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

The Eastern family (includes Banjo)

They have a new CD out

The Eastern 'Arrows'

buy it now ... no questions!

These guys deserve success ... they work hard and they sound great!

Say no more.

more ...

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 Jayne

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.

Backstage at the Isaac Theatre Royal

I love photographing ballet dancers ... especially at weddings.

We had the service at Saint John of God's in Christchurch. followed by photographs and reception at the Isaac Theatre Royal

Martin and Jasmine looked fantastic.

Jasmine was graceful

With every couple we always want to exceed their expectations. To do this we need to get an idea of what their expectations for their wedding are.

Jasmine's father made the painting

People often tell us that they are looking for something different. Different, however could mean so many things. We look for the challenge that makes 'different' also 'beautiful', rather than just plain weird.

Liz did a fabulous job with the gown

And as for the Theatre

The Theatre had its own drama

Jasmine and Martin

Enjoy

Johannes

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

I know that in essence I get to recount a story for a couple.  This story is personal and meaningful.  It is not laden with special effects. It is a personal truth, possibly glamorised, but still a truth and definitely personal.

I came across this, which is part of a collection of short videos about a photographer/teacher, Dave LaBelle,  who puts it all into perspective.

Dave LaBelle | The Lesson from Francis Gardler on Vimeo.

There are a whole series of these and they are all worth a look ... he never even seems to mention the word wedding.

Cheers

Johannes

One of the truly special gifts was a book called a Welcome to the Zoo by Alison Jay.

It is a wordless story book. Alison's work is rich with stories within stories, intriguing personalities, and beautiful imagery.

The thing that struck me the most was the unspoken freedom I had to create my own stories. This is partly due to the lack of words but more-so to the rich content of the illustrations.

Albums can be like this.  In fact they should be!   We want our albums to tell many stories  so that they will endure time and fashion to become the catalyst for many memories but still be personal to the viewer.

Cheers

Johannes

Santa isn't going to drop off presents (as I had been hoping).

I am going to have to do some shopping on the worst day in the world to do it ... the very same day that millions of other people realised that Santa was never really doing the deliveries and that they only had 1 day to make the substantial purchase which was going to demonstrate, to their loved ones, that they were thoughtful and generous.

Its a big ask! Parking is a nightmare. All the really bad drivers come out to play. The shops are too busy to offer you the amazing service you would expect given the significance of your purchase.

And then people get scratchy ... argumentative and just plane frustrated. All this because the Big guy in the red suit isn't meeting expectations.

Why why WHY?

They all saw Christmas coming ... its not like red is a secret colour! ... and certainly all of that fake snow is a dead giveaway.

Every year it is the same ... and every year we say next year will be different!

So here it is .. "Next year will be different!"

... I hope!

Christmas bests

Johannes

Here are a few images from what started out looking like an ugly rainy day.

Kayla before leaving to the wedding

Kayla and Nigel were married at Cassels

Bethels Beach

It was windy and fabulous at Bethels

Nigel and Kayla at Bethels beach

Nigel and Kayla

Cheers

Johannes

Cheers

Johannes

Christmas with Ida Valentina

It has been a challenging year for all of us.  At Moda we were very lucky to have Susie working behind the scenes to keep the wheels turning whenever we were distracted by our new project (Ida). We quietly introduced our new entity (The Wedding Assassins). Even more quietly we released our  'Cherish Photography' project.  We are proud at what we have achieved in what has indeed been a difficult year and we are excitedly looking forward to whatever comes our way for 2010.

We have a couple of special projects in the think tank. (A deep - almost bottomless - vessel full of crazy ideas, hopes, and wishes.) One involves travel, and the other is about education.  Actually they are both about education because we always want to learn new things.

... and then of course there will be Ida Valentina .... currently a two tooth ... who will add her own brand of unpredictability to our chaotic lives.

Ida Valentina ... the beginning of the joys of teething.

Anyway I just wanted to say a big 'thank you' for any part you may have played in this exciting year.

All my love

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