St John's Cathedral

St John's Cathedral on Elizabeth St is one of those magic venues for shooting a wedding. I had the privilege of shooting a wedding at St John's Cathedral well over five years ago and have been looking forward to shooting another there ever since. The pleasure came again in May this year and once again St John's was a glorious experience. We were so lucky to shoot Rory and Emma's wedding there with Chris Ivey presiding over the ceremony. Chris gave us unrestricted movement throughout the cathedral so we were able to get some shots we couldn't previously.

St John's Cathedral has some amazing history and features. Notably, the cathedral is home to a four manual pipe organ, the largest in Australia. The cathedral hosts many recitalists from across the world: Pearson's design (and stone-vaulting) creates a five-second reverberation making organ-music particularly resonant.

It is also one of the longest running constructions dating from 1906 to 2009. We now have the pleasure of using the from door which opens onto Elizabeth street for the bride's entrance and the bridal couple's exit after the ceremony.

Now please enjoy some of the pics from Rory and Emma's amazing day.

Cheers, Stephen

Ramzey and Priscilla's wedding video

Ramzey and Priscilla

Dan and Karina

Welcome Dan and Karina to Grapeshot Studios. They have booked for March 3rd 2012. Their wedding is at Bundaleer Rainforest Gardens. SO looking forward to working with them.

Bridal expo this weekend

Hi everyone!

The Queensland Bride's expo is on this weekend at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Brisbane. Come and see our stand which is right at the front entrance of the show. You will see a bright green banner and me in a bright green shirt. Come and have a chat, look at the albums and ask us what we can do for your wedding day.

See you there!

Cheers, Stephen

New album package!! Only $1875

Amazing albums. Stunning photography. Great Service.

All these in one place. We will help you create your dream album after the wedding. You can then choose large prints, parent albums or anything else from our amazing product range.

Let's get you started with -
• A six hour day starting with the bride getting ready and through to the reception start

• A 16 side credit toward your album (8 double spreads) of beautiful magazine style edge to edge prints.

• A leather cover for the album. (You may want to upgrade this to one of our amazing acrylic covers or display boxes).

All this for only $1875! Email or call today to book your appointment.

Sue and Francis Frame's wedding

Sue and Francis were married 17 April at Woodlands of Marburg, a spectacular 1890's heritage building. Their service was in the lovely chapel on the grounds and then we spent a couple hours making some lovely images around the building and out in the vineyards. We finished the night in the marquee. All in all a great day with a couple of delightful people. Thanks for letting me be a part of your day.

Australia's Top Photographers

So, how surprised am I when I got a book in the post today from the Australia's Top Photographer's competition to find that I was in the top 10 wedding photographers in Australia! OK so I didn't win but I did make it into the top ten so I am pretty pleased about that. Think I will go have a drink to celebrate.

WIPM Awards

The World Institute of Photographic Masters recently held its 2008 awards cycle and of the 4 images I entered I won Silvers for all four! I am a happy man.

I have posted the images next to this and I hope you like them as much as I do.

Matt and Tamara Kreis's wedding on 4 October

Matt and Tamara got married at the Holy Rood Anglican Church on Tamborine-Oxenford Rd in Coomera.

Tamara got ready at her parent's place in Arundel with the assistance of the beautiful bridesmaids Carly, Kate and Jenn. Her parents were there too and we got some lovely shots of then both - expecially Tony when Tamara came out in here dress for the first time.

Then onto the church where Matt waited in great anticipation with Greg, Michael and his brother Adrian. His expectations were more than met as he kind of lost the plot and shed a few tears as Tamara was revealed in the doorway looking stunningly gorgeous!

After the service we went across the road to a lovely park complete with a large lake to make some photos. After that we stopped for some quick shots at another lake then off to a secret rural location where we made the fantastic cane field shot.

The receoption was held at the Arundel Hills Country Club with Kelly Switala and her brilliant staff outdoing themselves as usual. Great food, great service and a wonderful venue were the final touches to an altogether perfect day.

Dirk and Louise Bass's wedding on 26 September 2008

Dirk and Louise got married at Broadway Chapel in Brisbane's Woolloongabba. Dirk got ready at the Treasury Hotel in the city with his two friends Tony and Mathias. Louise got ready at her mum's place in Bowen Hills. After the wedding we moved into the park under the Story Bridge then onto photos on the boardwalk behind the Marriott hotel before heading into their reception at the lovely Venice Bar Cafe.

They were carried and around and attended to with the usual fantastic service by Robyn of Kenz Classic's in a lovely white Jaguar. Flowers by Phoebe in New Farm.

Louise was stunning in a Sydney Leon and Dirk was very handsome in Hugo Boss Tuxedo.

Two beautiful people in what I think are beautiful photos. Hope you like them too.

Peta and Micah Brennan

Peta and Micah Brennan were married on 14 September at Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast. She got ready with her three sisters, Hannah, Sharma and Laura at the Hyatt and had a beautiful service at the chapel. Peta looked gorgeous in her dress and the bridesmaids were stunning in simple elegant dresses.

The weather started to deteriorate so we did the location photos nearby at a pier just 100m from the chapel before heading over to the reception.

What a lovely day!

The Lambert Wedding on 9 August 2008

Travis and Tammie Lambert on 9 August 2008. We had a blast on this wedding. First with the bride and groom getting ready at some lovely units in Chermside. down at the Powerhouse in New Farm. This couple was prepared to go as far as we asked them to hopefully get some fantastic shots. Hope you like them!

The Studio

So here is the new studio. The media room where we present our work to our clients and interview prospective clients while serving cold or hot drinks (great coffee fresh ground from the machine by resident barista and studio manager Melly). The hallway between the production room and the media room. The production room is where all the creative stuff happens - the heart and soul of the operation! The staircase with the spectacular southward view from our picture window and the veiw off the front verandah to the north into Clayfield. Last but not least is the front of the building here on Adelaide St in Clayfield. A quiet street only 100m off Sandgate Rd.

New Born

Hi everyone,

This is it - I am now officially launched into the world of blogging. I will be putting up some new stuff soon like pics of the new premises here in Clayfield, Brisbane as well as some new pics from recent weddings and some portrait sittings.

What is especially exciting for me is that the studio is about to be the proud owner of the new Nikon D3 camera. In the past noise has been a major issue when shooting weddings in dark churches and having to push the sensitivity of the camera beyond 800 ISO. This made the pictures look very grainiy with soft edges ( I would rather add this in later with Photoshop than be stuck with it in the beginning) The new D3 will shoot at 6400 ISO and deliver an image that looks the same as one shot at 400ISO! Check out the sample images at the Nikon site http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/09/nikon_d3_sample_images.php

They are truly awesome and now we will have one too!

That's it for now. We'll put up more soon.

Cheers, Stephen