The Wedding of Amanda & Adam 21st Feb 2009

What a great day..... you may remember these guys from their pre-wedding shoot back in November (feel free to look back in the November archives to see their photos from this) and as I said back then... you just can't wipe the smiles off these guys' faces! What a fantastic couple and what an amazing day!! They chose the most picturesque locations for their ceremony, reception and location shoot so it really made my job easy! And the couple have fantastic friends too, as the girls just doted over Amanda and made her as stress free as she could possibly be, and the boys just couldn't stop making me smile! Peter, AKA Scapa, just wanted photo after photo taken and was so funny to be around - as were all the boys... what a great bunch of people! We got some amazing shots on the day and those clouds made for some very dramatic images that Amanda & Adam will be able to treasure forever to remind them of their special day. I might even enter one or two of their images in the next AIPP awards so fingers crossed they do well there also! And, before I go it would be remiss of me not to mention the reception... Matthew made a very touching and funny speech, really showing everyone how much he loves these guys. Later in the night the dancing started off with a beautiful bridal waltz only to be interrupted seconds later by "Blame it on the Boogie"! Amanda & Adam got it started with a group of their former co-workers from Club Med and then the whole room erupted. It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves so much! Thanks to everyone on the day for being so friendly to me and I really hope that you love the images that I have captured of their special day. I can't wait to start designing the wedding album so that I can show it off!

Linton Gardens Bridal Fair... A Big Success!!

On Sunday we were involved in the Linton Gardens Bridal Fair... We had a lot of interested couples come and speak with us and all loved our work which is always fantastic to hear! Since then we have had a lot of enquiries and have a number of couples coming to speak with us this week about the big day. If you did see us and would like to come and speak with Justin please don't hesitate to contact us on 4323 6290 or 0402 123 734 to make an appointment to do so as we'd love to be given the opportunity to capture every moment of your special day! Remember that your day only happens once so you should have spectacular images to remember it by!!

Nic and Rhys "E" Shoot

Last week Nic and Rhys had their pre-wedding photo shoot. We originally had the shoot planed for the previous day but bad weather made us post pone the shoot 24 hours and, what a difference 24 hours can make! We had a beautiful afternoon and got some great shots. Hopefully Nic and Rhys have a gorgeous wedding day, but if the weather is a bit testy we have a great back up location planned if the weather doesn't behave itself. As you can see from the photos both Nic and Rhys are very comfortable in front of the camera and they both look great! Their wedding isn't too far away now and before they know it they will be husband and wife! Thanks guys for a great afternoon and we will see you both soon!

Linton Gardens Bridal Fair

This Sunday is the Linton Gardens Bridal Fair and we're going to be there! Make sure you come and speak to either Justin or Carla about your upcoming wedding and look through our beautiful wedding albums. We're also handing out a special offer to those couple's that are interested in booking with us for their big day. So.... come and check us out as we'd love to meet you and be thrilled if we could photograph your special day!

CAR FOR SALE?

Whats this have to do with weddings or portraits? Well two reasons. One is I have talked my beautiful wife into selling our car which we have had from new for less then 2 years so that I can go and buy something a little different (65 Mustang sounds nice to me). So if you want or know someone that wants a near new 5 door Ford Fiesta with only 16,500 kms then let us know. The second reason is while hunting around for my dream car I noticed how bad the photos are on car sales sites so I thought while we are specialist wedding and portrait photographers and really don't like to diverge into other forms of photography we could offer a simple "Selling your car deal" where we get some cool shots of your pride and joy which will hopefully attract more people to you through nice photos and hence help you sell your car. So if you have a car for sale or are thinking of selling and want to show it off give us a call and we can help you out. Here are 3 shots of our little car.

