Frequently Asked Questions

Of course we can get natural photos for you! 

About 80% of the people who have booked me were camera shy initially. So that means that 80% of the couples you see on my website are those people and they have natural photos!

It is not a problem for me if you are camera shy. I regularly get told after a portrait session or wedding “Gemma, you made it so easy, we felt so relaxed, thank you!” If you would like to read more comments from my clients, please visit my reviews section.

My focus is for you to be yourself, have fun, have a little time for romance and get the photos that are important to you. In order to do this I try to help you relax. I do this by getting to know you before the day and letting you get to know me a little too so we can build trust. I find having that trust before the day makes all the difference.

I also have a few little tricks to help you feel more comfortable on the day, and it is a lot about distracting you from the camera. This may include me acting a little silly to get you to laugh and get rid of some nervous energy. I could ask you to talk about something that interests you both, or it could be something as simple as asking you to try not to kiss each other.  Once I have diverted your attention away from the camera, that is when the real moments happen, and then you have something to look back on that has real meaning.

Another way to feel more comfortable for wedding day is to have some practice in front of the camera.  A portrait session before your big day is a great opportunity to have photos taken in a place that is not possible during your wedding.

For example, I have had couples choose to have photos in a countryside location because they were having a city wedding, and others who have chosen their favourite place to visit or where their engagement happened! You can see some of the engagement portraits I have done here.

1. My Love of People. I strive to tailor your photos to your personalities and deliver exactly what you want.

2. My Professionalism and Ethics. Trust is very important to create natural photos and an enjoyable experience on your day. I have been an AIPP Accredited Professional Photographer since 2010.

3. My Genuine Passion for making and seeing people happy.

4. My Commitment to Quality Service and Products so your experience and images will be valued in the years to come.

5. Your Peace of Mind. I have a solid Emergency Back-Up Plan in case anything happens to me – you will not have to worry about being without a quality photographer on your day if the unthinkable happens.

6. The Ability to Read Body Language and Anticipate Moments without needing to be able to hear what is being said at the time.

7. I have Won Prestigious Photography Awards with the Australian Institute of Professional Photography – but seeing my clients’ happiness with their images and the service I have provided them is more important to me.

8. My Wedding Coordinator Skills. I can offer advice to you to work out the best timing for your day so things can run smoothly and you have plenty of time with your guests and for great photos.

9. My Easy Going Personality. I can easily adapt to changing circumstances – This alone can prove very important on your wedding day!

10. My Experience includes more than 250 weddings and sets me apart from those new to the industry. I have expanded on this in the question below.

I have photographed more than 250 weddings including more than 25 International weddings.

I have photographed elopements, country weddings, cultural weddings, religious weddings, weddings where English was not spoken and city weddings. I mostly photograph country weddings where couples want to spend time with their friends and family in a relaxed atmosphere.

Having extensive wedding experience is so important to anticipate moments, to offer advice on how the wedding day could flow in a relaxed way, and to handle tricky situations to keep the couple happy.  A lot of the feedback I have received in the past from clients indicates how relaxed they felt with me on their wedding day. Experience has a lot to do with this. You can read more of their comments here.

All my packages include the edited high-resolution images on USB and an online gallery to share with family and friends. The high-resolution images are large so you can print them to any size you like – big enlargements are not a problem!

I am always the main photographer but I also have an assistant who helps me on the day. The assistant takes photos during the ceremony and reception as well. The assistant is there to help with getting the attention of people in group photos, carrying bags, running errands and being a general help to me, but most importantly to you and your wedding party and guests. They have also been known to fix a dress or two as well. Having an assistant means that I can concentrate on seeing moments that I might otherwise miss. 

You can see all the specific package information on my pricing page.

The short answer is between 700-900 edited images for a full wedding day. This is the average number for clients who book my 8-12 hour packages. I do not restrict the number of photos we take on the day. As the day is so fast paced and always changing, there will always be photos that will not turn out perfectly.

