Estee and Paul eloped to Cow Bay for an intimate wedding

It’s very hard to take photographs while you are teary. During their vows, there wasn’t a dry eye in the tiny party of five at the elopement ceremony of Estee and Paul. So intimate, so pure and simple. Simply beautiful.

This is a quick sneak peek. There will be some more to come, as soon as I get a chance.

Lola Star

Gorgeous Lola Star. The daughter of a friend of mine.

Catrin and Philip were married on a crazy windy afternoon in October, in front of an intimate crowd of their best friends and family members. It was so very special. Exquisitely choreographed, beautifully executed, full of thoughtfully subtle details and with a heavy focus on the people most important to the couple – most of whom had flown in from far flung locations including Paris, Canada, New York, Sydney and central NSW…. – it was a joy to photograph all that joy! Everyone was elated to be there, and the love and affection they had for the couple showed in the joyful tears, hugs and laughter that went on all afternoon and evening. Happily the wind dropped with the sun and the still, warm evening was simply perfect.

Philip and Catrin are big fans of reportage-style wedding photojournalism and they asked me to be as subtle and unintrusive as possible – which suited me just fine – I enjoyed cruising around being as invisible as possible yet being in the thick of it all.

Here’s the feedback (unashamed self-promo plug lovely testimonial!):

“These are completely fabulous – we are absolutely delighted with the moments and the mood you have captured. We had the loveliest time looking through them last night thank you so much. (…) Thank you again for being so wonderful on the day. You were everywhere and nowhere and just fitted in so perfectly to our wedding.”

Excitingly, Cosmopolitan Bride has expressed an interest in featuring the wedding in an upcoming issue.

Catrin asked me to make up 24 Blurb photo books of the wedding for them to give to their guests for Christmas gifts. Such a lovely idea!

The catering was done by Port Douglas catering, in their usual splendid style. The wedding celebrant was the very lovely Sarah Woods, we met up again 3 days later at a beautiful, simple marriage elopement I photographed and she officiated up on Cow Bay Beach. Photos from that one will be up soon.

I know, I know! This is a very photo heavy post, but hey – I wanted to share so many of these gorgeous pics. Sit back and enjoy the rest of my oversized collection!

The Cairns Regional Council Community Liason *DOUGLAS* (LOCAL!) Branch has a pretty good track record of listening to and supporting the local community. A couple of weeks ago, Liz Collyer – the Douglas Region Community Affairs Team Leader  - contacted me about a great project she was developing. In recognition of Disability Awareness Week, they had decided to make a call for submissions for  12 “Champions of Douglas” – disabled people who are active community participants and inspirational role models. I was delighted to be involved. They asked me to take portraits of the 12 nominee’s for a small newspaper-insert magazine that is going to be released in Thursdays Port Douglas Gazette.

It was – of course – one of the most inspirational and humbling projects I’ve ever been involved in, and any complaints I had about my fortunate life were most certainly smacked on the head as I watched these amazing people dealing with everyday life in the most courageous and nonchalant of ways despite their various disabilities. In fact, not just dealing with – but going above and beyond the call….

Folks, I humbly present to you the 2009 Champions of Douglas.

Gail Cockburn. This former teacher relies on her good humour and huge heart to overcome the adversity of multiple sclerosis and be an active member of several community organisations.

Mick Rabig. A diving accident 30 years which left Mick as an incomplete tetraplegic only fuelled his fire to be independent and become the fundraiser of all fundraisers.

Leslie-Ann Ronaldson. A family connection and love for the area brought Leslie-Ann to the Douglas Region two years ago and she does not let spina bifida impact on her desire to give back to the community she now calls home.

Graham O’Donoghue. This fourth-generation Mossmanite has plenty to Dabble-Inn with an endless to inspire others with a disability as a business leader and great role model.

Ida Cannon. This talented athlete and dedicated student has become an integral part of the Douglas Community with her community spirit and caring personality.

Dylan WIlde. Daintree Village teenager Dylan WIlde is living proof that being confined to a wheelchair does not mean you cannot live your life to the fullest.

Kevin Wells. Known as the champion of the Nik-Nak Shed, Kevin has never let disability stop him from volunteering his time to help others.

Christine Jackson and Peter Elbers. A massive brain aneurism in July has only strengthened the love story between the Douglas Region’s “barefoot cellist” and partner Peter Elbers.

Sophie Stalker. A familiar sight riding around Port Douglas on her three-wheeler tricycle with her dog Wally, this tenacious young woman hasn’t let cerebral palsy slow her down.


Binna Swindley. Being born deaf hasn’t stopped Binna from pursuing his dream to open an art gallery and provide a platform for young indigenous people of Mossman to develop their own artistic abilities.

Face-painting clown

When I first arrived in Port Douglas upon my return from Japan, I was really lucky to walk into two great jobs. One of them was Event Organiser for the Port Douglas Carnivale & Carnivale Beach Day. The other was weekend newspaper photographer for the local Port Douglas & Mossman Gazette (a NewsLTD paper).

I love being a newspaper photographer.

It gets me out into the community into locations and events that I would probably never know about if it wasn’t for the job. Any day I could be photographing community activists, local heroes, colourful characters, sick kids, sick grownups, sports stars, cute animals and their cute kids, cowboys or politicians…. Here are just a few of the pics I’ve taken since I started the job back in March this year…

My little brother

David, Fraser, Evie and Darcy

Evie

Evie

Elissa and Fraser

Evie

Been hanging out with my brother and his kids a bit lately. I do adore these kids.

Siblings (my nephews & niece)

Evie (my gorgeous niece and god daughter)

Bert & Nerida (my sister in law's folks)

Rocky Point Beach, north of Port Douglas.

Green hanging orchids in a tropical paradise

Rocky Point Retreat

A few weeks ago, Lili from Ulysses Getaways and I drove up Rocky Point – about 20 minutes north of Port Douglas to take some photo’s of the gorgeous Rocky Point Retreat Property on their holiday rentals books. Oh, my! What a gorgeous place! The house has incredible views over the rainforest and ocean, and the gardens are just so beautiful. On the way back to Port we made a quick stop at the beach just below the house to grab some shots of the lovely views. The weather was great and we were both on a bit of a high – I asked Lili to jump for me and she happily obliged!  Such a fun job.

Mihoko and Tyler's Wedding Day. Nagasaki, Japan. 2008.

Phew, it’s been busy around here! Nice to get a chance to sit down and catch up with the blog. There is a swag of photo’s I want to share, but first….

I’ve been wanting to do a post about the increasingly popular production of Custom Made Wedding Photo Books as opposed to the traditional album. Self-publishing is becoming a really popular form of promotion and publication for photographers around the world – and the growing demand means that Wedding Photo Books are becoming more and more sophisticated and affordable. Having your own custom made magazine or coffee table style book telling the story of your special day to share with friends and family for years to come is such a special treat.

I’ve gathered a list of great Australian Wedding Book companies for you to check out if you are researching wedding photo books:

Albums Australia

Asuka Books

Click on Print

Momento Pro

Photo Junction

Time Exposure

Internationally, Blurb is great. I co-published a book of my own that way.

Oak Beach Cottage Pool

View looking outside the living room at Oak Beach Cottage

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Oak Beach Cottage details

Oak Beach Cottage pool

Click on any of the images below to go to a click-forward slideshow gallery.