It was pleasing to end the year on a high note. Narelle & Michael's nuptials were the final wedding for 2009 and it was a joyously happy one, drenched in sun, lightened with laughter, and made memorable by the groom's (and his twin brother's) crazy sense of humor. The event itself was pure class, though: ceremony at St John's Anglican church, location shoot at "Heide" (the Musuem of Modern Art at Heidelberg), and reception at Ashton Manor. Sadly, for the bride & groom, there is now a big problem -- trying to choose which of the 600 beautiful images we created will make the final cut of the album! 
But seriously, Narelle was a truly radiant bride, who just glowed with excitement all day long; Michael was extremely nervous, but as the day progressed, I was able to finally coax him into the kind of traditional romantic pictures than I knew Narelle was dreaming of ...
This first picture of the bride & bridesmaids worked so beautifully that I think it's going to become a poster in my shop. And just look at the way Narelle is glowing!
I think it's important to capture those (often overlooked) little details at weddings, like the type of perfume the bride is wearing. And I would take pictures of flowers all day long if I had the time. I particularly like this fun photo of a bridesmaid holding a camera; it's a perfect composition, but not set up. It's a good example of the happy accidents which often happen with my Melbourne wedding photography.
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I did some solo pictures of Michael at his house, but to create natural, relaxed portraits of a groom, I capture some surreptitiously later in the day, with a long telephoto lens from a distance, while he's talking to his mates. The bride almost always prefers to see these. The giant close-up of the wedding rings was created with a special macro lens.
The location shoot went very easily at "Heide" (the Musuem of Modern Art at Heidelberg), which offers a rich variety of textures for wedding photography. There are the amazing sculptures, and the dreamy gardens, both quaint and more modern.
The gardens at Heide had a dreamy effect on me, and I incorporated that feeling into the filtering of this classically romantic picture, which I find hard to stop gazing at. I always filter all the wedding pictures before giving the clients a copy of the high-resolution printing files -- it's a free bonus from me.
If you'd like to see more of my wedding pictures, you might like to check them out on Facebook, or have a look at this posting.