Wedding photographers in New Zealand

—Whose works made an impact on you as a wedding photographer?

—Marcus Bell in Australia & Mike Hill in New Zealand

—Are there tendencies in wedding photography?

—There are trends in wedding photography, but don't blindly following and chasing trends. Create your own.

—How do you improve your photography skills?

—View, learn and be inspired from others work, including photographs, paintings, films/movies, even television or magazine advertisements. Learn from others successes and failures. Don’t just enjoy viewing great work, but those average ones and specially those failed ones. By picking mistakes out from others, I learnt how to avoid the same mistakes in my work, or to try out the same mistake in different ways.

—What makes you continue shooting?

—The mind of pursuing the excellence is a huge motivation to myself to continue taking pictures. I believe everyone can do better today than yesterday, yet tomorrow will be another day for us to do something better than today.

—What are the key elements that make a photo attractive?

—The most important components of a good photo are good composition , great sense and showcase of perspective as well as able to capture the moments and atmosphere.

—Imagine that you can travel back in time. What would you do differently?

—Everything apart from being my parents' son, apart from being my wife's husband, and apart from being my son's dad.

—Do you like travelling?

—I love travelling, and there are so many places I have never visited.

—What key message are you trying to convey with your pictures?

—My photographs are no the best, and they will never be.

—What is absolutely unacceptable when taking photos?

—I don't know about others, but I never drink and shoot.

—Imagine aliens come to our planet. You are the first human they meet. What would you tell them?

—Say Cheese! (and snap a photo for them)

—Do you look good in pictures?

—No, I'm not photogenic.

—What is special in wedding photography?

—I shot a wedding recently where shortly ofter the wedding one of the family members passed away. It hit me afterwards that I may have been the last person to take a photograph of them.As a photographer we are preserving memories and capturing beauty and people can hold onto these as some of their most precious possessions. That's pretty special.

—What do you like most about your profession?

—Working with amazing couples who appreciate my work and then getting amazing responses once I have delivered their photos. It's extremely rewarding hearing stories of couples in tears reliving their wedding day when they go through their photos.The other thing would be the freedom to spend more time with my family. My family is my world and the more time I spend with them the better!

—How do you handle criticism?

—I love criticism as long as it's valid. I'm always looking to grow and push myself in all areas of my photography. If it's not coming from the right attitude then I just brush it off.

—Are you fond of travelling?

—Heck yes! My wife and I spent 2 years living in London and travelling as much as possible. There's too much of this beautiful world to see. The more I travel the itchier my feet get.

—Are you photogenic?

—Ha! That depends who is behind the camera.

—What are the most important components of a good photo in your opinion?

—Light, composition, exposure and a moment.

—What will be the future of wedding photography?

—I have been asking myself the same thing... With technology progressing so fast and trends coming and going wedding photography is always progressing and morphing. How ever the photography changes is ok as long as at the heart of it is authentic couples deeply in love and embracing the importance of marriage.

—How did you get into wedding photography?

—I kinda fell into wedding photography after I purchased my 1st SLR. A mate of mine who shot our wedding asked me to come out and assist him. He then provided those photos to the couple and they loved them. It was at this point I thought I could enjoy this as a career... Since then I've never looked back.