Jessica and Dean's "E" Shoot

Just two days after Amanda and Jim I caught up with Jessica and Dean at the same location for their photo shoot. These guys travelled up from Orange to do their shoot as practice for their Hunter Valley wedding in the very near future. While we still had the rain hanging around, this time it stayed away and I was able to take some great shots of Jessica & Dean. I head into Terrigal for a lot of pre wedding shoots as there are quite a few little corners you can head off too and get some beautiful images. Probably one of the main reasons I do a pre wedding shoot is a bit of a practice run so the couple feel comfortable in front of the camera. As you can see both Jessica and Dean are naturals with great smiles, and they are so easy going and that makes my job easy. They are having a beautiful Hunter Valley wedding so check back to see how their wedding photos turn out... I'm sure they will love them!

Amanda and Jim's "E" Shoot

Last week Amanda and Jim travelled down for their pre wedding shoot from Newcastle. They loved the rocky backdrop and even with some pretty ordinary weather we decided to still head out and try our luck. Well, we didn't have long before the heavens opened up but still managed to get some great shots of them both for the signature board they are having at their reception. Their wedding day isn't too far away now so Carla and I actually headed up to Newcastle a few days ago and checked out the church and a few nearby locations for the photo shoot on their big day. Wow - Newcastle really does have some great location spots and rain, hail or shine I am going to get some amazing photos for them to treasure of their big day! Hope you like the photos!

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU PAY FOR YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY?

