Margaret River Photographer | John Rice Photographer

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Declan & Simone’s Awesome Aravina Estate Wedding

Aravina Estate is an awesome wedding venue in the Margaret River region, situated just fourteen minutes drive from Dunsborough. I kicked off my photo coverage with some shots of Declan and the boys at a beach front property in Yallingup.

The best pics are when the subject has no idea you are photographing them, they know you are scoping about with a camera in your hand but the moments captured above were done candidly.

These pics were done with direction into really nice light and then I asked the guys to do a couple of things to create spontaneity.

Aravina Estate has a fantastic room where the bride and her crew can get ready, there are mirrors everywhere!!

Storytelling photography is essentially about piling photos together that help you to remember what your day was like. I do this without bias of making every photos that I take a happy smiling one. There are moments of stress, tears and just catching a moment to reflect, like the flower girl below.

Imagine yourself in ten years time looking back at your wedding day, it could be a tad blurry in some parts and that’s where photos help you to put the pieces together.

The pic above is the girls reaction to their Tik Tok clip.

So there are entrances and there are entrances!! A horse and carriage is an epic way to make your way to your ceremony.

I love to capture the expressions on people faces at key moments at a wedding, when you are walking down the aisle you will be focussed on not stacking it and seeing your grooms expression on his face. But there is a heap of other stuff going on that I look to photograph.

Emotion is a massive part of my style of photography, I have practised capturing emotion for years at weddings and when you actually think about it, there aren’t that many moments in life where emotion is showed so openly. That is why I love weddings so much.

Congratulations is a time where I am in the thick of it and everywhere making sure I don’t miss a thing. I love the energy that the wedding guests create and the pure feeling of joy on people faces.

Aravina Estate is an amazing property that has som many awesome scenes for photos it’s near on impossible to get to them all. I tend to go where the best light is at the specific ime of year, it does vary. But I love the place.

It does help when you’ve got a flipping horse and carriage for your bridal pics.

I am directing with these photos, to get the best light and backgrounds within your timeframe you have to but what I love to do is create spontaneity and capture the reactions. If you know anyone that is a tad shy in front of the camera, this method wipes all the anxiety away and make the experience hilarious and fun.

The champagne is a great one for getting a nice series of candid photos, you can’t beat natural photos.

Landscape photography is a passion of mine when I am not photographing a wedding. This helps me to assess the elements to work in the best spots on the day.

This bridal session took forty five minutes and it got everyone back to their guests so they could carry on the party.

I love this scene by the lake at Aravina Estate. These landscape style photos would look epic enlarged and displayed on your wall at home.

Getting in before the guests to photograph the amazing work of Blush & Bloom and Ink & Dust Designs plus the gorgeous wedding cake is really important. It’s nice for Declan & Simone to have the memory of how it looked.

What an entrance!!

Speeches are another favourite time for me. I love the eruptions of laughter and the tears.