Named Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography

So we want to share something with you, something pretty epic. We’re so excited, humbled and still in shock, to announce that we’ve been chosen by New York’s Rangefinder Magazine (The world’s premier wedding and portrait publication) as one of the 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography. From the beginning, there was never a goal or expectation to win awards for photography, we were just inspired to be following a passion and documenting people’s most amazing day of their lives… and of course, we still are.

To have our work recognised on an international level like this is really something special, and if you know us and our work, we hope you recognise our approach to wedding photography as relational and passionate storytellers and this only drives us to push the boundaries of our art even further.

We want to thank so many people, but first of all our awesome God who has blessed us with the ability, skills and energy to keep going and the wisdom to keep a healthy balance in life. To my darling wife who drives so much of the behind scenes of our business while being the most amazing Mum to our 3 kids. She’s truly Wonder Woman. To our amazing and trusting couples, because if you hadn’t invited us into your lives at one of the most important days of your lives, none of this would have been possible.

To the 29 insanely awesome photographers, WOW, we’re truly humbled to find ourselves in amongst such incredible talent from all over the world. And to the team at Rangefinder for the time and effort you put into the judging process, we cannot imagine how difficult the judging process would have been. Thank you for deeming what we create worthy of this amazing accolade. Knowing the amazing artists who have been listed in previous years and the ones we sit alongside now is truly humbling.

You can view the official Rangefinder article HERE and a link to a full gallery, showcasing the full list HERE.

Scroll down to check out all 30 of our images we submitted… as well as a quick excerpt as to “why this photo?”

IMAGE 1. This is always an exciting time of the day, often when hair and makeup are nearing completion, the anticipation really begins to set in, mainly because the day is about to take a leap forward. Here in this image, the little girl’s reflection is almost like a glimpse into what her future might be one day, you could almost hear those thoughts crossing her mind as she stares in awe of the lovely Mel.

IMAGE 2. In this image we spotted a dark solitary room on the other side of the house with a small window with just enough light coming through, this is where we asked the bride to get ready. Shooting the frame with negative space in a darker room gave a sense of mood and calmness to the image to what was an otherwise overcrowded house.

IMAGE 3. Composed to show the reflection in the window, it was a difficult shot because there was hardly any space between the groom and a wall behind me. It was as if time stood still, as he paused to reflect on the amazing future ahead with his new bride.

IMAGE 4. I honestly just happened to be in the right place at the right time to manage to capture this beautiful moment. Back up two minutes earlier this little girl and a few other kids were running amuck. The image shows a split second of nervousness the little girl was feeling on the day about her flower girl duties.

IMAGE 5. Ceremonies are one of those times during a wedding where you have very little control over things, whilst also navigating around guests to get the best shots. Being aware the little girl was the ring bearer we zoned in on her as she was coming down the aisle. The challenge was to capture the image well without distracting her or letting her see the camera for fear of embarrassing her as it was an already intimidating task.

IMAGE 6. There’s just something so beautiful happening here, without seeing any faces, only hands. It’s a quiet and visual seal of approval from Grandad as he helps his granddaughter put on her engagement ring after the ceremony.

IMAGE 7. The feeling after you’ve just married the love of your life is often so overwhelming, some people cry, some laugh and some burst out in shouts of excitement like pictured here… it’s uncontainable!

IMAGE 8. We’re often attracted to the elderly at weddings because they’re not afraid of expressing what they’re feeling. Pictured here is Grandma so overjoyed and keen to pop that party popper she kept fumbling and couldn’t actually pop it. But what makes this image extra special is the groom and his father to the left of the frame in tears of joy in each other’s arms.

IMAGE 9. The Groom’s grandmother whispering what can only be interpreted as a few words of wisdom for his new life as a married man. Her husband to the left of the frame nodding as if he was muttering “you better listen up kiddo”!

IMAGE 10. This image simply shows a moment of sheer joy and excitement as Alison’s sister’s and friends come over to congratulate her.

IMAGE 11. Kids rarely show affection towards their siblings. But when they do, gosh it’s adorable!

