Professional Photographer. Brisbane | Australia | Worldwide. Weddings, editorial, commercial, portraits, events and fine art photography.
I promised myself I’d write one of those “year in review” blog posts months ago, and now, here it is – the last day of 2010 and my marketing/blogging habits have turned to sloth in the quiet of the tropical wet season. Over my morning coffee I realised I didn’t have any more “I’ll do it tomorrow’s” left.
2010 was the year that I committed myself absolutely – after 10 years of taking photos professionally but casually - to a full time career in photography: I shocked everyone (but myself ) by turning down a well paid career position in Cairns in favour of sticking with what really makes my soul sing. It’s been a rocky path – with some great highs and some poverty-stricken lows as I invested all my earnings on new camera/computer/printing gear and tried to manage and market my own small photography business. And dealing with the eternal question on the lips of anyone who works in the creative industries: “Am I good enough?”. I am my own harshest critic, to be sure. But looking back at the year I’ve had, I think I can allow myself a bit of a pat on the back. So let me do some bragging. It’ll be great for my ego. Ha.
The year was off to a great start when I got a call from the Head On Portrait prize organisers telling me that one of my Tokyo Burlesque shots was one of 40 finalists from some 2500 entries. I flew to Sydney for the exhibition opening and winners announcement in April. Didn’t make the final three but whoa! What a fabulous ride that was!
I shot 11 weddings – 2 in Adelaide, and 9 here in Port Douglas. The Port Douglas weddings were a combination of beach weddings, an elopement, St Mary’s by the Sea ceremonies, small receptions at the Sugar Wharf or Rex Smeal Park, big resort receptions and a lovely same-sex wedding (yes, I know – same sex weddings are still not legal in Australia, so technically it was a commitment ceremony but everyone involved approached it like the wedding it should have been). I enjoy my work as wedding photographer – it gives me the opportunity to be accepted into the most intimate and precious times of other people’s loves and to be a part of that celebration. And every wedding is so different, you never know how the day is going to pan out, where you might end up. I had one wedding where I ended up doing some hilarious wedding-group shots in the laundry aisle in Coles! And another where I found myself in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens on a 40 degree day. I zip up gowns, I tuck in handkerchiefs, I wrestle with cufflinks and I practice calming breathing with nervous brides and grooms….. And I wouldn’t have it any other way, I have to say. My hope for 2011 is to do a few more destination weddings across Australia and internationally. I would love to go back to Japan to shoot some more weddings there. Or Bali… or Marrakesh.
I thought I’d share one photo from each wedding I shot this year with you since I can’t blog them all….
Wedding One: Junko and Richard (Adelaide via Tokyo). A sweltering hot day, in this shot Richard was gently wiping away some beads of sweat that had collected on Junko’s neck. Such a tender moment.
Wedding two: Tracey & Ashley (Adelaide via Tokyo). Love the cinematic look of this shot. You can see more here.
Wedding Three: Karen and Charlie’s elopement. Karen was pregnant with their second child and they just wanted a really simple beach ceremony far away from their native Melbourne. Gorgeous.
Wedding Four: Tom and Victoria, from Sydney. Such a low key, no fuss, laid back couple – you can see more photos here.
Wedding Five: Jen and Brian. They live in London, though he is from Ireland and she is from Townsville. Most elegant gown I have ever seen. This wedding was particularly wonderful to photograph because they spent so much time on the details. Gorgeous! Go take a look. No, seriously! Go take a look.
Wedding Six: Kristy-Lee and Rodrigo. Man! What a day! Go now and take a look at their fantastic wedding.
Wedding Seven: D & M – A tiny intimate ceremony held in an exclusive private-resort. They are a private couple so I shan’t show you any pictures of them. But I CAN show you the exquisite dress.
Wedding Eight: Marlene and Michael, from just outside Melbourne. A lovely, simple ceremony at St Mary’s by the Sea followed by a cocktail party under the famous Fig Tree in Rex Smeal Park looking out over the inlet and mountains and rainforest. Love this shot we took at the Sugar Wharf.
