Isn’t that what it’s all about? It hit me in the middle of the reception when I saw Zilla and Jon surrounded by friends and family in the house where Jon grew up. The beautiful house where Jon’s parents had brought up all their children was now the setting for Jon’s wedding.
And it was perfect.
I hope I one day get to experience something like this again. For now I leave you with my impression of this day of days. I hope I managed to capture it well enough.
The lovely blog Polka Dot Bride is featuring this wedding today, head over there for more detailed info.
joanna brown-Such beautiful images I love NZ and you really captured their country and spirit and the images are outstanding the last one just took my breath away felt like I was there.
March 12, 2010 - 4:48 am
Jeff Ambrose-Jonas that cave shot is beyond brilliant, bravo.
zUdio-These are great, Jonas; wonderful eye as always. I like the low contrast B&W. I do wish there were some split toned ones in here, though! Keep ‘em coming, I am always awaiting updates =D
All the best, Z
March 12, 2010 - 5:04 am
Anna-You really caught the essence from the surroundings.
Last frame makes me wanna book a ticket today and just go there. Bello!
March 12, 2010 - 5:12 am
Mark Kalkwarf-Brilliant stuff once again. You tell the story so well through your images. I feel like I was a guest at this wedding after going through the shots. So much real emotion. You the man!
March 12, 2010 - 5:26 am
Solveig-You are indeed amazing! I feel a bit like Benj Haisch..;)
Luisa Brimble-WOW!!!!! Jonas what I love about your images is there is always an element of surprise. I see a lot of blogs of wedding photographers, the more commercial ones. Your images are always so different every single time. I’ve said time and time again that you are truly inspirational and your images are always so FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!!!
March 12, 2010 - 6:22 am
gabe aceves-beautiful work jonas. there are some amazing images here. my favorites- the girls in a scrum for the boquet. ha!
March 12, 2010 - 6:25 am
Paul Von Rieter-As usually you have left me in awe and slightly blown away. Beautiful work. Your story telling through imagery is so amazing.
Dennis Pike-c’mon man, my tolerance for awesomeness is only so high. I just about overdosed on this wedding. That 2nd shot of the post… holy crap. I want a print. seriously… I want a print
March 12, 2010 - 8:22 am
MrsMW -Tears in my Eyes – soo beautifully captured! – I hope too that one day 1 get to experience such Unified Love, comradship,Fun wedding day. You are a Magician!! :)
March 12, 2010 - 8:41 am
brett maxwell-what an amazing beach! and of course the rest of it too.
March 12, 2010 - 9:00 am
Hillary -Look up the song To Build A Home by The Cinematic Orchestra. It fits perfectly with your sentiments.
Matt Stanton-I love the top down view on the wedding table. Your story telling leaves me with such vivid images in my head of how the day was, a remarkable gift.
David-Brilliant. That’s what I think. And how the F do you keep getting better?
March 12, 2010 - 10:29 am
Drew-Jonas you’re in my top 3 favorite wedding photographers. Its incredible to watch your photography grow with each wedding you shoot. Thank you for sharing this magical wedding with us.
March 12, 2010 - 10:52 am
Kat Braman-love love love that b&w with the tiny little person and the house.
Joey Chandler-Very, Very cool cave. That was a great find. And really love the softness of your people shots. Makes it feel very welcoming. Impressive work.
March 12, 2010 - 11:35 am
Zach Anderson-“Hey, go stand in that cave.” Shutter Clicks. That’ll do. Seriously awesome post.
March 12, 2010 - 11:56 am
Kelly Ry-What stunning scenery with images to match.
March 12, 2010 - 1:23 pm
Steve Koo-Beautiful stuff, Jonas. I know that I’ve seen it before, but even seeing it again, the portrait in the field with that cloudy sky behind them is stunning.
Alen Abdula-Whenever I visit your site, I end up digging trough your past weddings; spending quite some time looking at your amazing work. Another great wedding. Keep up the great work Jonas!
