2010 was a huge year for me as I solidly promoted my love of photographing weddings internationally. My goal is to shoot weddings in places around the world where I would like to visit and/or where I have friends. This makes it more affordable for my clients to hire me if they choose locations that are on my ‘To Go’ list. So if you have a wedding planned in Antarctica or Iceland then I definitely want to be there. There are many places I would like to see and experience in my lifetime and not just limited to the two I just mentioned. I love to feel a part of wedding day so I try to find accomodation with the family or friends of the bride or groom – this also helps me to get to know them better before the wedding and can therefore produce more meaningful photos.

I am very grateful to my fellow photographers, Anna Jarske and Derek Latham and Emilie Gerard of AmyPunky Photography who invited me to shoot alongside with them at weddings in France and Finland. And a big thanks to Charlie and Jenni for recommending me to their Finnish friends Nina and Timo for their gorgeous wedding in Hameenlinna. In total I photographed 6 brides (3 in Finland and 3 in France) and 3 portrait sessions. What I am most excited about is that my clients, Emilie and Ville have since gotten engaged and have asked me to come back in July 2011 to photograph their vintage carnival inspired wedding in countryside Finland.

I will also be photographing another wedding in Helsinki and a wedding, a bridal session and a few family portrait sessions in Northern Norway on the Lofoten Islands. Very exciting times!

Charlotte and Thomas’ Wedding in Normandy. See more images here.

I second-shot this wedding with Emilie Gerard. We asked the groom to take the shot on the right – not bad!

My friends, Emilie and Ville in Helsinki – Pasila Train Yard – Vintage theme – see more of their photos here.

I photographed this gorgeous wedding with Emilie Gerard near Angers, France. One of my absolute favourite weddings of the year for the attention to detail. You can see more images here and here.

Laetitia and Cedric couldn’t book Emilie for their wedding day as she was already booked but they decided to get dressed up again a few days later and I was lucky enough to be here with Emilie to take some shots. This was taken just outside of Paris at a gorgeous chalet! You can see more images here.

After a portrait session on a Finnish Island I noticed this gorgeous couple on the boat back and they were being so smoochy. Deniz was visiting from Turkey and Maiju lives in Helsinki. We have stayed in contact after I snapped a few sneaky shots and hope to catch up again in Helsinki next year.

We were lucky to get these family photos as there were lots and lots of big mosquitoes around as it had rained overnight.The family is related to my very good friend Anna and I spent 5 days with them all and enjoyed fishing, picking strawberries, shopping for Marimekko bags and also at the thrift shops!

Charlie and Jenni recommended me to their friends in Tampere Finland after they visited Australia for a wedding I photographed in November 2009. As a thank you I suggested to take pics of their new addition to their family, Eliel. You can see more pics here.

I love getting a photo with the bride and groom and this was a surprise shot when I heard something whispered behind my back in Finnish and suddenly Nina and Timo gave me a smooch! Loved it And thanks to John Shiels of Ireland who captured this moment! Please enjoy more of the pics from the wedding here.

Päivi and Jukka’s Portrait Session was on the island of Pihlajasaari Island just a short boat ride from Helsinki. More shots here.

A spectacular wedding at the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki. Päivi and Jukka are truly one of the most romantic couples I have ever photographed. Totally fell in love with them myself More of their gorgeousness here.

Satu and Tero were married near Kouvola in south east Finland where there are many yellow fields. It was so beautiful seeing the colours. Satu ‘carried’ her dad down in the aisle with her bouquet. You can see more pictures from their wedding here.

For every wedding I book I offer a complimentary portrait session before the day. This helps my clients to be comfortable on their wedding day but also for me to get to know them a little better and find out what they do and don’t like with regards to photos. I try to encourage my clients to personalise their portrait sessions – to bring props that represent who they are and their story. A favourite place may be chosen as it has special meaning to them. By doing this the photos become more precious and priceless to my clients. I was also lucky enough to shoot a few family portraits throughout the year. Please enjoy a few of my favourite photos from these portrait sessions. Please note, these are only the Australian based portrait sessions I have done, there will be a separate blog post for my International sessions.

Anja and Anthony chose Clovelly where Anja grew up and brought in gorgeous aqua and yellows for the theme of the session.

Annie and Dan were so romantic at sunrise at Garrison Point.

We hung out at the building site for Bec and Ryan’s new house. There was an abandoned Celica nearby that looked pretty cool!

