Its really is a fun job that allows Nat & I to spend the day with a loving couple on whats most likely the happiest day of their life. Ok I know that might sound over the top and sales pitchy but its true. We get to see the nervous bride, the grooms first glimpse of his bride, the first kiss and all the happy family & friends that surround them on the day. It sure does beat the day job as a way to put food on the table.

Recently we had the great please of photographing Jaime & Lee, who got married at Mindarie Marina here in Western Australia. Jamie & Lee took a risk planning a wedding in the middle of an Australian summer, but it worked out great for them. It wasn’t too hot and the sky a little overcast. The day was perfect. After the ceremony and the family shots we escaped to a near by beach where we where able to get some great images of the newly weds.

The Kiss

Having Fun

The Happy Couple

Well OK I may be using a little artist exaggeration there but police action was threatened, but I was told never ruin a good story with the facts.  And the story is this:

I do from time to time submit images to a local stock images catalog.  It doesn’t bring in a lot of money but some.  Last Friday I was at home, as I my day job is a 9 day fortnight,  being Daddy daycare.  I received an email from the stock image library asking for any images of the Perth District Court.  Well I didn’t have any but I thought I could run into the city around dusk snap a few images and submit them to the catalog.  So I arrive near by set up my camera and start shooting.  I was there with the family and it took maybe at most 10 minutes before I saw the security guard start to make his way over to me.  I kind of had an idea he was coming to see me but was secretly hoping we were’nt about to have the conversation that followed.

Well the conversation that followed was as I feared, the security guard asking me to pack up and move along.  Now before I go further I do want to state he was very polite and professional even when I was starting to get a little err.. frustrated with the conversation.  The guard started off telling me it was illegal to photograph a government building to which I replied its government therefore its public.  The guard didn’t really budge though still insisting that it is illegal to photograph government buildings.  I then tried to point out I was standing on the footpath across the road from said court house but he still insisted it was illegal.

By this stage Natalie who was busy watching the kids while I was taking the photographs come over to ask what was going on.  The guard then changed his story a little bit and said “it is illegal to photograph government building with professional equipment, you can with smaller cameras”.  Well that make sense because the terrorists are going to stop set up a tripod with their D700 with the fisheye lens, they wouldnt use a camera phone or point and shoot at all!  I once again tried to point that photography is actually not against the law and I know my rights.  To which he responded if I refuse to move along he will call the police.  This is where he won, because while I was happy to argue the point I did not want the police called in front of my 3 year old, so I packed up and left.  If  I were alone I would have call the police myself for him.

But the whole episode got me thinking, what if I’m wrong could I have been arrested for taking pictures?.   My day job has me locked in an office supporting a computer network for a government legal department.  I do confess I know very little about the law but I do have same very senior lawyers that I get along with quite well, so my first task Monday was to pick their brains. A little research showed it was a very short sharp answer- there are NO laws against photographing government building or private buildings.  There is the one caveat to that rule and that is concerning private building, if you have to enter private property then you have to abide by the owners wishes, but if you can photograph said building from a public location that is fine. In fact the documents went to show there where absolutely no laws at in against photography in a public place  one quote from the article is “ In Australia most forms of “unauthorised” photography have in fact been auothorised since 1937 High Court decision in Victoria Park Racing v. Taylor (1937) 58 CLR 479 ) at p.496). This was reaffirmed recently in ABC v Lenah (2001) HCA 63, where the Court ruled that the passage of decades since Victoria Park, any concept of a Tort of invasion of privacy still does not exist in Australia.”   the article then quoted Justice Dowd in R v Sotheren (20010 NSWSC 204: “A person, in our society, does not have a right not to be photographed” Now of course this last quote is extend to the photographing of people but I think it paints the right of photographers quite clear – we are not yet criminals!

In further researching the matter we found document highlighting that in some cases police have the right to ask your intentions with the images but that is where the limit of legal ramifications stop.  The idea that photographers are terrorist or threats to security has come up a lot in the internet related media recently.  It seems that security company’s are a little heavy handed or maybe the guards are just bored and figure even the a mundane argument with a terro.. or sorry I meant photographers could help their long shift past by.  With the paranoid world we currently live in I stress that we all use our common sense.  It is obvious that security guards are not informed correctly of the law and are there to perform a duty.

I can tell you though the next time I am questioned and ask to move on Ill happily stay and fight the good fight for our art. Oh and I did get the images needed which in turn where sold. So I guess this one the terrorist won.

