Balmoral is popular amongst families and engaged couples alike. I’ve photographed numerous sessions down here, including Jessica and Paul’s quiet elopement (linked here) and also some Balmoral Beach family photos for The Ventura’s new family arrival (linked here).

Balmoral is host to three fantastic venues suitable for weddings (or a bite to eat!) – Bather’s Pavillion, suitable for larger wedding receptions; The Boat House, suitable for the laid back outdoor wedding; and also my favourite – the beautiful Public Dining Room, which is probably the pick of the bunch when it comes to finding a local, contemporary reception venue right on the waterfront.

The Jorgenson’s are a family unit who chose Balmoral Beach for a family photo shoot. We set out early on a Saturday morning in winter. We took a stroll up the beach and then had some fun up on Rocky Island. The early morning light was lovely for this session – take a look through some of their photographs below.

If you’d like some Balmoral Beach family photos of your own, or perhaps photographs to capture your family having a great day under the sun elsewhere around Sydney, drop me a line here and I’ll be in touch.

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This is Manisha and Mark; two really chilled individuals that were keen to have me photograph their wedding. One caveat, however, was that they wanted to ensure that I was a good match to their own personalities, so after they returned from a vacation we put some time aside for a Bradleys Head engagement session, along with a few snaps at Middle Head – two amazing locations on Sydney’s North Shore. This was to be a great opportunity for Manisha and Mark to explore the local area – these two were getting hitched at Taronga Zoo early next year and wanted to check out some locations for Mosman wedding photography.

Alas, despite planning their portrait session at Bradleys Head, it poured down on the afternoon that we had intended to shoot! Without getting too wet, we maintained with our plans to check out the sites around Middle Head, Headland Park, and Bradleys Head Amphitheatre.

Bradleys Head… Probably one of the most iconic locations for wedding photography and engagement sessions in Mosman. Located just down the road from Taronga Zoo, Bradleys Head protrudes from the mainland in a southwesterly direction and stares straight at the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I highly recommend anyone travelling to Sydney to make a quick stop here in the late afternoon. The over-saturated orange glow provided by a setting late afternoon sun produces remarkable silhouettes. An engagement session at Bradleys Head is really a must-do.

As you can see in the below photographs; Manisha, Mark and I came back to Bradleys Head a few weeks after the rain. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture them in this golden light. I’m looking forward to their Taronga Zoo wedding in 2018. And if you ask me, I reckon that Mark’s witty humour is hilarious, with a decent smile to go along with it…

If you’re keen for an engagement session, drop me a line here.

… And now for part two of this engagement session, around 2 weeks later. OMG, how I love that golden orange glow!

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Whilst under the suspension bridge at Tunks Park, I thought I’d take this opportunity to venture past this mystical safety line from the Marist days, so I walked out past the storm water drains and towards what looked like a creek.

I’m so glad that I ventured out beyond the suspension bridge because there is a whole other world to the open fields and colourful tin boats the comprise Tunks Park. I recommend that you take a walk through the dense natural vegetation at the parks’ rear, along Flat Rock Creek. I didn’t end up venturing far, however, the locals tell me that the track goes as far as Willoughby and Chatswood.

I had loads of fun getting to know Mia and Roger at their Cammeray portrait session. Besides producing photographs that you can use for your wedding stationary, engagement sessions are a great way for photographers to get to know their couples. It is also an equally great opportunity for you to get to know your photographer, and how they tell the story of their couples through the photographic medium. With under a year until they tie-the-knot, Mia and Roger’s excitement levels are building, and I could tell that these two really can’t wait to marry each other.

If you’d like some ideas for your upcoming engagement session, feel free to check out other blog posts here, and here. Also, for those couples who have recently become engaged, I offer stand-alone engagement sessions – pricing is available here.

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An interesting part of Newcastle’s economy and very recent history is that Newcastle is the largest coal export harbour in the world. Newcastle exported more than 150 million tonnes of coal in 2013. The Hunter Valley region as a whole contains large volumes of coal currently mined for domestic and international energy markets. One particular coastal feature just south of Newcastle, in an area called Catherine Hill Bay, is a large coal exporting facility with a long jetty. Although the jetty is now decommissioned, the jetty makes for a beautiful rustic backdrop.

The combination of Newcastle’s historic features together with a beautiful natural environment lead me to recommend Catherine Hill Bay to Tanya and Ashley. We caught up on a warm summer afternoon to document their Newcastle engagement.

Tanya and Ashley have been together for a number of years, and both are from the Newcastle area. They’re a fantastic couple and perfectly matched for each other. Both Tanya and Ashley are super fit and energetic, and they were an awesome couple to photograph. We met up together for their engagement photography session and caught a beautiful sunset. It was one of those evenings where the clouds parted to make way for a stunning golden hour; almost especially for these guys. I am super excited to photograph their wedding later this year at the Merewether Surfhouse on Newcastle’s awesome Merewether Beach…

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Long Reef Golf Club is situated on Long Reef Headland, around a 40-minute drive north of Sydney’s CBD. The golf club opened in 1923 and offers unsurpassed views up to the Central Coast in the north and down to Manly in the south. The 18 hole club is wildly open to the elements, perhaps more-so than other clubs, which makes this Par 72 course challenging in windy conditions.

Long Reef Golf Club has a welcoming clubhouse and is a popular location for weddings and functions on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. In fact, I’ll be there in 2018 to photograph Catelyne and Gary’s wedding. The golf club has a great little trail on its’ eastern side that leads down to Long Reef Beach, offering awesome ocean views.

In September of 2016, I received a phone call from Amy and her fiancé Chris. Chris proposed to Amy a month earlier at Long Reef Beach, however to my great surprise they had not openly announced their engagement to the world (how Amy contained her excitement for a whole month, I’m not sure). Amy and Chris wanted some cool sunrise shots to celebrate their announcement, so we returned to Long Reef Beach for an early morning walk and an engagement session. The sunrise was spectacular!

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If you’d like some family photographs at Balmoral Beach, or perhaps in another location around Sydney’s beautiful harbour foreshore, drop me a line here.

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