Steve and Emily’s beautiful wedding at Credaro Wines in Margaret River

Credaro Wines is a beautiful venue to hold your wedding in the South West. Located on Caves Road between Margaret River and Yalingup it is a popular choice. 

This was fun, Steve and Emily are like a lot of my clients, fantastic lovely people, super chilled out and happy for me to photograph everything naturally as it happened with sixty minutes of family and bridal photos. At this wedding we photographed everything at Credaro Wines.

Photographing the bride is a fantastic opportunity to get some beautiful detail photos of the wedding dress, flowers and some documentary photos just hinting at the storyline as it unfolds. 

Emily was lucky to be getting ready at her parents beautiful home in Yalingup which is just a short drive to her wedding ceremony at Credaro Wines.

I love to photograph people when they are unaware that the camera is on them, looking for little moments like this one. Emily takes an opportunity to reflect. 

After capturing Emily helping her father to fix his buttonhole, I jumped in and leant a hand.

The documentary photography process is about creating a genuine record of an event, a story if you like that can be revisited and reflected upon. This is incredibly valuable for an event like a wedding where the day is literally a whirlwind of emotions.

A simple and easy to follow instruction from me allows Emily and her bridesmaid to relax and enjoy the experience in front of the camera.

I love to direct people into fantastic scenes and create a relaxed environment. They are more likely to be themselves and have fun together as if I wasn’t there. This is a key part of my style. It’s not exactly photography related but more about understanding people.

Like a jigsaw, the more pieces of the event that you photograph, the clearer the overall picture becomes.

No tricks or photoshop applied. Just an awareness of light and exposure, delivering a unique perspective to a common image.

Watching Dad check out the lawned area below

Photographing to give my clients a nice variety, something I have learnt over many years of helping my clients with their wedding albums. I always take an interest in the types of photographs that they choose. The bride may love a photo and the groom not so much or mum might want a parent album and she loves the more traditional ones.

This photograph is a spontaneous version of the one above. I will wait for someone to say or do something to provoke the natural reaction, or I can create that myself quite easily. Again, not really a photography related skill but more a people skill.

I had a funny feeling this garden scene was created for Emily’s wedding when I arrived. I asked as soon I met everyone and yep it was a very important shot to get. Dad had spent months creating and nurturing this beautiful garden. I took a bunch of photos here but this one grabs me every time with Emily’s beautiful smile.

Back to the storyline, Steve has been waiting patiently for the wedding ceremony to begin at Credaro Family Estate and most likely he is battling the nerves as the spotlight from awaiting guests is well and truly upon him.

As the bride appears and starts walking down the aisle, I love to spin around and get all those lovely warm expressions on people faces, so much love going out to you, a moment to remember.

Credaro Family Estate has an impressive limestone staircase for the bride to walk down to her awaiting wedding ceremony.

An emotionally charged time at a wedding. Steve has been waiting for this moment for years, all the planning and preparation for this moment and his bride is about to join him.

I love the expression on Emily’s face, she can see that Steve is emotional as she walks down the aisle

I feel it’s important to be considerate and discreet in moments like this. I use telephoto prime lenses so I am not in your face. One or two photographs taken well is enough, no need to machine gun hundreds of shots and create distraction. I feel it’s important to not be in people’s view as well.

Credaro Wines is a picturesque winery surrounded by beautiful landscape in Margaret River. As part of my story telling style I set about describing the amazing property with a variety of images.

This is the fantastic view that a Credaro wedding can offer. This has to be in the top five locations for a garden wedding in Margaret River

If there is a vantage point to get a nice wider view of the ceremony I will get there. Credaro Wines has a beautiful terrace that overlooks the spectacular views. I know that if I get up there as soon as the ceremony begins I will not miss any key moments.

A big big part of Emily and Steve’s wedding story is their, family, friends and loved ones. All these wonderful special people in their lives have come far and wide to show their love and excitement for them both.

A major skill that consistently delivers photographs like this for me is anticipation. Nothing to do with cameras, lenses and memory cards. This is about having an understanding of the “wedding story” and having a feel for how people react to things. Timing is critical because a second before or after the moment happens the expressions are gone and the moment is lost.

When considering a photographer. You will learn that the majority label themselves as “natural style”, “documentary style”, “photojournalist” or “candid”. I advise you to have a look at their blogs of real weddings and count how many posed photos versus naturally captured moments there are. Ignore for a second the wording on the tin and have a peak at the ingredients first.

Sequences of photographs have traditionally been a way to describe moments with still images. While studying for my photography degree in England I learnt about the masters of documentary photography and their various skills to speak to be people with images.

I love the moment after the ceremony has ended. Everyone is excited, happy and the emotions are running high. It’s a perfect time to capture some beautiful hugs and smiles but also the fun interactions between the wedding guests.

The ceremony location at Credaro Wines is framed by stunning forest, this beautiful natural backdrop allows the people to stand out with a nice simple pretty backdrop.

The big group photo, taken from the terrace at Credaro Wines to give me a better angle to see everyones faces.

