In conjunction with the West Australian branch of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography we will be presenting a personal insight into our photography, our business, our development, our philosophy and our albums. We want to inspire, provoke and encourage other photographers to best themselves.

This is a unique opportunity for us to speak in tandem. We never do this. Its easy as photographers to become self centered so having the two of us creates a balance of 'selves'. We want this to be interactive and informative. Its two days on growing, surviving, nurturing, and why coffee is important.

We have nothing to sell but so much to give. We have won too many awards to worry about, we have shot in many amazing places, but when it comes down to the everyday truth of being a photographer for the people, we are singly most motivated by striving to give our best to the ones who gave us the trust to be their photographer.

We look forward to seeing you in Perth

Johannes Jo and Ida

The late Autumn light was our friend

Josh and Andrea were married last month near the mouth of the Rangitata River

Josh and Andrea

Team Andrea

Team Josh

I learnt something about how infectious one person's happiness can be. Andrea was a wonderfully happy bride. Josh was calmly proud. It was late autumn and the light was our friend.

It was cold but beautiful

Andrea

Happiness makes a great photograph

It was a great way to end the season, it reminded me of how lucky I am to be a photographer.

Wedding Party

Ah the light

Nice tattoo

It was a great day and a wonderful way to end the season

The light is delicious and the colours are wonderful.

Trees become skeletons ... and there is a slight chill in the air that makes couples hug a little closer.

Matt and Rach were married at St John of God  and had their reception at Trents.

Wedding photography for Rach

The car was fabulous

This was a fun wedding to photograph

Matt's marriage proposal was personal and unique

The skeleton trees of Autumn

Matt and Rach got married

Being so cold made them be even closer

Their ceremony was personal.

Once they were married the rain cleared.

I love the challenges and experiences of photographing weddings.

Bethaney

Lee

They had a crazy combination of flooding and sunshine

This was a presentation I did with my talks in the UK last year.

I am curious about any interest in a talk in May this year on the album design process.
I am looking at two or three locations in the UK ... Let me know if you are interested.

It is still sinking in. Ian Baugh from Queensberry contacted me this evening with this picture and his congratulations from Las Vegas.

This is our trophy!

I want to thank Queensberry and my beautiful wife Jo Grams for all their support.

I also need to thank Virginia and Richard the beautiful bride and groom.

see also this award

Not much more than 28 days ago it was the beginning of February.

8 weddings later I have much to catch up on .... my apologies to everyone for not giving you all separate posts. Actually in compiling this one it becomes very obvious that each wedding is unique. My aspiration is that I treat them all individually to meet the needs of each couple.

WEDDING ONE

February started with the wedding of Jacqui and Henry ...

Jacqui at Muddy Waters

and

Jacqui in the vines

and then

Jacqui and Henry

finally

It was the most beautiful day

WEDDING TWO

The next weekend was a wedding at Newbery Lodge with Sheryl and Mike

Sheryl and Mike were married at Newbery Lodge, Christchurch

and

Fab cars and a huge boat

Sheryl not running away

The boat and the bridal party

WEDDING THREE

two days later we went to the wedding of Jacqui and James in Queenstown at Stoneridge

Jacqui looked amazing in her Louise Anderson dress

Skippers Canyon was a perfect setting for drama meets beauty.

The image says it all

Not forgetting James

Jacqui, James, and Skippers Canyon

Thanks to the people at Heliworks for getting us up there

Heliworks took us to Skippers Canyon

and then the sun went down ...

Sunset photo #1

And they had fireworks

WEDDING FOUR

Then a wedding in Hororata for Adam and Jenna

Another hot and sunny day ....

Jenna looked stunning

The cemetery at St John's Anglican church in Hororata

The light worked with us ...

Not to forget Adam ....

and then the reception in this fabulous marquee from Hyde Park Hire catered by White Tie in famous style

Marquee at home in Hororata

WEDDING FIVE

From rural Hororata to an hour South West of Auckland, at Castaways, near Waiuku, for the wedding of Gabriel and Janet.

Gabriel and Janet were married on the 22nd of February 2010

Colin, the unlisted bridesmaid, proved his worth and athleticism during the photography

Janet

Gabriel we had picked out as the energetic type, but Janet impressed (and surprised) us with her 'no mountain too high to conquer' attitude in getting to this amazing spot.

Janet and Gabriel

Photographing weddings is a mix of many skills. The test of a really good photographer is their adaptability to changing conditions.

light, water, a tailored suit, and a fabulous gown

Many photographers 'pooh pooh'  the sunset photograph .... but sometimes you just have to ...

Sunset #2 .... dare I say it

WEDDING SIX

Then out to the Rakaia Gorge (Terrace Downs) for the wedding of Katie and Simon

Katie and Simon were married on the 26th of February 2010

Katie at The Rakaia Gorge

Katie

....and Simon of course

... I nearly forgot to mention the chopper ride from Terrace Downs along the Gorge ... brief but very cool

WEDDING SEVEN

The next day was at French Farm (under new management) with Jeremy and Jane

They had an interesting bridal party

... Jeremy was in charge of catering

Canterbury gave us great clouds and some 'not too bad' light.

Happiness is the greatest compliment to beauty

They feasted into the evening on fine foods, stories, and great wine .... long table style.

French Farm

WEDDING EIGHT

Although this was the beginning of March, it brings me up to date.

The wedding of Kate and Greg in Winchmore

Kate saw these sheep and chased them down for our picture ... I was impressed!

