagement photo shoot in Riverhead forest and Muriwai Beach.
Contact me with any questions!
Choosing a wedding photographer one of the most exciting parts of the wedding planning! Its feels so important and so right when you found a good fit. So how to choose wedding photographer for your couple?
I will talk about few steps which feels really important to me as a lifestyle wedding photographer.
1. Wedding Portfolio.
Check wedding photography portfolio - best photographs which represents photographer's style, favourite things to shoot, editing preferences {some of us love airy light images, another ones draw to moody dark atmosphere, or even do mix of both depending on session}.
2. Check full wedding galleries.
You checked best images in photographer's portfolio, now time to see a full wedding from start to finish { getting ready, ceremony, formals, intimate bride and groom session, reception etc.}. You can find full weddings in the Blog or contact photographer via email and ask for pass online complete wedding galleries.
You can see how we capture moments, emotions, details, posed shots, unposed images etc. Its truly represent the ability to keep it up during this hectic day and produce amazing images which speaks from the heart.
3. One of the most important - Connection.
Get in touch with photographer and check the connection, communication and mobility {Im trying to answer for inquiries as soon as possible, often during first few hours}, but please allow a couple of days delay, especially on weekends, as we can be away on the road at destination wedding. :)
Sometimes really hard to get a personality via email especially if English not a mother tongue {I love to catch up with my awesome clients for cup of tea / coffee, have a chat and discuss their wedding plans}. We usually build a good trust and its make us feel comfortable during the wedding day {photographer the only one person who all the time with you without any minute of break, so its important to find the right person, feel relaxed and comfortable}.
4. Last but not least - Packages and Pricing.
Please contact photographer to find out pricing details and collections {how many hours, how many photographers, if there engagement session included, any prints | products what you would like to add}. Feel free to share your wedding plans and needs as a lot of photographers can create a custom package which best suits your needs.
For example I working in a team with my husband and have options with one or two photographers on the day, coverage from elopements with capturing just ceremony and bride and groom intimate session to full day packages including engagement - pre-wedding session and album + wall fine art print. There options for every couple!
You found your dream photographer, but can't afford your dream package? Still get in touch, tell about your wedding plans and planning date. There always a chance you can find the compromise as your wedding sounds just amazing and photographer in love with your couples personalities {you can also order prints | products when you discover your images, or make its a part of wedding registry}.
Follow your gut and go with the flow! Good luck with your wedding planning!
Please contact me with any questions that you might have!
Im so excited to share with you amazing news: my image won the First place in wedding category "Winter 2016" international contest by Lemonade and Lenses magazine. Im so honoured to be in great company of talented photographers from around the world.
Olga & Zydon's wedding was just amazing! Thank you so much guys for sharing with me your special moments!
Now I can call myself multi-award winning wedding photographer, ha-ha, just joking :) But Im really happy that something what I really love get acknowledgement, especially in world photography community.
Olga & Zydon
Contact me with any questions!
Sometimes having a wedding photography business can be overwhelming: contacts from wedding couples, enquiries, keeping on track with current clients, meetings around Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga areas, organise workflow, contacts with other photographers and vendors etc. Thats why I decided to share with you how 17hats made my life so much easier. Truly amazing transformation! :)
1. all my clients base in one place (contacts, emails, phone numbers, addresses);
2. ability to organise different projects for each client;
3. online documentation (life saver!) - quotes, contracts, invoices, wedding questionnaires in one place with ability to create a template;
4. email tracking (you can answer for emails right from 17hats :)
5. todo list | calendar (you can put different events and tasks in the calendar and have a reminder each day);
6. ability to create a workflow and apply it to certain project (I have over 15 todo tasks for each project including contact, meeting with clients, send questionnaire, scout wedding location, prepare equipment, send an invoice, check last minute changes in wedding day timeline, check address, get directions, post a sneak peek on Facebook, send link on online wedding gallery, post USB and print | products etc). You see its a lot to remember and can be hard to keep on track with few weddings in a row and future (next year) enquiries :)
7. bookkeeping (I just love the ability to connect business account to 17hats and categorise all income and spends, my accountant loves it too :)
8. ability to send clients galleries etc.
Im sure there a lot of other opportunities what I still need to discover. I just can tell you 17hats became a game changer for me during last few months what Im using it and Im happy with everything.
I need to mention there another systems for clients bases and keep on track as Pixifi, Tave etc. Im sure people who are using them happy with everything. So its just matter to try and find out what interface suits you the best.
Hope this blog post will be useful for my friends photographers, as I see a lot of discussions and questions in local photographers groups about how to keep all documentation and track clients base etc.
Contact me with any questions! I like open book and happy to help :)
What a great small family garden wedding I captured in the middle of January in Auckland. Tessa & John just amazing couple. They had getting ready moments in Tessa's parents house, ceremony and reception in their garden and location couples shoot at Musick point (Auckland).
They met each other at work and been together for 11 years, what a strong relationship! Tessa and John said they love spending time together walking on the beach, listening to music and the main thing "We have a similar sense of humour so love things we can laugh at together". Thats so important when you can laugh together :)
I love to shoot small family weddings for their cosy and warm atmosphere when couples spend their special time with close friends and family. It was great to capture these such treasured couple moments of their wedding day! Need to say John's son was the best man and Tessa had her best friend Parvati was a maid of honour and her daughter Maia was a flower girl. Such a pretty little one!
Time goes really fast, few hours gone just like this! We enjoy every moment of this wedding day!
Congratulations Tessa & John! Happy future together!
What a great memories!
Creative team:
Celebrant - Mary Cox
Hair - Becs; Makeup - Nicky
Thank you!
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Its a big honour to find out at the end of 2015 that two of my wedding pictures been chosen by Bridal Guide as Best of 2015 Wedding Photos. What amazing news and great pleasure to be an award winning wedding photographer :)
Look at these images from Daria & Dmitry post-wedding session at Kariotahi beach, Auckland. It was full of magic and positive emotions photo shoot in beautiful costal New Zealand landscapes at seaside. Wind, picturesque views of wild New Zealand nature and stunning couple helped this happened, and my creativity of course ;)
Amazing results of the year!
Contact me with any questions!