Congratulations to Angela and Ian - married on the 16th of October 2009 in Scotland. Yes, Scotland! Dundas Castle near Edinburgh to be exact.

So, why Scotland? Well, Angela is Scottish (most of her family is still in Scotland) and Ian has Scottish heritage. And why not; who wouldn't love to be married in a castle!? One of the most amazing things about the wedding, apart from the beautiful couple of course, was that the weather was very un-Scottish. It was sunny, blue sky, and quite warm! That made a lot of the Australian guests right at home, although it was quite interesting for all of those who wore kilts for the first time (myself included). In fact, wearing a 15kg kilt and carrying two cameras, batteries, lenses and the usual stuff was quite a challenge - not to mention the strange feeling of fresh air where there's not usually fresh air...

What made this wedding even more interesting was that Angela's father, Robert, was the minister that married the couple. Robert has a great sense of humour which made for a very interesting and humorous ceremony and reception. Also, Ian (the groom) did the vast majority of the organisation, preparation, and planning for the wedding. Don't forget, the couple are from Australia too, so it was even more difficult to organise the wedding so far away in Scotland. The cake was something else - themed as a beehive with bees, it was made by Ian himself too!

I love this photo. It shows the grandeur of the location and of course features the bride and groom if you look hard enough. Shortly after this one was taken, Angela sprinted away and Ian chased her. Certainly an interesting sight to see a man in a red kilt chasing his bride in full dress in front of the castle. You'll have to watch the slideshow too see this one though :)

> Ian and Angela's Wedding Page

A big congratulations to Chelsea and Kris, married on the 21st September 2009. A gorgeous couple who made great use of the early spring flowers at Tulip Top Gardens just outside Canberra for the ceremony, and then onto The Carrington in Bungendore for the reception. Doug was the photographer for this wedding as I'm currently overseas - you did a stunning job Doug, and I'm sure Chelsea and Kris will be over the moon with the photos. I love the colour in many of the photos; a sign of things to come as spring and the wedding season in Canberra is just starting... :)

>>> Chelsea and Kris's slideshow

It's how I started out, and I reckon it's how most people start out as Wedding Photographers - assisting other Wedding Photographers. I regularly take assistants to weddings because it's a win-win-win situation.

Why the triple win? Well:

Win 1: The couple getting married get two photographers covering their wedding. They get shots from different angles, they get two sets of creativity, and on the wedding party photoshoot there's plenty of scope two photographers to work together to get some amazing shots.

Win 2: The primary photographer has a backup, assistant to carry gear, and general dogsbody, etc :) Also, someone to chat to between locations in the car.

Win 3: The assistant gets some real-world experience. Not the stuff that most assistants do, like carrying gear around, setting up lights, packing up and other stuff like that, but proper photography work. The assistants I take get to take pictures - heaps of pictures. They obviously also get to work with a pro and build up their skills.

So, of course I'm always keeping an ear out for anyone interested in being an assistant. No guarantees, but if you'd like to give it a go, shoot me an email :)

Today is my first day as a full-time photographer!

It's going to take a while to sink in...

The short version of the story so far:
- degree in Engineering,
- worked in IT for about 10 years,
- loved photography and started taking the hobby more seriously,
- joined the Canberra Photographic Society which was good to meet people and get feedback on my photography,
- did a diploma in photography and enjoyed that even more,
- assisted Ben from Fusion Photography (wedding photographer) a couple of times,
- photographed my first wedding for a friend of a friend,
- started getting the occasional bookings for wedding photography, real-estate, and other miscellaneous photography jobs,
- also did some assisting work with freeswimmers (commercial photography),
- left my IT job and worked at the Canberra Institute of Technology in the Photography section,
- eventually went part time at CIT when I had enough photography jobs,
- Friday, 28 August 2009 was my last day at CIT

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CIT and got along well with both the students and teachers. I did the handover to Dave (the new Technical Officer) on Friday - so I wish him and everyone else all the best for the future.

But as far as my career goes, it's gone to the next major milestone. I'm currently photographing around 20 wedding per year which is a pretty good number I reckon, and I join the handful of wedding photographers in Canberra that don't have a day job. Some other photography work like the Australian National Eisteddfod keeps me busy in the winter months, and I'll continue working on my business and expand into other areas in the near future.

Thanks to everyone that has helped me get this far - family, friends, photographers, and of course all the wonderful clients I've been privileged to work with!

One great thing about shooting for the Queanbeyan Age and The Chronicle is that I get to go to interesting places, watch shows, shoot events, clubs, meets, etc. First up today was the Pony Club Gymkhana. Damn awful weather but the riders didn't seem to mind too much. I got some social shots (as required) and then got a few action shots of the riders doing jumps - these should be in the Qbn Age this Friday.

Next up was the Riverside StarSearch... talent quest type of thing. Today was the final, so the quality of the performances was top-notch. There was even a demo performance by "Timomatic" from "So you think you can Dance"!

Here's a few shots from the day:

Watch out for a front page pic in the Chronicle this week :)

T8 Photography exhibited at the biggest and best Wedding Expo in Canberra yesterday (23 August 2009). It was a fantastic event and it was so amazing to see so many familiar faces. We caught up with quite a few couples that we'll be photographing soon and also plenty of other people in the wedding industy.

The booth we had seemed to be very well received. On display was a large 17x12" album, large and small photobooks, as well as some canvas prints, acrylic floating wall mounts and of course a multimedia presentation on the big LCD (sorry the sound was so low, but I forgot the audio cable so had to rely on the computer speakers - although I'm sure the booth next to me didn't mind at all!). The album especially was a hit which got plenty of "oohs" and "aahs" as people flicked through it :)

Thanks for everyone who left their details for either a price list or for a followup call - I'll be in touch very soon!

The best camera is the one you have with you... here's an iPhone photo of the booth:

Congratulations to Jennifer & Jon. Married on the 15th August 2009 at The Chapel at Gold Creek Village.

More pics and a slideshow here: Jennifer & Jon's page

Thanks to Jeremy and Pam for the photography :)

I'm proud to announce that T8 Photography will be covering the Australian National Eisteddfod Choirs in 2009. You will be able to purchase photos of your choir performing on stage in the Llewellyn Hall (School of Music) - it is such a fantastic venue and the photos really turn out great! Photographs will be available for viewing and purchase online; no orders will be taken at the event.

Please see the following page for more information: http://www.t8photography.com/eisteddfod

I've unofficially done portraiture in the past, but now I've added it to another product T8 Photography offers. We specialise in outdoor portraits of kids, families, babies and pets, although also offer portrait sessions in your home or our studio (with studio lighting).

Pricing starts at $150 for the sitting fee, with images available for purchase digitally or as prints. If you would like to give a portrait sitting as a gift to a loved one, then please ask about gift vouchers. There are also bundles that include the sitting and prints to make things easier :)

Locations available are anywhere in Canberra, ACT.

My lovely niece, Susu, wanted a photo for a talent agency... so we had a bit of a play in the studio. I don't usually do much studio work as I prefer the outdoors, but it was still great fun.

She could only submit one photo, this is the one we choose:

And here's a couple that were close, but not as good as that one above:

Oh, yes, she did get accepted to the agency :)