From sheep to veils ...

and in spite of the rain ....

Greg and Kate

The day started off with rain ... but we got lucky .... as we always do.

Thanks to everyone for a crazy beautiful month ...

We had a lot of weddings .... but that is the thing with this time of year ...

What is important for us is that each story is different, and the images are too.

We pride ourselves at Moda Fotografica in treating each couple uniquely. This is my point.

I'm not criticising the judgment of weather forecasters but it created an unnecessary sense of foreboding for the day as ugly weather was on its way (supposedly). The ugly weather never showed .... Ballantynes made a few extra umbrella sales that day.

I love the crazy unpredictable energy that happens at the time I arrive at the brides place. My arrival is an undenible signal that there is not much time until she has to get out there and sign the contract.

Everybody deals with that differently.

Zoe had a calm approach to it. Maybe because she's a doctor, maybe because a little bit of rain was no worries compared to her dress getting lost in transit from Australia ...

It was a wedding that had personal and special written all over it.

Zoe

Nick

The both of them ... I know that seems obvious.

Zoe at one of my favourite spots

At my other favourite location ....

I love shooting weddings ... and I hope that you can see this in my work.

Take care

Johannes

One day it is sunny then the rest it rains ... well it seems like that

There is a wonderful myth ... we call it an optimistic truth ... that when it rains on your wedding day you will have a marriage filled with good fortune.

Does that mean if you get married on the single day that it doesn't rain you are somehow destined for bad luck?

It rained for Carly and Pete. Their plans involved a wedding in a paddock with a view of the local countryside ... it rained ... no paddock ... and not much of a view.

Somehow the rain worked for us and we got puddles, broody clouds and soft light ... so in truth there was some luck in it.

They had 4 glamourous bridesmaids

There is some great countryside out in Oxford

Carly and Pete

Cheers

Johannes

Time suddenly disappeared as I spent last week photographing four weddings, the buskers festival, and having a birthday.

I have seen enough acrobats and jugglers to see me through the year. Weddings I can never get enough of, And birthdays ... even though I was spoiled, one a year is good enough for me.

I will post some more images from All the weddings shortly but I am compelled to put these up to show that I am still here and very much wanting to get something up.

A Laotion service in Christchurch

Laotion wedding ceremony

Part of the ceremony required the bride and groom to ask their families for forgiveness  for any wrong they may have done in their past. This allows them to make a fresh start in their new lives together. Very cool.

Mash and Dala

And a few days later they had another ceremony at the Marae in Kaikoura.

I loved the contrasts and interweaving of traditions with this wedding.

Many thanks to Dala and Mash

Cheers

Johannes

Don't misunderstand me, I am not a  Santa Cynic but I am painfully aware of the foibles of weather.

This year has seen a fair number of dreary weekends (read as  "dreary days for people to get married ")

We live in the hope of perfect weather. For me 'perfect' would be an impending storm with a touch of brightness coming in from the sides,  ... or misty.

The trouble with that impending storm look .... is the impending storm ... go figure!

Last weekend I had a short notice wedding in Tekapo ... the weather warnings had spoken of 130kph winds and as I was driving in things were looking grim.

As the afternoon progressed it just got better and better.

Bring on the storms I say!

Ed and Robyn in Tekapo

Robyn and Ed at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tekapo

Robyn

Good luck for everything Ed and Robyn

The urge to almost dance with a Leica is undeniable. The interesting thing was the difference between our dancing styles. Brett was a quiet and respectful dancer, gracefully moving from scene to scene gently aware of the people in his peripheral vision. I was more of the crazy dancer with erratic moves briefly flirting with the audience in my excitement of the new freedom I had ‘discovered’.
Who would have thought that a camera could do this to you.

The real lesson I learned was about different shooting styles. We all have our own way of doing things and can easily become myopic in our opinions and methodology. Having the opportunity to observe others in action allows us to get a better idea of other possibilities.

Thank you Leica. Thank you Brett.

Last night we were awarded Wedding Album of the Year at the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography's annual award ceremony. It was a convincing win receiving a Gold with Distinction from the judges.

We have won this title every year it has been awarded (3 times).

I see myself as a storyteller.

I wanted to create a book that was like a personal and intimate journal.
I wanted to tell a story in a less than obvious way
I wanted the book to say these things before you even opened it.
I referred to the feel of the album as being similar to your old, comfortably worn couch.
This couch is the one where you sit in the sun and read while listening to the music that moves you. It gives you comfort and has a reality, almost a wisdom, about it that comes from years of being a couch.
I wanted the viewer to feel an honesty and a beauty when they held this amazing book.
I wanted it to suggest a quality that said way more than a bunch of photographs on a page.
This album wanted to be suggestive of a rich reward to anybody who had the privilege to hold it, and the curiosity to look inside
You could argue ‘but its just a book of pictures.’
In one sense you might be right, but the truth is that it is somebody’s dream that we have retold. Dreams are worth more than that.

I was very fortunate that my needs coincided with something that Heather Baugh from Queensberry was working on as part of a series of unique bespoke albums. Queensberry have just gone through a major exercise in redefining themselves.

The images were simple narratives of a day in the life of two beautiful people.

I am so lucky to share that day with people and put it somewhere safe for them to go back to one day.

cover

Wedding album of the year

Weding album of the year opening 4

If you are looking at an album now is the best time to get it made.

The thing about photographing weddings is that the photography is just the beginning of the creation of the story.

This is where we get to flex our creative muscles and finish telling the stories.