Bridal party photos take me forty five to sixty minutes. My clients tend to be more invested in my “documentary wedding style” and they love how I capture people spontaneously without them knowing. This style of photo has a life and energy to it that can never be created by direction. My clients also want me to take some directed photos. I always plan the amount of these directed photos with my clients so I am organised.

Notice how I shoot variety within one scene. This saves unnecessary direction which tires people out and removes the fun from the experience. The most common feedback I receive just after my bridal shoots is how easy and fun the experience was.

I am always looking for the little moments like this that happen as we move around the gardens.

At Credaro Family Estate the bridal shoot is a nice easy stroll around the cellar door in a loop. There is a beautiful mix of garden style wedding scenes, natural forest bush scenes and the spectacular views over the rows of grapevines and surrounding hillsides into the distance. This saves the ladies from having to walk long distances in their shoes.

The forest just to the south of Credaro Estate is beautifully backlit by the sun dipping down towards the ocean in the late afternoon. This gives me nice flattering shaded lighting to work in and the lovely natural sparkly backdrop of the sun filtering through the trees behind. Perfect for a romantic photograph of the bride and groom together.

Natural photographs capturing the bridal party walking along can deliver all kinds of interesting images.

Experience is key. Notice the fun the bride and groom are having with the photos so far. I have put them into an amazing scene and simply given some easy direction. They look fantastic as they walk along laughing and smiling. Steve is fully invested and loving the photo shoot to the slight surprise of Emily. I guess it’s important to point out that a lot of my clients claim to hate having their photo taken.

A nice relaxed setting I created using the lovely ceremony chairs and wine barrels which offer mixed levels for the bridal party to stand or sit. I positioned it to take advantage of the beautiful views at Credaro Family Estate. Again direction was light and easy to follow.

No garden wedding at Credaro Estate is complete without some beautiful vineyard photos. This is about as traditional and posed as I get. I’d say there would be a handful of photographs like this taken during the bridal shoot.

I have added in a little bit of direction to get the natural smiles and keep it fun.

Credaro Family Estate is surrounded by farmland and forest. Including the line of forest at the top adds a nice natural framing and depth.

Best man and groom get into some good simple fun during the wedding photos. In some cases I direct the bridal party into games or moments that create their own natural moments for me to capture. I will choose a nice scene and some beautiful light and then let them free to have fun.

The groomsmen loved having piggy back races in amongst the rows of grape vines at Credaro.

Now it’s time to grab a more formal portrait of the boys while the fun and excitement is still on their faces.

The bridal shots are complete and it’s time to get some bride and groom portraits.

The great thing about a Credaro Wedding is that the vineyard that I photograph in is twenty metres from where you have your ceremony. The forest scenes are also just next to the ceremony location. You do not have to get in and out of a car at all. The time you spend away from your wedding guests is being photographed and there is no wasted time happening at all.

During the bride and groom portraits I am still checking out the bridal party to see if there is a nice natural moment like this one to photograph.

As the sun dips down you can get some really interesting light. Being a passionate landscape photographer I can draw on experiences of experimenting with light to create something cool at a wedding. I love how relaxed together Steve and Emily are together in this photograph.

Special requests are welcome.

Credaro Family Estate has a beautiful cellar door building with white washed walls and terracotta tiled roof that refers back the Italian heritage of the family run winery. The terrace overlooking the property with vineyards and farm land does have a Tuscan feel to it. The winery was one of the first to be established in Margaret River and now it is one of the best wedding venues in the South West.

At the front of Credaro Estate is this cute secret garden. Decorative water fountain, beautiful wisteria climbing above and bordered with lavender. This is a really nice intimate place for some wedding photos away from everyone. Again, direction is very light and easy initially and if I need to alter anything to make the photo look better I will.

Back to the wedding guests to get a feel for the mood during pre dinner drinks and boom I’m in my element, sneaking around and waiting for those little split second moments to happen.

Credaro has a really nice terraced area for the wedding guests to enjoy the amazing views and try the beautiful wines on offer.

Credaro Family Estate has an area just next to the cellar door where you can have your reception marquee. Nice and close to the property and nice and convenient for your guests.

I like to photograph all the beautiful wedding styling and table detail shots so you have a memory of your careful planning and decisions made to create the perfect setting for your wedding reception.

The wedding party arrival at the reception is a great time to get some fun shots of the bridal party and also the guests getting excited.

I consistently capture lots of beautiful natural expressions during this moment. It’s another key time for me to get really busy and photograph as many reactions from guests as I can.

Focussed purely on the bride and groom, the wedding guests do not hold back on their excitement, unaware that I am photographing them because I am completely out of view using a special long lens.

By following the bride and groom to their table and using a wide lens I am able to continue capturing the excitement.

After the official welcome from the MC the guests get back to having a great time and I want to capture as many moments that show this so Steve and Emily have a nice memory of their reception.

My coverage concluded just into the reception. It is getting more popular to book me to stay to capture the fun and hilarity of the wedding speeches. Cake cutting and first dance are also covered, so there is a fair amount of things happening to capture.

I hope this helps you to get an understanding of how I capture a wedding day at Credaro Wines and also I hope this helps you in choosing your wedding venue in Margaret River.

Credaro Family Estate should be in your wedding venue shortlist, it really is a fantastic wedding venue with first class facilities and staff.