Out of the photos taken, I only delete the double ups, the blinking photos, the photos when someone stepped in front of the camera by mistake and the photos with weird or unflattering facial expressions. To maintain the professionalism of the industry RAW images are not available for viewing.

To lock in your wedding date I require a deposit of $1500 AUD to be paid and then an online agreement form to be filled out. Once both of these are completed, we are locked in! 

The remaining payment is due one month before your wedding.

I would say about 50% of my clients do not meet me in person before the wedding day.  I do my best to get to know you before the day and find out what is important to you so we can build a relationship. We keep in contact via email, Facebook, phone and Skype. Below is a quote from a couple I photographed in Finland who were initially worried about not being able to meet in person beforehand.

“We wanted Gemma as our wedding photographer after seeing her fabulous photos on her website. By chance Gemma was coming to Finland in the summer of our wedding so we contacted her and luckily managed to get her to shoot our big day. I thought it would be a bit stressful not meeting up with the photographer in advance, BUT Gemma made it very easy to arrange everything at a long distance. She also asked detailed questions about us and the wedding as  preparation for the shoot, which made everything run smoothly on the day. It felt as though we had known Gemma for years!  Thank you so much for capturing the biggest day of our lives!” 

Kimi & Anna, Helsinki, Finland

You can see Kimi and Anna’s wedding photos here.

My own style aims to achieve a timeless look, focusing on good clean editing with good colour and light.  However, I can adjust my editing to suit your taste, but do so in a way that the photos will still be timeless in years to come. For example, if you have an urban wedding you could go with more of a ‘grungy’ look. I am happy to cater to your personal taste and we can discuss this at length. If you are not sure of what you like we can discuss ideas together. I also provide additional copies of selected images in black and white if I think it suits the images well. There are some examples below which show the slight differences in the styles.

Yes! If your wedding is not far away or on a day other than Saturday, I am happy to do smaller wedding coverage packages that are 2-3 hours. Just contact me for details about a special package

Yes, Yes and Yes!

I am based in Sydney Australia but more than 50% of my weddings are outside of Sydney. I love to travel and go to new places. A lot of my Australian weddings are in the Southern Highlands and on the South Coast of NSW. I am usually in Europe during the European summer.

Internationally, I have photographed weddings above the Arctic Circle in Finland, in the French countryside, surrounded by mountains in Northern Norway, in a medieval Estonian city and on the white sands of the Cook Islands to name a few.  However, please do not feel that I need exotic destinations to want to photograph weddings, I just love photographing people in love, no matter where they are!

I do not charge travel fees for weddings in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and the South Coast. For other locations please ask me about the travel fees that may apply.

International weddings attract different package pricing and may fit in with my current travel plans, and therefore making it more affordable than you might think. So please do not be shy, tell me about your wedding plans and we will see what we can work out together.

If something happens to me, if I break a leg, have a car crash or am gravely ill in hospital, I have what I call my Emergency Back-Up Plan. I should start off by saying that I have not had to use this plan! *knock on wood* I have photographed weddings when I have had bronchitis and the flu and the quality of my work was not affected. I have what I call ‘Wedding Day Adrenalin’ where it seems that my body and my brain forget that I am sick and I have this incredible energy boost that keeps me going all day long! It happens when I am not sick too – I love Wedding Day Adrenalin!

There are five copies of my Emergency Back-Up Plan with family members and other colleagues so they can action the plan immediately should anything happen to me.  This plan has a list of over 20 photographers they can call. The information about your wedding can be sent to the photographer so they have personalised notes about what you want for your wedding photography. The photographers I have on this list have a similar style to me and are very experienced. Photographers have commented saying they should have back up plans too! A lot of people don’t, but I think it is so vital to give your clients and yourself peace of mind!

Yes, I love to photograph all weddings. I worked hard to help increase the awareness of love between same sex couples during the ‘Yes’ Campaign offering free portrait sessions to two couples. You can see their sessions here. We have heard that because of sharing their stories and photos, a lot of people made the effort to get their YES vote in and some even changed from a No to a YES! I know it was a very tough time for the LGBTQI community but I am glad we were able to make a difference and now we have marriage equality finally.