Wedding Nine: Alison and Alistair – a groovy young couple from Melbourne. They held their ceremony in Little Cove, and then we all moved over to a marquee in Rex Smeal Park for a fabulous night of dancing. I loved the elephant theme Alison was wearing.
Wedding Ten: Shane and Haylee. I get to see a lot of couples in love in this job. But seriously, these two get the prize for the perfect couple. Well, for 2010 anyway. 
I will be blogging this wedding shortly so check back again next week.
Wedding Eleven: Shoshannah and Tracy. This was the first same-sex wedding/commitment ceremony I’ve shot. The girls had a sweet, romantic ceremony surrounded by family and friends out on the verandah up the hill at Villa Empat Puluh Dua. Shosh is Jewish while Tracy comes from a Christian background so the ceremony included elements from both faiths – including a glass-smashing. Such a gorgeous day, I felt absolutely honoured to have been a part of it.
But I’m not only a wedding photographer. I really enjoy my commercial, editorial and event photography work.
Hideaway Resorts got me to to do some shots of Dunk and Bedarra Islands for their new rebranding campaign – what a wild and intense experience that was – cruel weather swings – dawn helicopter rides – insanely special food and of course, magical locations. Such a great team of people! I’ll be doing a separate entry for that shoot shortly, so standby for that…. I also did some hero shots for Mercure Port Douglas Treetops Resort and a bunch of real estate photography for local agencies and private sales. I really enjoy doing resort/architectural photography of the beautiful tropical buildings and gardens that dominate the Far North Queensland landscape.
My ongoing regular editorial photography work with the nationally awarded “Community Newspaper of the Year” Port Douglas Gazette (yay team!) continues to bring me great satisfaction and adventure (eg: Shooting an ultra-lite from another ultra-lite high up in the sky, attending events I would never have been invited to, seeing places I would never get to see…. meeting people I would never have met otherwise…. ) and this year I also saw my work published in The Cairns Post, G-Mag (Sydney) and UK Traveller Mag. Always a thrill to see your photos in print for all to see.
I always try to have some creative photography side projects going on to help me push my boundaries and limits, and to help me grow in skill and technique. I’ve had a few little side projects going on this year – enormously fun, and I have another one cooking as I type – I hope to enter it in the 2011 Head On Portrait prize.
2010 was also the year I cut my hair off. Actually, it was just last week. My friend Alison George took these before (with grey) and after (no grey!) shots (Thanks Ali!):
So what’s in store for 2011? A lot MORE of everything, I hope!
It’s time to walk the dog. He has my shoe in his foot and wants to play chasey with it. Pray he doesn’t destroy it before I hit the publish button!
Happy New Year folks! Thanks for your support this year.
Photographer of Weddings, Portraits, Editorial, Commercial and Fine Art. Based in Brisbane + Port Douglas. Working throughout Qld, Australia and Worldwide.Widescreen theme by Graph Paper Press. All content © 2012 by Martine Cotton Photography
LOVE LOVE LOVE the laughs in the couple of the 4th shot! So much fun! So much life! I think it would speak stronger in BW, but understand leaving it in color due to the location.
Nice work.
Hi Martine! I really, really enjoyed reading your Year in Review – especially where you mentioned “what really makes my soul sing” .. few people understand what that really means.
Wishing you a year of joy, prosperity and pure magic in 2011. All the best, Angela L
Thanks so much Angela. I really love your photography, hope you make it back this way sometime before I leave so we can get a chance to actually meet!
hi Martine,
this is Kaori, we met in Tokyo… it’s been ages!
the news of the floods in Australia made me want to see if you’re okay… and i’m glad to see you don’t seem to be affected.
that’s so amazing you’re fully committed to photography now. i’m not surprised, look at your photos! so beautiful!
i wish you the best of luck in 2011. i hope to check back in here more often!
oh, and i love the new hair
xo
Kaori
WOW! Kaori! You’re living in ISRAEL????? Fantastic news. Great to hear from you again, and also great to see you are blogging again. How are you doing?
Yes, the floods affected the areas south of where I am living now. We did get a lot of rain around Christmas time but the weather has been great since then.
Glad the hair gets the thumbs up from you. I’m pretty happy with it, for sure.
Stay in touch, hey. xo