Of course to give credit the article which has been quoted above can be found here http://4020.net/words/photorights.php

Gear Used: Nikon D700, Nikon 10.5mm F 2.8; Edited in Aperture with Fisheye Hemi

I almost got arrested for this??!!

To most expecting mums pregnancy is a pretty special time.  A time which mum and baby create there first bonds, usually bond that only the teenage years can stretch.  Its also a time that most mum’s are also thankful to see the end of when the end does finally come.  Being a dad in a young family I can remember this time and trying to be part of it where I could.  The one thing we did to try to capture the time was take photos, lots and lots of photographs.  Being photographers we had some nice ideas for these images and where able to share them with family, it is because of these images Natalie & I have decided to start offering our own Maternity Sessions.

For our Maternity Sessions we have teamed up with Make Up artist Jana-maree, from Jana-Maree makeup http://www.janamareemakeup.com.au and are offering a great package that involves the expectant  mum being pampered having her hair & make-up done followed by a 1 hour portrait session that can also involve the dad to be and any soon to be big brothers or sisters.

Its a great opportunity and one that Kara, Carl and little Milo loved.  We took great care to include Milo and because of that feel we got some very precious images and was so much fun to do.

So if you or someone you know is interested in a Maternity drop us a line.

Gear Used: Nikon D700 & D300; Nikon 24-70mm F2.8; Nikon 70-200 F2.8; Edited in Aperture

Milo checking his Mums "bump" to make sure all is fine

Booties on the Bump

Mum & Dad's hands placed holding the "Bump"

Kara wrapped in Red Material holder her "Bump"

So many  things have changed over the last 10 years in Photography.  Film has almost completely disappeared, a computer has replaced the darkrooms, video cameras and SRL’s have merged and phones are becoming many peoples choice for point and shoot cameras.  But like any business the one then that has not changed is networking.

As a wedding photographer I actually do care about our clients.  I want them to get fantastic service and have a wonderful day. That is why on our websites affiliates page we only have service providers who we have worked with and have impressed us.  And one that really impresses us is a make-up artist, Jana-Maree.  Towards the end of last year I was asked by a work colleague to help his cousin who is a make-up artist wanting to do a shoot but had just lost her photographer.  Being one to jump at the chance to help someone and hopefully met new contacts I was very eager to help out.  I can tell you I am so glad I did.

Jana-Maree is a young make-up artist that is truly fantastic at what she does.  It was a great opertunity to work with her and soon Jana-Maree &  Warnock Imagery will be launching a new Maternity session that gives the mum to be a professional make-up and a portrait sitting.   I am also lucky to have a few more model shoots in the pipe line with Jana-Maree,  so we will be seeing more of her work.

If you are getting married or just need the services of a make-up artist for what ever reason please do yourself a favor and get in contact with Jana-Maree, http://www.janamareemakeup.com.au.

Gear Used: Nikon D700; Nikon 24-70mm F2.8; Multiple Nikon SB600; Edited in Aperture

It really is… because I do love a sun rise photograph. There is something magical about the quality of light held in those first few rays that hit the horizon. But it comes at a cost. With this image I woke up at 4 am yes 4 am! I was on leave so that didn’t really matter to much but what was really fun is I took my boy Caleb along as well, he thought its was great to wake up when it was still dark and sneak around the house and watch the sun come up.
This image wasn’t really what I was hoping for, I really wanted some dramatic cloud as well but I should have guessed since its the middle of summer here in Australia and on what later became a fairly hot day no rightly thinking cloud would be caught dead in the Australia sun.
Perhaps if I go back in winter I will be able to sleep in and get my cloud as well.

Gear Used: Nikon D700; Nikon 24-70 F2.8; Edited in Aperture

Great pictures can come at any time.  Recently Nat & I offered our services to our Boys childcare group to act as a fundraising venture.  The day was a lot of fun.  First we tried, I emphasize tried to photograph roughly 80 kids in a group photograph with ages ranging from 18 months to 5 years.  I thought group photos at weddings were tough. Trust me wedding groups are a walk in the park compared to this group of future world leaders, but it was hard not to smile the entire t ime as kids got up and walk off, sat backwards or just decided to cry.

With the group picture over we went on to family sessions.  This was great we got to meet a lot of parents and meet all the kids our Caleb talks about all the time.  All of the children were gorgeous of course but when I went through my images one image out of all of them stuck as truely magic and just had to share.