March 12, 2010 - 5:26 pm
Maria-Amazing photage as usual.
I happened to be listening to “Goin’ to Acapulco” (Jim James & Calexico) when I watched them, and the two was a perfect match.
March 12, 2010 - 6:18 pm
Sebastian-HEEEELT MAGISKA BILDER!!!! Tack för inspirationen…
March 12, 2010 - 7:10 pm
Sara -Well Jonas, you did it again. As some one else said, it feels like I was there. And the dress, oh my god, the dress! It might just be the prettiest dress I’ve ever seen. Keep up the good work Jonas, the couples having you shooting their wedding are more lucky than they can ever imagine.
March 12, 2010 - 7:17 pm
Berit -Underbara bilder av ett festligt, personligt och stimmigt bröllop. Min absoluta favorit är strandbilden där de står och ser ut över havet i den våta sanden, tätt tillsammans, vackert!
March 12, 2010 - 8:16 pm
Linda -Jag rös efter första meningen, jag fryser efter sista bilden. Du har ju fångat det så otroligt bra att det är inte klokt.
March 12, 2010 - 8:58 pm
Kar Yee -very nice pictures. i love it!
March 12, 2010 - 10:14 pm
Phill-This doesn’t help alleviate my lust for travel in the slightest! :~) Your landscape work is beautiful Jonas. The wedding work is, needless to say, likewise. It’s great to see how yet again your distinctive visual accent doesn’t mask the individual voice of the wedding that you’re documenting. Beautiful story-telling imagery.
gabe aceves-Jonas- I am continually inspired by your work. Each wedding has a unique and distinct look in the tones and processing yet they all such a personal, intimate feeling. Great work.
Eliza Claire-Wow. So atmospheric. Amazing work, beautiful composition.
March 4, 2010 - 8:38 am
Amanda Lamb-NICE! Love the emotion in the last one.
March 4, 2010 - 8:41 am
Dennis Pike-you control the clouds don’t you? amazing clouds just follow you EVERYWHERE you go, huh?
March 4, 2010 - 8:51 am
Becca Dilley-Well, I pretty much love all of your work, but these black and whites are amazing. Especially the second one – it is very subtle and really makes me feel like I am in the mountains again. Awesome work.
Solveig-Du är inte bara en fantastisk fotograf, du är en fantastisk fotograf med ett ärende! Alla dina bilder har en enorm impact och ingen bild är den andra lik! Amazing som man säger på engelska!
Ben Tomlin-As always – marvellous…. I love how you’ve set the scene with the first two… but the last one is sublime – the reflections and clouds are what make it for me!
When I was sitting there with Jonathan and Zilla’s families around me, it again hit me what a wonderful job I have. Jac and I had taken a couple of wrong turns out of Auckland and when we finally got to Bethell’s Beach it was getting dark. With the help of the last daylight we found our way to where Zilla and Jonathan were staying. When we arrived they quickly sat us down, poured us a glass of wine and told us dinner was five minutes away.
Zilla’s mother hade prepared a feast and we were invited.
As the lemon chicken was passed around the table someone filled up my glass and within minutes it felt like we were part of the family. After ten I felt like we had made new friends.
“You have to try the silverbeets”, Zilla said and who was I to argue.
The rest of the weekend was nothing short of amazing.
I felt part of something and that something I’m going to have to share here.
Mark Kalkwarf-I have never even heard of ’silverbeets’! I Will have to give them a try some day. What a beautiful image. The contrast of the sky against the softness of the grass is amazing. Sound like you had a really great time.
Hälsporren-What a wonderful wedding-picture! I love the dramatic sky, since most people think of blue sky and sunshine when it comes to their wedding-photos. It’s absolutely stunning, this pic.
March 1, 2010 - 11:15 pm
Dennis Pike-I think you found a good place to begin.
Eric Yerke-I dig how white is white, and black is black.
