Margaret River Photographer | John Rice Photographer

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South West Wedding Photographers

There are many fantastic South West wedding photographers to choose from that live in the Margaret River wine region. Lots of different styles on offer and varying approaches to wedding photography.

Advantages of hiring a South West wedding photographer.

The local knowledge really comes in useful when you are asking your photographer to plan your photo experience for you. A visiting photographer will do what everyone else will do prior to your wedding, google the best photo locations near your wedding and hopefully plan enough time to check out the locations in person the day before or the morning of your wedding.

This is ok but not fantastic practise. It’s leaving your wedding day wide open to an unsuccessful photo shoot after your ceremony. The changeable weather, wind direction and chance of rain means that your photographer must have alternative locations in mind.

Extensive knowledge of the best wedding photo locations in the South West.

If you live in the area you get to know all of the amazing beaches, beautiful forests and stunning wineries that there region has to offer. Not the obvious familiar ones like Canal Rock, Sugar Loaf etc but some gorgeous hidden sites that you would not know about unless you lived in the area.

The little discoveries that you find on an adventure with the family, or checking out a surf spot.

If you want your wedding photos to look unique and not as familiar as some of the ones you see repeatedly online, the local knowledge will help you plan your wedding photos accordingly.


South West Wedding Photographers editing styles.

I personally choose to edit my photographs in classic timeless colour style. This is based on a highly popular Kodak Professional Portrait Film that has flattering skin tones and beautiful natural colours. I choose this style because I want my clients to enjoy their wedding memories now and in thirty years time.

There are a lot of photographers that put a strong colour filter over their photos, some are orangey brown and others are green blue. There is also some darkening and desaturation of colour incorporated in the process.

The final result is an altered representation of everything at your wedding. The dress colours you chose are not the same, the flowers, table decor and the outdoor scenery all look different.

That “filter” will go out of fashion very soon and people will have too live with it. The photographer will not be able or want to undo this filter without further payment even if they could.

I find some wedding photos are so dark that I struggle to make out the peoples faces or the details in the flowers, dresses, reception tables etc.

So when choosing a photographer, consider the filter applied to the photos and if it’s bug the hell out of you when it goes out of fashion and the photographer changes their style accordingly.

Variety of shooting styles on offer in the South West.

There are a variety of shooting styles on offer in the South West from documentary style wedding photographers through to photographers that pose people.

I advise looking at the photos that the photographer shows online, if there are lots of posed and directed photos, this tells you what they offer and if there are mainly natural photos that capture people in the moment this is your documentary wedding photography stye.

Each style will effect your wedding day experience. If for instance you shiver at the idea of staged posed photos for hours then be very careful to choose a photographer that specialises in natural wedding photography. It’s not just about the photos, it’s how they help you plan your day out to maximise the amount of natural photos that they can capture for you.

South West Documentary Wedding Photographers.

I personally specialise in this genre of wedding photography. Hiring an expert in documentary wedding photography will help you with ways to plan your wedding. I will suggest ways that will allow your day to flow, maximising the moments where people are excited, happy and emotional.

I choose to be a documentary wedding photographer because I can emphasise with couples wanting to shy away from staged photos. I’m more about being genuine and authentic in life and the idea of creating fake memories for people doesn’t work for me. Being on the same wave length means that I can suggest ideas knowing it’s going to benefit your experience and the quality of memories I photograph for you.

Tap into the best wedding vendors in South West.

Choosing a local wedding photographer gives you the advantage of knowing the best wedding suppliers in the area. We work every weekend with florists, wedding planners, celebrants etc and I love to give recommendations for people that do wonderful work.

This will save you valuable time researching online each and every supplier that you need to book.