IMAGE 12. I knew the image I wanted to create here and the trick here was to shoot in burst mode on the camera because it’s all about timing. The placement of each leg in front of the other to create a good sense of movement and balance.

IMAGE 13. We were losing light very quickly and running out of time to head back to the reception. Andrew gently helps his wife down the stairs in a motion of natural romantic gestures that made for an incredible moment to be captured.

IMAGE 14. Okay, so this one is quite funny. The initial idea for this photo was to throw up confetti leaves and capture Alex and Ara’s reaction as all the leaves came falling back down. But thanks to a strong gust of wind as they threw the leaves up they left the frame as quick as the went up, not capturing any of it. But I did capture them laughing their heads off realising it was a complete FAIL… this image ended up being much better than intended. Thanks to the wind.

IMAGE 15. We often love creating some artistic images as well as capturing “in the moment” photos, this one begged for a frame that created a bit of a mood, especially because of the sheep in the background and that majestic tree in the centre of the image.

IMAGE 16. The colours, the neon sign and the sheer love these two share make this image a stand out for us. The genuine look of love on their faces is what gives this photo a true sense of romance.

IMAGE 17. It was perhaps one of the wettest wedding days, the rain was constant. What we love most about this image is that Jess was embracing the day for what it was rather than getting all worked up about the weather. You can’t control the weather on your wedding day, you can only choose to embrace it. Jess not caring about her dress getting wet or dirty made for one of the best and one of her favourite dress photos captured.

IMAGE 18. Intimate little moments like this gives us goosebumps every time.

IMAGE 19. Georgie and Tim told us initially that they are very shy people in front of the camera. It definitely wasn’t the case and it’s likely because they were literally in the moment the entire day. Because of the nature of the lighting, it reminds us of a renaissance painting.

IMAGE 20. Photographed at dusk, I spotted the trees in the distance and immediately visualised the silhouette image in my mind.

IMAGE 21. This shot was initially going to be one of those romantic hugs from behind, but before I could tee up the shot, the veil kept flicking up with a gust of wind that kept coming. Marty (the Groom) was being super kind (and very gentleman-like) trying to hold it down for her but I told him to stay back and just watch her struggle with it. There’s something about veils and gusts of wind.

IMAGE 22. Taken just before it got too dark to shoot right at the very end of dusk. It was almost too dark to keep shooting, so a silhouette was the only option. But I wanted a super intimate ‘close up’ silhouette to make it a little more dramatic.

IMAGE 23. We chose this image simply because it makes us smile everytime we look at it. There were leftover petals from the ceremony and one of the groomsmen had this bright idea to throw the petals at them. Great idea mr groomsman.

IMAGE 24. This venue had an outdoor dance floor begging to be photographed, while the whole music and set up was inside. It was an empty space needing to be used. I asked Amanda & Marty to come outside for some sneaky night time photos before the next set of formalities, they were so glad I took them out.

IMAGE 25. For those who know a bit about photography, it’s a challenge at the best of times to photograph in dark places and to photograph kids. Combine those together and it gets extremely challenging. This little girl was busting out the moves, I saw her whilst eating my meal, quickly dropped my knife and fork, grabbed the camera and started taking some images before she got too embarrassed or distracted by my presence.

IMAGE 26. During speeches, I always like to capture images of the guests cheering, laughing or toasting and generally having a heck of a good time. This table was one of the loudest, so naturally, I gravitate to where the party is.

IMAGE 27. When you have all your friends and family in one place, celebrating together, there are moments to be capture everywhere. It’s our job to hunt them down and capture them. Analene and Aldrin had one heck of a dance party, probably the craziest d-floor I’ve seen yet. Analene started to crowd surf alongside Aldrin and some of the images of these two crowd surfing are amazing, but this one was a winner. When you party so hard you drop to the ground your friends will always save you.

IMAGE 28. We’ve all seen the grand wide angle first dance photos, but because we always like to challenge ourselves to get something different in the mix, we focused on getting a few images up close and personal to capture the intimacy of their hands and give the first dance a different perspective.