We drove halfway and stayed in a perfectly shitty motel overnight, with slanted beds, and dirty bathrooms and arrived the next day around midday. Too much food, coffee, drinking and shopping guaranteed the impromptu trip to be just what was needed.

x jessica

Ugh! They’re both such babes!

x jessica

Meet the Budreikas: a bickering brood of siblings all in their 20s.

They’re all completely gorgeous, and interact in that dynamic sort of way that only siblings can.

They came up with the genius idea of gifting their parents some photographs of the four of them as a family. The aim of the shoot was to have the finished photographs look as little as humanly possible like this or this or this (despite the fact that I have been secretly dying to make a photo series themed on 80s glamour portraiture) (there’s still time).

I had been wanting to conduct a Holi inspired shoot for some time, as I’d seen some really amazing photographers do just that. And what better way to have siblings interact than to sling paint in each other’s faces?!

So, after a day of frolicking in the Barossa Valley taking some beautiful portraits with them all (which I will share in subsequent posts), we ventured into a little side-street and let loose.

x Jessica

Father: Robert | 53

Mother: Kathleen | 58

Sister: Michelle | 39

Nephew: Nicholas | 9

Nephew: Samuel | 7

Brother: David | 38

Sister-in-law: Samantha | 40

Nephew: Jayquin | 9

Niece: Sydnee | 3

Husband: Dana | 24

Myself: Jessica | 24

And I want to remember them all just this way. I love the children with chocolate, and pen, and dirt and just general crud on their faces; I love my sisters opening up to me and looking straight down into the lens, even if it leaves them feeling completely vulnerable; I love my parents for that glint in their eyes which makes me wonder what secrets they have to reveal; I love that my brother and I have sporadic raised eyebrows alike (it’s just that his big head makes his arguably more noticable); and I love Dana, my beloved, for always, (I mean always) putting up with my incessant requests to photograph him – knowing full well that there isn’t likely ever going to be an end to it.

I am so thankful for photographs.

x jessica

Hey, go like my facebook page.

Shot on my Canon 5dmk3, and my 35mm Action Sampler.

x jessica

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

……………………………………………………………………

My reason for this post today, is to share a gorgeous wedding with you.

I shot it on 12/12/2012, on a humid 35 degree day in Adelaide, South Australia. It was glamourous and classy, albeit laid back and so much fun. The champagne flowed all, I mean all day. Together, family members and friends celebrated the love of two gorgeous human beings.

After having shot for ten hours straight, I caught a cab home, and fell into bed. I spent the next day feeling like I was recovering from a terrible flu. All my muscles were sore, my neck was out, my left eye had temporarily lost its ability to focus, and I couldn’t stop yawning.

I have learned that for me, shooting weddings is actually the hardest day’s work I have ever undergone.

Holy crap. You don’t sit down, you don’t eat, you can’t possibly drink enough water, everybody wants to know what you want them to do with their postures, facial features, hands and legs at all times. And you get sweaty. So sweaty. It is full on.

But, do you know what lasted longer than my temporary qualms? The knowledge that I have intimately witnessed two beings commit their hearts and lives to each other. There’s almost nothing more vulnerable or beautiful to watch.

I love weddings. And to be able to photograph them is like getting the very best seat in the house. My very own private screening – with the stars themselves.

Below are some stills that I created from that private screening. I hope you enjoy them. And I hope that you get a strong sense of the joy and beauty and emotion of that wonderful day.

Virginia and Paul – 12.12.12

I think, particularly online, I hold people at arm’s length. I have all these bustling ideas for posts that never eventuate, I have thousands upon thousands of photographs that never make it up here.

And it’s not because I don’t want to share them, or write back immediately and way-too-enthusiastically to the comments you leave, but still, something inside me holds back.

Perhaps it is because of my perfectionism? Or because I am somehow scared that if I put it all out there, then I become more exposed and open to criticism.

This isn’t to say that I feel this way all or even most of the time, but I have noticed that it happens at about the same time that I look at the sites of other photographers that I admire. Isn’t that strange?

So I occasionally have to ban myself from looking at other artist’s photographs, to keep from squashing my own inspiration and confidence in my own work, and to keep from feeling rubbish about what I enjoy doing the most.

I have a voice, and my promise to you is that I will let you hear it more. No matter how it challenges the sensibilities of my courage.

There. That feels better.

// RANT

And as material proof of my promise, here’s a picture of me, on the day I got my beautiful 50mm f/1.2L lens:

What an amazing Summer it has been so far, here where I am.

Without making you read any more, I present to you Kristie and Scott: A beautiful couple. And cheeky to boot. They are so in love, its ridiculous.

I’m even lucky enough to have them as family!

Brace yourself for a giant helping of gaspy-ness, with a generous dollop of whimsy…

x jessica

I feel like a complete dick anytime I attempt any sort of ‘selfie’.

I earn a living from taking pictures of other people, but the second a camera is turned on me, every insecurity I have just rears its ugly little head.

Deep down, I know it is completely ridic, but I just can’t shake the feeling.

But I don’t want to be that person!

If I ever decide to reproduce, I want my kids to be able to look at pictures of their parents. I love looking at old pictures of my mum and dad, don’t you?

What’s even rarer, are photographs of my husband and I together.

So, when Dana and I visited Brisbane, a most gorgeous friend of mine, Sue, took some pictures of us together. And I love them.

(ps. Not only does my friend Sue take beautiful pictures, she’s also the best hairdresser I have ever met. If you are around Brisbane, it’d be quite adventageous of you to have her do your hair. Her website is here.)

x jessica