This is a question that I'm sure a lot of Bride & Groom's ask themselves, their family and their friends with many varied responses.... So, I thought that I would offer my own opinion on the subject to try and help bridal couple's in this major decision.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first question to answer before delving deeper in to the question above is.... Why can the price of a wedding photographer vary so much in the first place? Photographers can charge from as little as a few hundred dollars to anywhere up to $30,000 for top end photographers, and the pure and simple reason for this is that your wedding photographs will be the only tangible thing that you will have to look back on and remember for the rest of your life time (apart from your video if you choose to get a Videographer also). It's not uncommon for people to spend big on their wedding day for the most beautiful wedding dress, amazing reception venues and cool cars and then skimp on other areas, like photography, to try to cut costs a little. The problem with this is that in 5, 10 and even 20+ years the wedding photographs are what the couple and their family will have to look back on to remember the amazing day that they had. Unfortunately memories do fade with time, but your wedding photos should help to revive those fleeting moments that pass so quickly on your special day.... the first look given as the parents of the bride see their daughter.... the first moment the groom sees his wife walking down the aisle... the first kiss as husband and wife... a stolen look through the crowd of people... the couple's first dance to their special song... how could you trust these moments to anyone but the best? When you're dressed in the most beautiful dress that you could find for your wedding which was "the one" the moment you put it on, why would you choose to have poor quality photos which don't show the detail in the dress that you love so much just to save a little bit of cost...? And, let's be frank, how many times in our lives do we really spoil ourselves like we do on our wedding day? Not only do the girls get pampered and have their hair and makeup professionally done, they also get to wear amazing dresses, great shoes & jewellery, and be will spiffily dressed groomsmen (and the groom) all day long. And on top of everyone looking amazing on the big day, the Bride & Groom get to share this special moment with their closest friends & family... people they love and want to be able to share the day with them and remember it forever also. Now, no matter how big & lavish or small & intimate your wedding, wouldn't it be great to remember your day looking the most amazing you've ever looked, with just as amazing photographs??? After all, it's the photographer's job to make you look as amazing as possible to show off all the hard work that has gone in to planning your day.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So now... let's talk price, as that is the question that was originally asked. As I've said above, photographers will charge you anything from less than $1000 right up to $30000+ for the very best photographer in the world. We even know of some photographers who have charged as much as $250,000 in the US! But, the majority of people will pay some where between $2000 and $10,000. At VIBE Photography we have packages starting at just $2250 and find that most couples will spend around $4000 - $6000 all up after upgrades etc... some people will spend less than this and some will spend a little more. You may ask, how do couples spend say $5000 on a $3000 package? Well, while every wedding is different, most couples add additional sides to their album to include all of the amazing shots we were able to capture on their big day. They might also add a framed enlargement, parents albums, a photo cover to their album etc... there are many things that couple's can add depending on their own individual tastes. These "upgrades" are by no means mandatory, but almost every couple does upgrade their album with some additional pages! So, you may wonder what the advantage is with this system as it may mean that you have to pay more? We believe it's all about choice!!! An average (and most probably cheaper) photographer may only give you a basic album with 20 sides and you are given no option to upgrade your sides so you pay no extra. At VIBE Photography, we get the most amazing images of your day that when you see them after your special day we want them to be irresistible to you! If they are irresistible and the most amazing images of your day you will be happy to pay a little more to have them to look back on for the rest of your life! If we just cruised through on your wedding day, not really trying and only taking enough images to fill 20 sides of an album of nice, but not breathtaking images then, you may still be happy but you wont be ecstatic. We don't do just "good enough"... we want to give you beautiful images that we've captured on your day that are absolutely breathtaking and irresistible to you both! Of course, if you can resist the extra sides in your album you can always cut them out and stay with the included sides in the package, but... wouldn't it be nice to have the choice??!!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, if we are only charging $4000 - $6000 with the best of everything, why do other photographers charge $10,000+? Well, put simply, we believe that we actually are cheap for the quality of our work and that we are as good as the next price bracket! Sometimes, we're even much better! But, as we have a lower profile without a big studio and the associated overheads we are happy to stay in the mid range price bracket and produce a higher end result for our couples! And, in all of our packages except for the very first (Simplicity Package) we also include the negatives at high resolution so that you can make as many re-prints as you would like in whatever size you would like. Many higher end photographers don't offer this and you would need to purchase the negatives on top of the original package (they often give a proof CD of the photos which you are unable to print from), or you need to purchase the prints of your choice from the photographer for your family & friends. We believe that by offering the negatives, you will save yourself a lot of money in the end as you can print your own enlargements, thank you cards and anything else that you may wish to do with your photographs. So, not only do we create the most beautiful images at VIBE Photography, we definitely do give you value for the money that you do spend!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On a couple of occasions we have shot a wedding where a groomsmen or bridesmaid also were planning their wedding and decided to go with a cheaper photographer, and when we have caught up with them at another time they mentioned that they wished they went with us! While they may have saved a little bit of money with a cheaper photographer, they simply were not happy with the results and now have no way of going back. One couple who this happened to even mentioned how they went "all out" with everything and tried to save some money with their photos only to regret this so much. So, whatever your budget is, make sure you simply LOVE the photos that the potential photographer shows you! Don't get caught up with the details of free prints or huge albums as, unless you simply love the images that the photographer creates, nothing else really matters! What's the real point in having everything for $X when you don't actually like the work that you're seeing? While some of the best photographers in the world can charge really big money, you will certainly be able to find a photographer whose work you will love for a reasonable price.... We hope that it's us!!! Even if it is a little bit more that you first thought of spending, this extra amount won't mean much when you look back at the beautiful images that you have of your wedding day as you grow old together. Imagine showing your children and then your grandchildren how amazing your special day really was! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So, while I'm sure everyone has their own opinion on how much you should spend, I just thought that I would give you my own opinion. I hope that it does help you when choosing a photographer for your wedding day! And, in short, how much should you spend on your wedding photography....? The answer really is up to you. But be assured that if you choose VIBE Photography for your day we will create truly magnificent images that you will be able to treasure for a lifetime!!

Mel and Pete's "E" Shoot

On Friday I spent some time with Mel and Pete to go over a few details of their up & coming wedding. We then spent 5 or 10 minutes with a little photo session at the end. These guys are both really relaxed and I can tell we are going to have some fun on their wedding day! With a few different ideas planned for their big day with a mixture of Nature and Urban photos we should be able to get some pretty amazing shots on the day, so check back after their wedding to see what we come up with!