Zoe & Jack, Coffs Harbour Wedding

About a year before Zoe and Jack got married, we met at Redhead Beach for their engagement session. It was one of those ridiculously sunny afternoons that felt like summer had arrived early, and we photographed all the way through to sunset. Zoe was immediately comfortable in front of the camera. For Jack, it took a little longer.

There was nothing unusual about that. Most people aren't used to having a camera pointed at them, and plenty of the guys I photograph need a little time before they stop thinking about what they're supposed to be doing. The engagement session gave me the chance to work that out with Jack. I tried different prompts, watched what worked and what didn't, and eventually found the things that made him forget about me and just enjoy being with Zoe.

I actually made notes afterwards about what worked, because I knew I'd want them again on their wedding day.

A dangerous amount of fireball

Zoe arrived at the ceremony in an old Kombi, and the ceremony itself suited the rest of the day perfectly, relaxed, funny when it needed to be, and serious when it mattered. Even their little dog got involved in the celebrations.

Afterwards, Zoe and Jack actually had time to stay put for a while. They ate canapés, talked to their guests, poured a champagne tower and encountered what appeared to be an entire wall of Fireball shots. Honestly, as soon as I laid eyes on that wall, I knew things were about to happen. You just get a vibe from the guests, and I knew, fireball plus a bunch of young people would make for some pretty great photos (and it did).

Rather than immediately disappearing for photographs, they got to enjoy the wedding they'd spent all that time planning. This was purposely built into their timeline, not some freak accident. They asked for this, and we were able to make it happen.

We eventually headed to a friend's property nearby for some portraits amongst the gardens before making our way towards the reception.

7 minutes is all i need

I'd spoken to Zoe and Jack earlier about potentially heading onto the beach at sunset, but deliberately hadn't made it a compulsory part of the timeline. We'd already taken plenty of photographs. If the sunset was beautiful and they wanted to go, we'd go. If staying with their friends sounded better, we'd forget about it.

When the light started looking good, I gave them the option and they decided to head down. We were on the beach for maybe seven minutes. And this was where that engagement session from a year earlier paid off. I wasn't experimenting anymore. I already knew which little prompts would get Jack laughing, what would bring the two of them together naturally and what would make the camera disappear from the equation.

Some of the photographs from those few minutes have almost the same energy as their Redhead engagement photographs, and that's not an accident. That's one of my favourite things about photographing an engagement session before a wedding. Yes, you get another collection of photographs together. But I also get to learn you.

By the time the wedding arrives, we're not starting from scratch.