March 2, 2010 - 6:52 am
somebody again -Jag gillar hur de ser ut att vara ett sånt där bröllopspar i plast som man sätter på bröllopstårtan. de ser precis ut så, i miniatyrformat. väldigt fint
I like this shot, by the way. That sky is like a painting.
March 2, 2010 - 2:15 pm
Alan & Karen Woo-Yup that is what its all about! Not being only a photographer but also part of the family on the day, gotta love it!
March 2, 2010 - 3:58 pm
gabe aceves-a totally captivating image as usual jonas! i love the fact that the b&g look calm and happy surrounded by these massive black clouds. beautiful work.
Jamie M Swanson-You never cease to amaze me. This is stunning. Love it! I wish I could see it on a huge canvas…
March 5, 2010 - 5:42 pm
Zoe Kamide -Eusebio says its a nice picture of Aunty Zilla and Jon and can he have one please??
March 5, 2010 - 5:53 pm
HelenTurner -Jonas, Your meal was actually tarrogan and preserved lemon unsalted butter and garlic, then verjuice.
You mix up tarrogon leaves, 250 grams unsalted butter and the skins of 2 preserved lemons in the blender.
Put your hand between the skin and the meat of the bird near the legs and work up over the breast and into the legs.Then you stuff the butter tarrogan and lemon mix into the space between the meat and the flesh.
Roast with 2 garlic cloves in the cavity of the bird.
When cooked pour half cup of verjuice over bird and give it another 15 mins.
Let the bird rest for 15 mins then serve.
I heat the juices(pour off fat excess first) and thicken with a couple of desert spoons of corn flower to make the gravy.Cook the potatoes and pumpkin in the same pan.180 degrees for about 1 to 1 half hours.
March 5, 2010 - 6:00 pm
HelenTurner -Silver beet.
Firstly the silver beet was very fresh from the groom’s mum’s garden.
Secondly use VERY LITTLE water in the pan.Let the water get hot then put the silver beet in and toss it quickly really only to heat it this may only be 30 seconds or so.
For really yummy silver beet take the beets out after 15 secs.Pour off all water except a small portion.Add some chopped garlic and oysrer sauce, and when it is hot put the silver beet back in and turn with clippers a few times then yank it out before it goes all limp and grey.
I can assure you there will be none left on the plate it is delicious.
Above is also good for bok choi which is the asian sweeter version of silver beet.
March 5, 2010 - 6:05 pm
HelenTurner -Yes the photo was lovely and makes us realise we are only small cogs in this great world.
Looking forward to seeing the photos in the pine forest.
March 6, 2010 - 2:35 pm
Buffalo Wedding Photographers-That last picture with the clouds is absolutely amazing! One of my favorite pics seen in a real long time.
I’ve been a bad blogger lately. Mainly because I’ve been busy working, but also because I’ve had some time off. This is actually the last weekend I have off in I don’t know how long and I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. At the same time I’m very much looking forward to all the weddings I have ahead of me this year. I’ve shot four already, but it feels like the real season starts now.
And I’m ready.
Next weekend I’m shooting a wedding on Bethell’s Beach in New Zealand and I can’t tell you how excited I am. The bride, Zilla, and her partner, Jon, couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful place. I admit I just wrote the last sentence to be able to write bride Zilla, but still. Bethell’s Beach is where they shot the movie The Piano and even though I’ve never been there I have seen photos. It will be very different.
Paul Von Rieter-Bride-Zilla, Very funny. I am sure you will rock it. Can’t wait to see.
February 21, 2010 - 10:31 pm
Solveig-Låter jättespännande! Jag kan se “Piano-miljön” framför mig..hoppas brudgummen liknar Harvey Keitel (fast med mer kläder..) Det skall bli kul att se dom bilderna! Lycka till!
February 21, 2010 - 11:09 pm
Dennis Pike-right on, looking forward to what you’re going to create this coming year. For this post I just keep picturing the training montages from “Rocky”. Jonas, running up a bunch of steps with a 70-200 in each hand for weights.
