Images from Hong Kong & Singapore

My recent trip to hong Kong and Singapore was a great experience and would recommend it to any one looking for a great holiday. The people there are very friendly and my family and I felt very safe and comfortable with the hole trip. We flew Singapore airlines and I must say they were excellent.
I had all of my camera gear there of course and there was plenty to photograph. I managed to find a wedding going on in Hong Kong harbour and thought I would share a few images with you to get a feel for what they wear. I also found a few wedding cars dressed up which are a little different to how we dress up our cars. As you will see some of the cars had so many flowers on the front you couldn't see out to drive. One car in particular I had to ask the valet parking attendant if they had just put the flowers on the car or did they drive it like that. He said they had just driven in.
I have also included a few other images that I thought you might to look at even though they are not wedding related.
If you get the chance both places are great places to visit and I would highly recommend them to anyone

Saturdays wedding

Just thought I would share a few images from the week end. A really nice country wedding just outside of Noosa here in Brisbane. This time a tried a few different angles and positioned my off camera flashes to back light the bride where I could.
Great lighting effect when using the back light technique makes things very dramatic. As you will see I tried the same thing with the sun at times and really made the shot.
I really enjoyed my time on the week end, I came home with another set of unique images.

Digital Weddings

More and more in my work I am asked to create a special one off image for wedding couples, individuals and corporations that would like several aspects of their wedding or company in the one photo. I really enjoy doing this type of work because it gives me a chance to go beyond the limits of the shoot day in terms of time, lighting and colour. I have created many different types of digital manipulation images for clients and just for fun. I have even one a few awards along the way. Here are a few examples of what I have been up to. Some of these images took up to eight hours to create. Still, its not about the time but the end result.

Family Portraits

I thought I would share with you a great family portrait shoot I had on the weekend. It was a really casual affair just what the family wanted. We started off with a few glamor shots of their eldest daughter Sara and Brooke her friend. I would have loved even more time with the girls setting up for different lighting techniques as they seemed to be having heaps of fun trying on new outfits generally having a great time.

The family arrived and I took a few shots of them as individuals and then as a group. There is nothing like getting a family together for a portrait and before to long, all the character in every one starts to surface and they start to relax and have fun. Thats the time to shoot! 

Next we are off to the beach to get a few more casual shots. I had a place in mind and if the tide was out it would make for an excellent opportunity to get some great reflections and a chance to get everyone to run through the water and have a good time, getting totally soaked!

It was a great day out in the end and The Rae's were really happy with the photos. A great chance to do something a little different and all the better when my clients love the results.

Elana & Peter

Elena and Peter decided to get married at the beautiful Boulevard Gardens. They cater for every need. The staff there were really helpful not only to the wedding couple but also for the guests and the wedding professionals.

Elena and Peter had their wedding ceremony very early in the day - 11.am in fact but this was all part of the plan get the wedding photography they wanted. They had booked a horse and cart at Redcliffe and wanted a few nice shots at the beach as well. They ended up with a large variety of images from Mt Cootha Gardens, Brighton Beach, and we even had time for a few shots in the city.

The couple finished off the night with a well rehearsed traditional Russian wedding waltz. It was great to watch, something I hadn't seen before.

Saturdays wedding

Every time I head out to shoot a wedding I think about how I can do something different and unique for this particular couple. I really love to use off camera flash and am always trying new ways of lighting my Bride and Groom.

Sometimes I will bounce the flash off reflectors with different lighting gels or snoot the light (channel the light) to a particular part of the image. I find it adds interest to the image and makes the whole scene more dynamic. I can be lucky enough at times not to have to use any flash when the ambient light is just perfect.
I personally think what separates all great images from ordinary images is the light, its all about the light.

Something Different

This weekend I was fortunate enough to photograph the band Air Supply and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at the Convention Centre in Brisbane. It was a great show and a huge turn out.

I love photographing concerts, it presents huge challenges for the photographer and his/her equipment. Some of the difficulties go hand in hand with low light situations. To get the subjects sharply in focus you have to use a higher ISO (which means turning up your camera's light sensitivity) which gives you enough shutter speed to freeze any movement. When you do that too much you introduce to the image digital noise or grain.

I can see I am beginning to open a can of worms here and I better stop now or I will fill this blog with hours of photographic how to. If any one would like more information on how to take these shots just drop me a line and I will share how I go about it. It's really all done with mirrors and a very expensive low light lens.

If you're are wanting a great night of entertainment this band is a must see.

An excellent lighting display and the band played to perfection.