Gear Used: Nikon D700; Nikon 24-70 F2.8; 2 x Nikon SB600 fired remotely; Edited in Aperture – Bubbles were used

As photographers we are always looking to capture the perfect image.  Waiting for the perfect light, looking for the perfect location or in this case waiting for a daring bride!.  The term “Trash the Dress” or “Drown the Gown” is something that is being thrown around by many a wedding photographer at expos and open days but in reality it is very hard to come by the bride who says “YES THROW ME IN THE OCEAN!” Its a shame because it makes for some great fun and wonderful shots.

I had been wanting to a Trash the Dress shoot for some time but whenever I bought the idea up to one of my brides it was always nervously laughed off, and without having examples of such a shoot it was a hard sell.  So it was time to stage the shoot.  So I found a Model who was quite keen to do the shoot and thought it sounded like fun, I found the location which wasn’t since West Australia has a huge coast line the only issue was the dress, but with a little coaxing and the promise of a dry clean the other half of Warnock Imagery valiantly offered her very own wedding dress for the shoot.

This image of course was the main idea and propose of the shoot but images leading up to and taken after can be found here

So if any brides to be want to try a shoot like this don’t hesitate its great fun and of course its not done on your wedding day.

Gear Used: Nikon D300; Nikon 50mm F1.4; Edited in Aperture

It has been a while since I updated this, but as is the case with a lot of personal blogs sometimes life just gets in the way. The good thing is however things are calming down now and I have some back dated stuff to post as well over the next few weeks.

Anyway, let me introduce you to Khoa, Khoa is a web designer, business strategist, published author, public speaker and professional networking type person. As a small business looking to increase market and clients, Khoa is your best friend. Luckily for me I have known Khoa long before he become all those things. In the 8 years or so that I have been good friends with Khoa I have seen him grow from a struggling university student playing Xbox games to a very successful business consultant playing Xbox 360 games. But with all of Khoa’s success he was missing something, a good professional portrait.

The Professional Portrait can be a tricky shot to get. You need to now and understand your client so you can capture their unique personality. Khoa’s work is not done behind a desk in a stuffy office, Khoa isn’t stuck in a corporate job wearing the suit and tie, he is able to work from home, from the coffee shop or on the streets just about anywhere he can sit for 10 minutes respond to emails update a site and grab a coffee before meeting with his next client. This is what I needed to capture in the image and I think I have, and can,t wait to see it on the cover of his new book.

If you have a business and would like Khoa to help you inject some life into it or redisgn your site I know he would love to hear from you, you can contact him here  www.khoa-bui.com

And of course if you would like your own professional portrait, you can contact me at Warnock Imagery

Gear Used: Nikon D700, Nikon 50mm F1.4; Edited in Aperture

It sure can be tough trying to get that great shot of the little one or ones when they don’t know you and are shy.  It can be just as tough getting the great shot with the little who does now you!  In a location seeking outing I thought it would be nice to let my son run around at the park.  It would have been great if he wasn’t 2 and if I didn’t have to wake him up when we arrived at the park!!  Instead of some lovely pictures of him running and jumping in the fallen leaves I was greeted with a 2 year olds tantrum.

But as photographers we need to smile and arise above these little set backs and in doing so I as able to embrace the tantrum and get a lovely shot.

Gear Used: Nikon D300, Nikon 50mm F1.4; Edited in Aperture

So for those of you that have not heard about this before, the Kelby World Wide Photo walk is a free social event that happens once year.  The general idea is that a group of photographers of all shapes & sizes of all skill levels meet in a central location and well go for a walk with their camera’s.  Its a great way to met new people, learn new things and well to just get out of the house.

This is the third annual photowalk, but whats special about this year is its my first time leading one and so I wanted to do something special with mine. As some may know I work in the city and each night when I come out of my office at the moment the city is covered in a wonderful winters soft light.  And I have been meaning to capture that light.  So for my walk we are going to start in Kings Park and slowly head down to St Georges Terrace making our up to Kings St arriving back in the city just as the city lights up. There we will stop and gather for a drink and have a look at our images.

It should be great fun and its free

Would be great to see anyone come along

http://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/kings-park-wa-australia-war-memorial-kings-park/

J

Details:

When: Saturday 24 July

Time: 2:30pm

Where: Starting at the War Memorial Kings Park – Perth