February 24, 2010 - 6:20 am
Oliver Collinge-You seriously have a bride named Zilla – that’s hilarious.
February 24, 2010 - 4:40 pm
Marco Correa-Ha ha ha ha, really funny, expecting to meet Zilla!
February 26, 2010 - 11:13 am
brett maxwell-there are many people hoping you survive this hectic year. it will be awesome to watch how you change and grow. just don’t go crazy.
I get quite a few questions regarding my photography; what gear I use, settings, if I prefer to shoot RAW or jpeg etc, etc. I’m more than happy to help out. For that reason I started answering questions here a while back. I have now answered some 500 questions, so if you’re interested in what I do and how I do it, chances are you’ll find it answered there. If not, please ask me your question and I will try and answer it.
layton -and that’s what makes you more than just an amazing photographer.
February 16, 2010 - 2:19 pm
LeeLoo -That’s very generous of you Jonas in an industry where cards are often held close to the chest.
Thank you!
February 16, 2010 - 6:36 pm
heather nan-loved, loved, loved all the sharing. just one thing… sons of anarchy? really?
perhaps I should submit that question.
February 16, 2010 - 9:19 pm
sui-a friend was just telling me today how cutthroat photographers– or anyone in any business, really– are and how ruthless they can be. definitely thank you for being so generous as to actually answer most people’s questions.
February 17, 2010 - 7:18 am
Ragna-Hur gör man om man tycker sig veta precis hur den där perfekta bilden ska se ut i fotoögonblicket, men är kass på att manövrera kameran så att resultatet blir bra. Kameran blir liksom ett hinder bara för att man är så värdelös på det tekniska. Har läst några fotoböcker men tycker att de förklarar uruselt. Hur blir jag bättre på att förstå hur min kamera fungerar!? Vad läser jag, vart ska jag titta, vart börjar jag? Tack och bock på förhand. ps. har bilder på min blogg ds.
February 18, 2010 - 6:01 am
AnnaCarin-Fantastiskt fina bilder, snubblade in här av en slump. Du gör bröllopsbilder på en annan nivå. Vackert.
Jag har en vän i UK som också gör intressanta bröllopsbilder, fast på ett annant vis. Kika om du har lust :)
Paul Von Rieter-I just wanted to add a bit of fuel to the fire here. I have personally asked Jonas a bunch of questions and I couldn’t be more thankful. His advise and suggestions have pushed my creativity and have made me work harder to be a better photographer.
You are a pretty amazing dude Jonas, and I am sure I speak for everyone in our community when I say thanks for taking the time to do what you do. FTW
February 23, 2010 - 3:19 pm
Amanda Basteen-You should make a FAQ and post it so you don’t have to keep answering :)
Robert-Hi, I’m a photographer from Barcelona, Spain. This is my second year photographing weddings, and your work is really excellent. subtlety, simplicity, naturalness … really incredible. My most sincere congratulations. I follow your work with true admiration.
Christan-I’m totally diggin your processing and composition.
February 20, 2010 - 5:21 pm
Gemma Schipani-This photo sums up ‘the bride’ image. When you think of a bride you think pure, innocent, beautiful, fresh & you get an emotional breathtaking response when you see them. This also adds a hint of mystery, leaves you wanting more!
February 21, 2010 - 4:22 am
daniel lateulade-Love it — absolutely amazing. You have a way of working with noise and making it look like film grain that I love.
Emily Porter-One of my favorite things about your aesthetic is how so many of your photos seem like something out of a dream. A good dream. A good dream with lots of yummy natural light. :)
February 23, 2010 - 2:13 am
Daniel Dunlap-Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! You do such great work with natural light!
February 23, 2010 - 2:42 pm
Teresa K-Wow Jonas, you really are an artist, aren’t you? This image is stunning.
