It all started with a letter and not just any letter. A shot in the dark from a girl who noticed a boy on an airplane half way to Perth. She penned a simple note because it was a real deal carpe diem moment. No more, no less. It could have been just another piece of paper eventually tossed in a bin somewhere.
Hello, So this is completely random… And I’m too chicken to actually ask – but – if you’re single and around Perth for the weekend, do you want to grab a drink or a coffee? My number is ……..
A Girl on the plane (smiley face emoji)
I look back on this day & this story and I feel a great sense of achievement. I might have peaked. A lifetime PB? Maybe. In any case, the moments were overwhelming. Putting this in the camera was going to test me out proper. The post wedding day fatigue was next level. This beautiful and familiar place temporarily inhabited by another tribe of wedding goers all primed up to get two people started off in their new life the right way. It’s a tall order to capture any wedding at the standard I aspire to provide. But this was different. Perfect weather. Perfect location. Perfect story. Big hearted imperfect photographer.
And again, I see the universal value in the story and the way it’s felt, processed and told with photographs. That’s my code. I feel value in wedding photos when they explore more than just the surface. There’s so much more going on than that. And I won’t ever stop going all the way to honour what’s in front of my camera. I know in 50 years, these guys will still be looking at these moments.
But alas, my words will always be a poor substitute for the visual evidence. I can do little more than present a day unlike no other below and maybe you’ll absorb some of how it made me feel. You might lose yourself briefly to the pure rawness of being a human being filled with the kind of love you only see in the movies. I felt like that watching David and Ashleigh.
As I left Kimo that night, I remember thinking about what lies ahead for me. What’s around the corner? Whatever the answer to that question is, I had this intense feeling that I had crossed a line. I might have just done the best work I will ever do in my life.
No, David did not toss the note into a bin from a girl on the plane…
Venue – Kimo Estate / Flowers – Little Triffids / Celebrant – Victoria Blakely / Make up artist – Jessica Peris / Bridal gown – Angela Osaige Bridal / Hair – Rhiannan Ward