Lizzycphotography

Last month I photographed Snezana and Dean’s beautiful wedding day. Snezana and Dean met 10 years ago and the story goes slightly differently depending on who is telling it. Snezana and Dean could not be more relaxed. Their wedding day was no different. They picked the most glorious day in June to get married! At this time of year in the southern hemisphere it gets darker earlier and so their reception could continue on from their ceremony we got together and did some photographs before the ceremony in a local park . Dean was priceless when he first saw Snezana. All he said was “WOW” and well I agree it pretty much sums up how amazing she looked. She is gorgeous, isn’t she!?

Snezana and Dean would like to thank the following people who made their day extra special

* Snez’s Dress: Eleni George in Pascoe Vale
* Brass Band: Opa!
* Kieran, Josh, Maelene and Scott from the Boathouse
* Rings: Canturi (Dean) and Rutherford (me)
* Celebrant: Margaret Collier

And an extra special mention to Snez’s mum who made their cake, Veronica who put together the flowers, both their parents, the groomsmen, the bridesmaids and friends Antonella, Lani, Lisa, Allison & Corina.

David contacted me when he realised that he didn’t have a single photograph of himself! Not one that he could use for some publicity and the PR opportunities that he needed.

David is the brains behind Cloakroom Music. Cloakroom creates original music for commercials, TV, film, brands etc.   David needed some photographs of himself which showed off his creative flair but also appealed to his corporate clients. These are some of the images we came up with…

Anne contacted me because she was starting a new business and needed some portraits of herself for her website and promotional materials. Anne is an image consultant. As soon as you meet Anne it is very clear that not only does she know her stuff but she is very passionate about what she does! In a nutshell, she works with people to understand what best colours and style they should wear so that you become more confident and comfortable with the image they present.

This is important because, as she states on her website social psychologists have determined that visual presence contributes 55% to the impression we make on other people.

Hint, this may also be a good reason to have great photographs on your website!!

Ellen and Tom got married at St Cuthberts and had their reception at Glen Harrow. Glen Harrow is a 25 acre property in the dandenongs which is beautifully rustic and includes a collection of cottages with beautiful vintage decor.

Ellen and Tom are not only a delightful couple but they have an amazing support network of family and friends. Extremely talented family and friends at that! Their wedding day had so many beautifully thought out personal touches. For instance,  the girls put all the flowers together, Tom’s mum made all the bridesmaid dresses,  Ellen’s mum made the cake and Ellen sang a beautiful song for all the guests!

As you can see all of it came together perfectly and it all looked stunning! There were so many beautiful moments and images to choose from but I couldn’t post them all here…

so here are a few highlights….

When I think about Toby and Cally, it always make me smile. They are two of the most lovely people with an abundance of energy.  I still remember so clearly when I first met the two of them. We had so many laughs and and conversations which wandered off  on different tangents! I knew their wedding day was going to be great and they sure didn’t disappoint…

I can’t even start to put into words how their beautiful day unfolded but I think Cally’s mum Kate does a pretty good job in this beautiful email that she sent me.

From the mother of the bride,

Hi Lizzy – I just received C and T’s engagement session photos that I ordered. Thanks so much – they are wonderful – so looking forward to seeing the wedding pics! I have had many people say to me that you seemed wonderful on the wedding day. I must say that I myself hardly noticed you were there – and I presume that is the highest accolade – that you were “invisible” and yet noticed enough that we have received commendations on your presence! Wasn’t Cally and Toby’s wedding just the most joyous event? The sheer emotional joy she exhibited – and his joy was just as evident, if more reined in – enabled all the guests to let go emotionally. I don’t think I have ever seen so many men cry at once! I recently asked Cally if going back to every day life was a let-down, and she said no, just being married was just too exciting. So I feel that in this day and age of trying to achieve the perfect wedding, because Cally and Toby actually wanted to achieve the state of being married, rather than wanting a “perfect wedding”, they did actually have a “perfect wedding”. They are extremely happy, and excitedly making plans for their future.  Once again, thanks for your great work. I’m sure we will all be thrilled with the wedding pics.  Thanks, Kate.

A beautiful personal touch were the cushions made by Cally’s mum, each was individual and were given to the guests as a take home gift. She also made the elephants for Toby and Cally, they have a bit of a thing for elephants!

I love working with Studley Park Boathouse. It’s a beautiful restaurant and cafe on the banks of the Yarra. The staff are really friendly and they have great food. Recently they contacted me to take some photographs that the Age good food guide had requested.

Jess and Lewis were recently married at the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens. Jess was fantastically organised in a relaxed kind of way. It was great, everything ran perfectly! Jess and Lewis were an absolute pleasure to photograph and their bridal party were great fun too! We had a lovely time trooping through the gardens and then we ventured down to St Kilda for some shots near their reception venue, soul mama.  It was really stunning having the sunset over the beach and st kilda while  the guests had canapes and drinks on the roof terrace.