February 25, 2010 - 1:05 pm
Justin-Wow, awesome tonality and processing on this image! Thanks for also sharing the before & after – love your work as always JP ;-)
March 1, 2010 - 11:08 am
reg-Great shot and interesting composition. I always love the stuff I’d never imagine to do.
Rae-ahh such a gorgeous moment!!
I LOVE that her foot is mid air with her hands behind her as though she is leaaaaping towards him with so much excitment!
February 13, 2010 - 4:36 pm
kitty-that little girl is going to cherish this image for the rest of her life. i know i would…
February 13, 2010 - 5:19 pm
Ayesha-You and your perfect whites :) and your one-image blog posts – just one image is so rich with story…
Therese-Oh my god, this is a brilliant photo in SO meny ways! You are great! (as always)
February 14, 2010 - 3:59 am
Poser-Right at the top of my fave images from you man.
Everything is perfect about this shot.
Makes me so happy.
:P
February 14, 2010 - 5:37 am
Dennis Pike-seriously?! do you check client’s homes before you shoot and say “ok, this a perfect staircase in front of a perfect white wall, that will work great for amazing, clean compositions, we can work together.” good lord man, this is just gorgeous. Cheers
Paul Von Rieter-Pretty awesome brother! This has got to rank up with some of my fav truly photojournalistic shots ever. This image is going to stick in my mind for at least a week.
February 14, 2010 - 1:56 pm
Tracey-Breathtaking. Precious. I love all your images…but this one…wow.
Rebecca-Great composition. Love the lines and all the white!
February 18, 2010 - 1:26 am
cara @ lillian and leonard-“Seriously?! do you check client’s homes before you shoot and say “ok, this a perfect staircase in front of a perfect white wall, that will work great for amazing, clean compositions, we can work together.””
That was my first thought too.
February 20, 2010 - 5:26 pm
Gemma Schipani-The title bought tears to my eyes & the photo really tipped me
over the edge. My Nonno passed away when I was just five, so I never really knew him. I just hope I had sweet moments like this with him. I also hope that little girl treasures that photo because one day it will mean the world to her.
February 21, 2010 - 6:44 pm
Josie Richardson -Jonas, you are the master of the stairs.
February 23, 2010 - 2:23 am
Matilda Holmqvist1-Otroligt vacker!!
Har börjat med något som kallas ‘Veckans Inspiration’ och jag valde att ha dig som “förste ut”. Lånade en bild och länkade till din blogg! Hoppas det var okej!
When I was approached by a friend of Jacqui’s, asking me if I could shoot some promotional photos for a local dance/club artist, my immediate reaction was no. No, no, no. I told him I don’t have the experience or the lighting equipment to pull something like that off. But he persisted. And then I started thinking about it. I went through the gear I have and figured, yeah, maybe I can do it. If I keep it simple. I’ve never done any composites or hardly even used my flash off camera, but hey, how hard can it be?
I’d read tutorials online on how to do it and I knew roughly how to pull it off.
I also knew I wanted some sort of film poster look to it. A bit gritty, but still a simple setup. I didn’t need the hassle of working some kind of idea into a shot I’d never even tried shooting before. The post processing in photoshop took less than 30 minutes and I think the end result looks pretty good for a club act. If you know PS, all I’ve done is use layer masks and then some cloning to clean up around the place. The cross processing is Nik Color Efex Pro. It’s not what I’d normally shoot, or even how I’d edit it, but there’s nothing like stepping out of your comfort zone to keep you on your toes.
I’ve put together a small making of, just to show you it’s not that hard to do.
As an experiment it was quite fun.
This is the gear I used.
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24mm 1.4L
2 Pocket Wizards
Canon 580 EX II (bare flash)
The flash was on a monopod which Jacqui held at different angles, the camera was on a tripod. The final shot is a composite of three shots where the artist and back-ups were lit by a single bare flash in each one. If you have any questions, shoot away. I’m no Zack Arias, but it was fun to see I could actually do it. I hardly edit my wedding images at all, so this was something completely new. It was nice to get out and shoot using ideas and equipment I know little about. I don’t think I’ll use much of this for my wedding work, but now I know off camera flash is nothing to be too scared of.
