Well, this was an absolute treat!  When Nikita and Carl contacted me to be their wedding photographer, I could tell they were going to be a super fun couple.  Turns out, I was so right!

Held outside on the roof at Chancery Chambers, their ceremony was fun, earnest and very them.  Nikita and Carl chose Matt Warman as their celebrant and he did such an amazing job, it was a truly beautiful and touching ceremony.  The rooftop views were super cool!

And of course, why would you not stop in at Krispy Kreme on your way outside? (Shout out for the free donuts, Krispy Kreme!)

Nikita and Carl, thank you SO much for choosing me to document your (extremely rad) wedding day!

Brides flowers: @WeddingFlowerSt...

I've been studying towards a Diploma in Photography (finished it, nailed it!) and for part of it we needed to make a website and pick a theme.  I'm not one to make things easy on myself so I chose to create images that drew inspiration from NZ music lyrics (of course!).  It was crazy fun, and a massive job, I may have cried, ok, I did.  Lots.  It was overwhelming with such a tight deadline, but I got there, yussss! Now I'm newly qualified, very exciting!

The website is:

www.silentsong.co.nz

Here is my favourite photo that didn't make it in to the set (with the lovely Grace from Taupo Academy of Dance).

Wedding photography Taupo, Taupo wedding photographer, Waikato wedding photography, Taupo...

Well, if there is one thing I've decided to do this year, it's learn like a mofo.  I've NEVER been quite so obsessed with my job as I am right now, because really, who even gets to go to work and see the magic that is true love?!

So...  I've been a little crazy in love with learning new things in photography.  Which is how I found myself tucked in the the magnificent Chateau Tongariro with a rad bunch of hip and talented photographers from around the country to learn from the sorcery of Chris Turner from christurnerphotographer.com .  He's a dude that is a dynamo behind the camera and a very open book, you ask him something and he's just transparent.  It's a super cool attitude and one that I'm so...

4 score and 9 years ago...  Well, ok, not really that long, but it WAS the long lost summer we had at the beginning of the year, I had the pleasure of photographing this wonderfully gorgeous family.  It was like photographing old friends, they were so neat.  Little Miss definitely kept us entertained!

Here are a few images for this divine fam bam xx

Wedding photography Taupo, Taupo wedding photographer, Waikato wedding photography, Taupo photographer, photographer Taupo

Gosh.  Where do I even start.  When Lucinda enquired with me, I was so glad to have their day free.  Their wedding sounded amazing, and as time went by, it was gorgeous seeing their plans finalise.  Suddenly, the day was upon us.  

It was clear to me that Lucinda and Dylan's number one priority was family.  They just wanted to get married with their nearest and dearest by their sides, and that is exactly what they did.

They had stumbled across one of Taupo's gems, the tiny Oruanui Church, for their venue.  At 107 years old, this church is steeped in history and meaning.  Imagining all the souls that have walked in those doors was overwhelming - how amazing to get married in such...

I've been having LOTS of fun making night images this past week as part of my Diploma in Photography work.  Night photography has never really been a huge interest to me, but having made a few images now, I can see a whole lot of magical things I can do.  I know this isn't new knowledge to most of the world, haha, but I got there in the end.

Anyway, I wanted to share a few images with your from around Kinloch, Taupo.  Hopefully I will be out a bit more now that nighttime isn't 1am anymore.  😂

First up, we have the luxurious Kinloch Club.  So stunning, and an amazing wedding venue AND just down the road from me.  

Wedding photography Taupo, Taupo wedding photographer, Waikato wed...

A gorgeous Taupo engagement shoot.

Gosh, what a beautiful day it turned out to be when Annaliese and Ray got married at Huka Falls Resort, right here in Taupo.  I woke in the morning to drizzle, but it had cleared to reveal a most wonderful clear, blue sky.

Here are a few sneak previews from Anna and Ray's special day.  It was so full of love and laughter ❤️  I can't wait to share more.

These were Anna and Ray's amazing vendors:

Venue:  www.hukafallsresort.com

Flowers:  www.bloominflowers.co.nz

Makeup and Hair:  www.beautyonlocation.co.nz

Celebrant:  www.facebook.com/LadyJaneJoy

Man, this was SO MUCH FUN!  This year I entered the Shoot and Share contest for the first time.  It's such a rad photography competition - everything is anonymous and votes are cast by the public (you are presented with 4 images, you vote for your favourite - over and over for as long as you like, until your eyes are filled up with too much incredibleness, haha).

You don't get to know how you are going until the competition has ended.  It's so much fun and I'll DEFINITELY be entering next year.  

Anyway, out of nearly half a MILLION entries, I had one 10 10% and top 20%.  I only entered a few this year, so I was very happy.

Here's to growing and making more great art this year!

Taupō is just a little town in New Zealand.  We have a population of about 24,000.  We have a massive amount of natural wonders, and they are so beautiful that it can be hard to see beyond that.  We have Lake Taupō, Huka Falls, forests, mountains, rivers, meadows, rolling hills, everything we could dream of.  

And, we have just had the carnival come to visit!  I only thought about shooting there near the end of their visit, but once I thought about it, I became obsessed, haha.  So off we went.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the carnival.