Snez and Dean are getting married next month and I’m super pleased that they’ve picked me to photograph their wedding.  Recently, we got together on one of those typical four seasons in one day, Melbourne days and photographed them being them for their engagement session.  The engagement session is included in all the weddings I photograph and basically it  is a great chance for us to get to know each other better, chat about the wedding and have a chance to get comfortable in front of the camera.

The weather was typical for Melbourne, it was cold and windy, then the sun came out, then it rained, and then the sun came out! None of this bothered Snez and Dean though!  They just joked around and we continued on.

This is a small selection of what we got up too… (there are a few more of Snez here)

I hope you like your images guys! Dean I think you did awesome, there is definitely more than one decent one of you! Snez, Dean and I knew you’d look fab! Hope they fit the “bit different” requirements!

For many years I’ve been meaning to enter the AIPP photographic awards. Every year I’ve made excuses, but this year I said to myself “I’ve got to do it” – so I did! It’s a little bit intimidating for a first timer. Basically, you can enter prints into a variety of categories and these are then judged by five professional photographers. The judging is open to the public and the prints can be commented on or debated about. It’s actually a really interesting process to watch. It was inspiring to not only see some amazing images, but to also hear the opinions of five acclaimed photographers as well.

In the end I did really well! I was named

AIPP Victorian landscape photographer of the year

and was also awarded

highest scoring print in the landscape category!

I also scored a silver award for a wedding image. I have posted all of the winning images below.

I’ve been working on some images this morning for Look East Australia. So I thought I’d post an image… (more to come!) Look East are a wholesaler for jewellery stores and boutiques around the world.

Look East were the ideal client, really. They were open to ideas and suggestions but also had clear ideas of what they wanted to achieve and illustrate.  We worked together closely to make sure we had a brief that would ensure we would capture images which would appeal to their target market and illustrate the overall mood and feel of their brand.

The photo shoot was a sucess thanks to the following people: Rachael (My photographic assistant ), Amy (makeup), Paula (hair), Tori (Talent), Kelly and Louisa

When I first met Allison and Barney, it was instantly obvious how different their personalities were but how well they complimented each other. Their wedding day was a fantastic reflection of their personalities, connection to each other and to their guests, family and bridal party. Allison and Barney were married on the banks of the Fairfield boathouse which then flowed into their cocktail reception at the boathouse. As the sun set, Duck Musique did a fantastic job of entertaining the guests as they sipped cocktails or took the row boats out on the river. As the music floated out across the river and the guests moved around the boathouse, it actually felt like you’d stepped back into a Saturday afternoon in the 1920s.  Ally and Barney looked super swish, and Allison too looked like she had stepped out of the 1920’s.  When we first met, Ally mentioned her dress would be from Gwendolynne Burkin.  I often stop and admire Gwendolynne’s dresses as Gwendolynne’s store is right around the corner from my studio. Her dresses are amazing and often have a beautiful vintage influence.  Ally’s dress suited her perfectly and looked amazing!

Congratulations barney and Allison! It was a beautiful Wedding day that I was honoured to be a part of!

Other businesses who helped Allison and Barney’s day come together so beautifully were-

Flower and decoration stylists: Amos & Smith

Hair and make-up artist: Vivienne Ashworth

The celebrant : Sally Cant

Miliner (Ally’s hairpiece): Richard Nylon

The cake patissiere:  Cavallini

Wine: Graeme Miller Wines

DJ -Peter Harrison

You can’t help but smile when you talk to Bridget.  She has a lovely warm personality and is obviously passionate about what she does.  Bridget is the director of Fresh Green Clean.  Fresh Green Clean consult, educate and train organisations on green cleaning.  In the process of creating a new website, Bridget realised that she needed good quality professional images to portray her message and what she does to potential clients.  I did a range of photographs for Fresh Green Clean including Bridget’s profile photographs and images she can use on her website and promotional material to promote what she does clearly and concisely.  Because Brigid works closely with people as a consultant and as an educator it was important that her profile portraits portrayed her warm and approachable personality.  Her clients range from large corporates to cleaning companies so it was important to have a range  of images that all clients could identify with.

From what I heard, while photographing her training course and talking to Bridget about what she does is surprisingly fascinating and I’ve picked up a few tip bits to apply when cleaning!

Thanks so much to Julie Sucksmith for teeing everything up for the shoot and helping out on the day too!

As a photographer one of the most common things people tell me before I take their photograph is either I hate photographs of myself or I don’t like having my photograph taken!

I like to think that maybe people who say this have just never found the right photographer for them…

Snez said this exact thing to me before I snapped these portraits at the end of her photo session – I hope that maybe I’ve changed her opinion…

Start a discussion: leave a comment to agree or disagree…

These portraits are of Tess Evans.  Tess needed some portrait photographs which she could use to promote her new book which will be to be published by Allen and Unwin on the 31st of May.  It’s titled Book of Lost Threads.  Tess was an absolute pleasure to meet and work with, so I am really looking forward to reading her novel.

I haven’t had much of a chance to blog post many of the recent commercial portraits and commercial work I’ve been doing recently.  Being in the mist of the wedding season makes it difficult to do extra things like blog!  I will endeavour to post more images here though!