Sam & Anwyn – Wooli Wedding {Coffs Harbour Wedding Photographer}

Sam & Anwyn decided to bring this whole backyard shindig together themselves with their beautiful friends & family in Anwyn’s Heart Home of Wooli, NSW. The weather did not make it an easy feat with a full week of rain in the lead up & an absolutely torrential downpour on the day. Tables were moved out & then in & then out & in again & when we finally thought were in the clear & began the ceremony the sky turned black & the heavens opened just as the pair exchanged their vows & everybody was forced to run for cover. Despite all of this the day was completely joyous – everyone rallied to help shift things undercover & then out again whilst Anwyn greeted guests in her robe & calmly waited for the storms to pass. In the end we were rewarded with an afternoon of warmth, light sun showers, blue skies & then an amazing pink sunset. The champagne flowed, guests danced & laughed & celebrated #samwyn. It was truly my pleasure to be a part of this day.

 

Emily & Her Rueben {Coffs Harbour Family Photographer, Mother & Child, Film Photographer}

 

It’s no secret that photographing families & in particular mothers at home is one of my favourite things to do & when I get to do that on film I am even happier <3

The longer I document families the more I am drawn to making simple portraits that do not bow to fashion trends or editing fads. I want to make images that will stand the test of time, that encapsulate a feeling for those people in that moment & that have the power to transport them back when they look at them in years to come.

Emily was completely on board with this. I hope she sees how beautiful she is as a mother, embracing these early days, rolling with the highs & lows, knowing it is all so fleeting.

The grain is good & if you want to make some beautiful frames of your own shoot me an email & let’s make it happen while you can still hold those little people in your arms.

 

The Magic Beach {Sawtell Coffs Harbour Photographer}

Documenting people in their own homes makes capturing the daily intimacies of family life so easy. The afternoons spent shooting sessions like this are my favourite & I am grateful each & every time for the families that welcome me in & open themselves to to be recorded. These are the images your children will love looking back on – the ones that capture little routines, beloved toys, pets, sibling relationships & most importantly how well loved they were. L <3

 

Bella {film photographer portrait photographer coffs harbour}

 

Sometimes the stars align & the people, the space & the light all come together. When I shoot for myself I choose to shoot film. There are so many reasons for that but at the root of it I feel more connected to what is in front of me when I’m using film. I’m slowing myself, breathing, re-loading, shooting less/aware of each frame & I know the colours & the grain will make for timeless images. Thank you so much to Bella for hanging out with me & making these images & to my beautiful friend Em for letting us into her then home. Images were shot with a Nikon f6, Contax G2 & a Pentax 645n. Film was all expired & included Kodak Tri-X, Portra 400, Fuji Acros 100 & Kodakekta Color Pro 160.

If you are interested in having yourself, your family or special occasion documented on film drop me a line <3

 

Ryan & Zach, Zach & Ryan {Bellingen Coffs Harbour Wedding Photographer}

 

Zach & Ryan traveled from where they now live in Belgium to wed near to where Ryan grew up – it was two days of celebrating with their friends & family & the legal follow up to Wedding 1.0 which had taken place in Greece earlier in the year. When Ryan & Zach entered the room at Cedar Bar, Bellingen they arrived to the loudest round of applause & joyful calling out that I have ever witnessed at a wedding. Their day was not about weddingy gimmicks or fanfare but truly about each other & their loved ones bearing witness to their union. It was also about these freaking AMAZING suits (try to top them if you dare). I’d like to include here some words from Ryan’s speech that really resonated with me & was personally a beautiful reminder of what marriage is all about- I think he says it best:

“Most of me wishes this speech could be just about Zach; but it’s not.

 

Marriage between two people in love is relatively new thing: For most of human history marriage was about survival or property or pregnancy.

 

And a marriage between two men in love is just about the newest rarest type of marriage going. There are more countries which would jail us for this wedding than would legally endorse it.

 

We weren’t allowed to get legally married in Greece, to give just one example. We weren’t allowed to do it here in Australia even one year ago.

 

Because of that I didn’t grow up expecting to find love. I certainly didn’t expect to fill a former church with all of you to witness it, and I bet some of you never expected to be at a wedding between two blokes.

 

So that is a big journey too. When we start dancing, remember how far we HAVE ALL come in order to build and celebrate this love.

But maybe most importantly, a marriage isn’t just between two people. It’s also between those two people and their community: you. We didn’t just bring you here for a party. We brought you here because we trust you to help make us a kinder, stronger pair.

We’re so glad all these kids got to see it, the the completely normal but wonderful thing that it is. So they know that no matter who they are, or who they love, one day they can get married too”.

 

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