[ stanthorpe wedding photographer ]
When I was about 12 years old, I met a girl named Ebony. We became best friends.
Sleep overs. And good memories of the all-nighters that would result. Watching the same movie at the cinema 10 times, just because, we could. Strawberry Chupa-Chups. Cartoons. Boyfriends. 4 hour phone conversations. Back massages. Secrets; and lots of them. We talked about everything. We shared everything - food, drinks, chocolate, friends, and good times with those good friends. I thought we would never ever part - all of us. We saw each other as often as we could.
Time went by and we grew up. To me, Ebony has always been the same age: "x" years older than me. And then I began to realise, I was now 22, not 12. Time was passing. I hadn't seen or talked to Ebony in a long time.
I remember the first time I saw her again, after all that time. We squealed, hugged, and talked excitedly for all too short a time, as if we'd never spent a day apart. As if things hadn't changed, and not a day had passed. She spoke of a young man, Johnny, who she had been dating for some time. Although I never met him, I knew this particular young man was an amazing one. No one could ever be with such an amazing woman if he himself was not incredible.
One night, many months later, Ebony called me. She excitedly announced that she was getting married to Johnny; I was beside myself. Not only had she invited me, but she had asked me to photograph this once-in-a-lifetime event for her and her fiancé. Naturally, I accepted the honour and began planning in my head, before she mentioned "but it's a secret wedding". She then proceeded to inform me that she and Johnny had planned an "Engagement Party" and had invited all their family and friends. They, however, had other plans in mind. They would surprise all their guests with an on-the-spot wedding. It was nothing short of brilliant. And I was to KEEP this a secret.
Months went by - and the night came. The happiness came - the joy of watching my sister marry the great, kind and gentle man who had won her most beautiful heart.
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Having my best friends complete trust in me, I allowed myself to be a little more creative, if not experimental while shooting this wedding. I played with lights, lighting, temperatures, underexposure, over exposure, long exposure, second-curtain sync, crops, textures, bokehs, tilt-shifts, shadows, highlights, negative spaces, grain, DOF, details and angles.
I also decided to hand one of my cameras to one of my best friends, Hannah Collins, and asked her to just go wild and crazy and snap-happy. Which she did, splendidly. She got some fanTASTic shots - and you will see them here in this blog, marked with a " [ photo shot by Hannah Collins ] " so you'll know which are her shots. So feel free to leave her some comments too if you see a photo of hers you like!
Note: All photographs have been edited by me.
But I digress - ENOUGH of the small talk though, LET'S SEE THESE PHOTOS!!!
Emmy xx
