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A picture tells a thousand words...Don't worry, this blog isn't one of those uber-modern, utterly self-indulgent diatribes where I bore you to tears telling you all about what shoots I've been doing lately and what I spread on my toast this morning. What it is, is a space to have a wee chuckle at some of the lighter moments in life, as seen through my lens. To me, great photography is as much about freezing the frame on the sublime as well as the ridiculous, and letting the picture tell those thousands, instead of me sending you to sleep writing about them. Enjoy!  ABOVE: I'm the first to confess that sewing has never been my strength, but when the button needed to hold Haley's dress up for the first dance failed, it was all hands on deck. Including groom Kevin who took the cheeky chance to grab my camera and capture the moment. I gave him this shot for free...and an invitation to be my assistant any time he liked!  ABOVE: I always ask my boys to be showered, shaved and ready for me to shoot them getting dressed with the finishing touches. Stuart and his posse took me a little too literally. Fortunately I had a hunch after groomsman Shannon's wedding a year earlier when they opened the door wearing nothing but Borat suits.  Yes, we know, it's ALL about the bride. But Gavin decided he was sick of just watching and busted in on one of Alana's portraits.  ABOVE: You know the natural order of things has gone right out the window when the photographer is shooting the groom who is shooting the ducks. Nevermind that the ground was sodden and his suit paid the ultimate price. It's all about the moment, right? Hmmm...try asking the bride that question.l  ABOVE: Don't ask me why, he's not even jewish, but Shane has always wanted to break a plate. Always. And since Nancy had just fulfilled Shane's other chief desire (by becoming his wife) she decided kick things off by granting him his second wish right off the bat. The expression on his face as he starts to trot down the aisle and then realises what is happening is...well...the reason you hire a professional photographer. Like I always say: one moment, once, forever. 
ABOVE: It taks a good photographer to get all people to look good in all shots. But I reckon it takes a great one to get all of them looking really weird at exactly the same time. This might not be the bride Lisa's favourite shot of the day, but the reactions that each of them had to a bumblebee flying around the flowers made it mine.
ABOVE: Wedding shoots take me to some unusual locations, but a wonky old barn in the middle of nowhere didn't really seem so out of the ordinary....until we met Pig. With a capital 'P'. Pig was big. Pig was thirsty. And Pig was a closet alcoholic. Poor old Dean didn't know this though until it was too late and his Heineken was half way down the throat of thirsty old pig, who honestly thought all his Christmases had come at once.
ABOVE: Even perfection needs a little encouragement sometimes, which Andrea discovered as she and her bridesmaids battled to the death with her beautiful silk wedding dress made to fit like a (very, very tight) glove. This photograph is one of my favourites because the look on Andrea's face encapsulates the determination of all brides to look their absolute best for that one great day of their lives. It's also the perfect picture to reinforce two of my favourite little wedding sayings: 'beauty is pain' and 'breathing is surplus to requirements'! Thank goodness we only do it once, huh!
ABOVE: When I first got into photography, I drove a two-seater convertible. As you can see, it didn't take me long to realise I needed to upsize. The ole' wagon faithfully carts wedding parties around Hawke's Bay every weekend, and thankfully is a little more reliable than Adam and Alice's wedding transportation...which had to be left on the side of the road in a bid to make it to the ceremony on time. I thought it was wise to tell the best man to crouch down in case any police saw us...until he told me he was one! 
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