Photo Live Magazine First Issue Photo live - cat's add in 2017 versioin | Page 44

Q - What was the very first wedding
you photographed like?
My first wedding was in 1989, and I
can remember it like it was yester-
day.
By this time, I had a couple of grooms
coverages and reception coverages
under my belt as a freelance pho-
tographer.
I had a friend who was getting mar-
ried that insisted I do her wedding. I
refused, as I didn’t want to ruin her
wedding.
Nothing was said until 3 weeks out
from her wedding day, when she
asked me, where will we be going for
photos.
I freaked, as I thought I had made
myself clear that I wasn’t going to
photograph her wedding.
It was too late to find another pho-
tographer. I had asked my uncle to
shadow me and shoot on 35mm film
while I photograph on my Hasselblad.
I was a smoker back then, and I think
I had smoked at least two pack-
ets that day, and remember coming
home, exhausted and vomiting from
stress.
Back in those days, labs would
charge you extra for a quick turna-
round for your proofs, which was still
a week. It was one of the longest
weeks I could remember.
I picked up the bag from the lab drove
to my uncles place, as I didn’t want
to open the proofs on my own. We
took everything off the kitchen table,
made sure that it was clean and then
ceremoniously began to unravel the
proofs.
They were 5in x 5in proofs in sheets
of 12, one by one we would look at
them and the relief was euphoric.
Pictures were great and my uncle
would be punching my shoulder out
of sheer delight.
Needless to say the Bride and
Groom were very happy and I made
a display album out of it, which I had
for many years.
44
Q - You’re wedding photos are a mix
of capturing moments that are time-
less and also high fashion art… and
yet your albums flow cohesively. I
guess what I’m saying is that some
photographers either do “moments”
and some try for the fashion look,
you do both and it works. How do you
make that mix work so well? How do
you choose the “signature” photo?
I love this question. Too many pho-
tographers choose one over the oth-
er, and invariably market themselves
accordingly. When someone says to
me that I am a photographer who
just shoots moments and dare I say
natural photographs, to me it usually
implies that I lack the skill to pose or
direct effectively, or just don’t care.
There are many elements to a wed-
ding day or even a portrait. After
a while you get to know the pivotal
moments and you position yourself
to capture them. A good photojour-
nalist seems to be consistent in cap-
turing moments, and often people
would say, how lucky was that. You
make your own luck when it comes
to capturing moments and the more
experience you have the more mo-
ments you capture. Getting to know
your client before is also an impor-
tant part of not only capturing mo-
ments, but also understanding what
type of photos that would most reso-
nate with them. Then of course there
is the high fashion art that you de-
scribed, where skills of lighting, pos-
ing and direction come to play. Cou-
ples usually have locations in mind
when it comes to their wedding day,
and as a collaboration between the
couple and I , we narrow it down to
a few.
So for example we might turn up to
Parliament House as one of the loca-
tions, if I said I was a moment ( nat-
ural photographer ) only, do I say to
them just walk around naturally and
be yourself ? What does that look
like? Couples 99.9% of the time
turn to me and ask direction, what do
you want me to do? This is when I
would try and bring all the elements
at hand, my tools of lighting, posing,
technique and expression to create
an art piece, that the couple would
frame or put in their album. Choosing
the “signature” shot has more to do
with the couple, than with the pho-
tographer. Earlier on in my career, I
would execute a photograph that
would reap praise among my pho-
tographer friends, and accolades
of how wonderful a photograph is.
When I would show the same pho-
tograph to the couple, occasionally
they didn’t have the same response.
To them, it wasn’t a true reflection of
either their personality or just wasn’t
their cup of tea. I learned earlier on
that a great signature shot is one
that the client loves, not what I think
is great.
Q- You’re a Master Photographer,
can you tell us what that means…
I am a member of the AIPP ( Aus-
tralian Institute of Professional Pho-
tography ) and WPPI ( Wedding Por-
trait Photographers International )
And they both have milestones by
way of competitions that you can
achieve points towards being a Mas-
ter.
In both associations I have achieved
the milestone of Master Photogra-
pher twice with AIPP and three times
with WPPI.
Q - And you’ve won a bunch of
awards, what’s been an important
moment in your photography life that
you can share?
From the moment you pick up a
camera, there are many firsts, that
come to mind. Whether it’s the first
award you receive or the first image
that is published.
It’s easy to pin point one of these
moments as being an important mo-
ment in one’s photography life.