Brisbane Wedding Photographer | Jonas Peterson bio picture

My name is Jonas Peterson and I'm a wedding photographer. I'm also a writer and film director, but that's another story. And that's what I do.

I tell stories.

And this blog is my story.

Hopefully you'll like it enough to let me tell yours. I'm based in Brisbane, but I'm available for wedding work both nationally and internationally, so if you like what you see, let's work something out.

Today I mostly shoot weddings, but on this blog you will also find some personal stuff.

Contact me by email and I'll get back to you asap - mail@jonaspeterson.com

You will find more examples of my wedding photography here and in my galleries

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by Jonas

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why

Sometimes I meet old colleagues from advertising. I know some of them wonder what happened to me. “Wedding photography. Really? Two years ago you won the Grand Prix in Cannes. And now…this.” I don’t know how to tell them how nice it is to work with people who actually care about the work I present. I’ve been in so many meetings with marketing directors and CEOs. Most of them don’t give a shit about the ads they put on tv - ads are something they have to do - they don’t care if they’re creative or not. And that’s the reason most advertising is crap, trust me.

Now I work with people who care, people who smile when I show them my work, people who appreciate what I do for them. For me it’s not about money, I could live on the high of making people happy. I was just about to blog Bren and Chrissy’s wedding when Bren sent me this.

“Jonas, you are the best photographer in the world. I still look at our wedding pics that you did for us and thank the universe you have such good google preferences! These pictures of such an amazing moment are so vivid it feels like you’re there with you all. Thanks again to you and Jacqui for being so effortlessly efficient, professional and for caring enough about moments in other people’s lives to tell their story so perfectly. Bren and Chrissy”

I certainly don’t think I’m the best photographer in the world, but I do know that I’m finally doing something worthwhile.

I make people happy.

by Jonas

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the way i see things

Sometimes clients ask me about my favorite shoot. Can you show us your favorite slideshow, they say unsuspectingly. I always tell people I like photojournalism. I always have. My dad was a journalist and I remember growing up, hiding under desks in the newsroom, reporters running around smoking and drinking coffee from brown plastic cups. On my mother’s side we had the artists. My mother paints and so did her mother before her. At my grandmother’s house you’d find oils and canvases all around the place.

So naturally I never wrote.

I never drew.

It took me years to address my need to tell stories and express myself creatively. Ten years as a copywriter in advertising helped me, but even though I won a lot of fancy  awards, I soon realized that wasn’t the stories I wanted to tell.

The stories I had to tell.

I’ve always loved photography but I didn’t get into to it until 2002. I learned the basics of the darkroom, shooting black and white film. Soon thereafter I moved into digital and I haven’t looked back since. A couple of years later I started writing for myself, through blogs and columns in various magazines. I started to realize I could tell the stories I had in me, but I also understood I knew how to capture the stories around me, the small things that happen every day. After years of making things up for ads, it was liberating capturing real life.

And that is partly why I love shooting weddings so much. It’s got its rules and in some ways it’s a very orchestrated event, you know what’s going to happen, you know when people are going to do what. And yet you know nothing. Every wedding is completely different, every couple add something new to the mix. I love being there to capture their day and I hate being in the way. You won’t find me running around telling people what to do, hauling flashes and umbrellas from room to room, setting up shots I’m good at. I try and walk in with a sense of naivety. I try and capture the events as they happen.

I haven’t been shooting weddings for very long, but my weddings are becoming more and more photojournalistic for every week. I know the story is there, all the beauty and drama, all the characters and the details. I’ve started to trust the day. It will be beautiful, people will be relaxed with me around, I don’t have to tell them what to do, where to look. I watch the story unveil and try to capture every bit of it. Today I work as a photographer capturing these things the way I see them. I’ve also recently been picked up by a film production company, so now I direct commercials and short films and hopefully one day I will write and direct something even bigger.

I’ve realized I’m good at telling stories - long and short - mine and others - and there’s nothing I love more. I don’t need to do much, the stories are already there, magnificent in their glory, all I need to do is capture them and put them together, be it in an album or a slideshow. You won’t see me creating moments, telling the groomsmen to “fight” with the groom or hear me tell dad to hug his daughter before walking her down the aisle. He probably will anyway and if he does, I will capture that moment, because that is the moment that matters.

But back to the question.

Eight months ago I brought my camera to work as usual and I shot what was going on around me the way I always do. Then something suddenly happened. To me this was one of the best and most extraordinary days of my life and I decided to capture it.

To me nothing will ever be more beautiful.


(click slideshow to play)

by Jonas

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I do

I often get the question from couples if I travel.

The answer is yes.

Yes, yes, yes!

I travel to weddings all the time.

I think it’s a shame so many couples only look at local photographers. If we’re talking Australian weddings, catching a flight anywhere in this country is no problem whatsoever. I do it quite often. Today you can get cheap tickets as long as you’re out in good time. The same thing goes with international or destination weddings. My tickets to Bali recently were only $250. Accommodation in Bali was also relatively cheap.

It’s your wedding we’re talking about; get the photographer you want, get the one that you feel can capture your day. If you don’t, you will regret it for the rest of your life, trust me, I see it all the time.

It’s worth mentioning here that I don’t charge extra for traveling interstate. At least not yet. You pay for tickets and accommodation, that’s it.

So, yes, I travel.

Yes, yes, yes!

by Jonas

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queensland - the sunshine state

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dinner and dancing and eternity to follow

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by Jonas

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