Belinda and Ryan dressed up for some formal photos around Sydney University and then changed into something a little more casual for a picnic in the park next to the university and ofcourse with some mini cupcakes!

Carlo and Suzie braved a chilly sunrise in Collaroy to hang out on their mountain bikes and then at the beach for a hot chocolate.

After a crazy sun shower we braved the unpredictable weather to get these absolutely gorgeous shots of Christine and David enjoying their peaceful boat ride in the Royal National Park.

Elyse and Shrek chose to have an engagement session with their absolutely adorable Eden at home.

Emma and Tim met at a Newcastle Knights game and are huge fans and it was fun to shoot their session on a football field and in a nearby park.

Erin and Nathan met whilst camping so having a tent in their session was important – they also brought along a cute chalkboard prop.

Felcity and Michael chose to relax on Shelly Beach, Cronulla – one of their favourite places to be .

Coogee has special meaning to Fiona and Garth including the site of their first kiss!

Gemma and Kendrick brought along a lot of props to increase their confidence with being in front of the camera. It certainly helped as they were having lots of fun in front of the camera including entertaining the kids on the beach with their bubble blower!

Lucas is such a cutie and I was lucky enough to photograph him and his mum and dad when I was shooting with photographer Kellie Maree in Adelaide in January.

Karen and Simon – what an awesome couple! They love picnics at Mt Annan Botanic Gardens and brought strawberries and chocolate – yumm!

Lauren and Mark have recently become parents and their wedding will be sometime next year. But when I photographed their session they were only parents to their gorgeous doggies!

Lauren and Mark asked me to choose a place for their session as they just want to keep it simple. So in lurrve…awww!!

And another smoochy couple – Lorinda and Chaka – so incredibly in love and they only have eyes for each other. Loved the devotion here!

I loved that Louise and Mat wanted to represent what they love to do best – hang out at home and in their local park and just chill.

Lowenna and Nick with their cats and in the local reserve across from their house – anywhere can make a great spot for your photos!

I shot some commercial photos for Mel and Ant who run their own businesses and I offered to do a few shotsof just the two of them afterwards – so sweet! They are now engaged and I look forward to their wedding in Berry.

Melinda and Adam – such a sweet moment in Hyde Park.

Melanie and Kai in Balmoral looked like a rockstar couple walking along the wharf.

Rachael and Mark borrowed a kayak and brought flowers and gumboots and much more to make this a fun and colourful session. They love the outdoors so the Royal National Park was a perfect location.

Earlier in the year I took some shots of my gorgeous Dad for the local paper – they featured him as he did the Ironman Triathlon in Port Macquarie.

Sandrine and Ly just had to have Odyssey in their session as she couldn’t be at the wedding. We chose an isolated beach so we could have the freedom to do what we wanted with a canine companion.

Lollipops, storybooks and the Sunday Paper – a relaxed and fun session at Oatley Park with Sarah and Luke. And they said they don’t take a good photography ( I think I have proved them wrong

Simone and her girls, Leila and Sophia put on a good show for the camera to surprise daddy for Christmas with these pictures on canvas.

Stacey & John relaxing at park in Georges Hall.

Tash and Robbie – A bridal session at Hallett Cove in South Australia.

Cockatoo Island was a great location for getting their sexy portraits of John and Tonia. The sunglasses are almost always attached to John’s face – this was a rare moment.

Fay and David brought their little girl to Balmoral Beach for this family session. I just love all the little hands!

Simone asked if I could do a portrait session that would truly represent the natural personalities of her two beautiful girls. We had so much during the 2 hours and I was so impressed the girls were still happy to smile for me after that amount of time. It was great that Simone brought along props including the very effective cupcake The photos were a surprise for Sophia and Leila’s dad, Simone’s husband and I have been told that when she hung the canvases “Best present ever! [He] even had tears in his eyes and he never tears up! Thanks Gem xx”

Shrek and his princess, Elyse were a load of laughs last Saturday when they tied the knot at the gorgeous property, Loxley on Bellbird Hill at the foot of the Blue Mountains. The temperature was 20 degrees, the sun was out, Elyse and her bridesmaids were ready on time, the boys were ready, everything was perfect! I was… amused when Elyse giggled with nerves throughout the ceremony, she was so excited! Elyse and Shrek’s little girl Eden was very well behaved the entire day and when it came to the big group shot and everyone had to put their hands in the air, Eden raised hers – not bad for a baby! The service from the staff at Loxley was excellent as well as the food, I highly recommend it!