I know this shot could have been shot better, but still.
Eve -Stupid question – are you taking several photos of the persons? If so, do they have to remain absolutely still or how do you manage to add the pictures together?
(It’s probably a stupid question, but I know neither PS nor photographing and was just curious)
Jarno-Very nice use of off-camera flash Jonas! And a wonderful blog thanks for sharing photos and thoughts. I’ve also quite recently started using more and more one off-camera flash and it’s nice to see what one can accomplish with just one strobe.
Your thoughts about first thinking that you could not do the job sound familiar. But you nicely stepped out of comfort zone as you said and really did a nice job. One small and easy step to make the light nicer (smoother which is better imho) is adding a simple white shoot-through umbrella. Give it a try if you plan on experimenting with off-camera flash more.
February 11, 2010 - 6:08 pm
Kayleen T.-Very cool Jonas! My favorite part is the girls shadow on the wall!
February 11, 2010 - 6:11 pm
Christin-Bra jobbat. Blev skitsnyggt :) som vanligt… inte förvånad här, inte.
It’s quite a statement and applies to most anything in the world. What seperates you and I from John & Jane Doe as photographers is experience. What seperates you and I from Valentino as motorcyclists would be the same and in all cases a little passion drives us further toward reaching those goals.
:)
February 11, 2010 - 9:58 pm
Debs Ivelja-Brilliant Jonas, and thank you for sharing how you achieved this. It looks awesome.
You are a real inspiration and any more tutorials you have to share would be fab!
February 11, 2010 - 10:53 pm
Dennis Pike-you should have attended Ryan’s workshop, he covered this exact thing. Although, you pretty much nailed it. Cheers
February 11, 2010 - 11:02 pm
Cliff-Definitely not your regular day stuff… but you killed it! Great work Jonas.
February 11, 2010 - 11:04 pm
Leo Druker-Thanks for the informative video! Great work – I love the end result.
Tasha Schalk-That’s awesome, and I think it turned out great. I’m going to have to try this soon!
February 12, 2010 - 3:22 am
Drew-It’s nice to see strobist work from you Jonas. And the editing is flawless. Very nicely done!
February 12, 2010 - 10:36 am
Jonas -Eve: Yes, it’s three shots. Since the background is static I can (kind of) cut and paste between the different layers.
Dorothy: I wish I could remember. It was all manual settings and I also zoomed the flash head. I’d say 1/8 power with the flash zoomed to about 50mm. Maybe.
February 12, 2010 - 4:25 pm
Jono-Hah! I was in Israel with Enoch’s cousin. I’ve met Enoch before, he used to be my brother in-laws personal trainer. Small world! Love the shoot too.
February 13, 2010 - 3:29 am
Paul-Jonas-great work. Those turned out really well.
February 13, 2010 - 7:04 am
debbie mayes-I love the finished product, thank you for sharing how you got there…super cool ;)
February 13, 2010 - 3:00 pm
Ben Godkin-Great Job Jonas! You can make anything happen if you put your mind to it. :)
February 14, 2010 - 5:38 pm
gabe aceves-very cool to do something so different and execute it well. thanks for posting this. it just inspires me to get out of my comfort zone more.
February 15, 2010 - 7:48 pm
Berit -Znyggt!! Jag är också extremt förtjust i skuggan på muren. Ögat letar sig tillbaka dit om och om igen.
February 16, 2010 - 2:46 am
Gloria -Hi Jonas, I was wondering how you attached the flash to the monopod? Which monopod do you use? Thanks!
February 16, 2010 - 6:06 am
Jonas Peterson-I attached a “cold shoe” to the end of the monopod. The monopod is a pretty crap one that I got from National Geographic after being published there.
February 18, 2010 - 3:42 am
Jenny Meng-Strawhorne-Thanks for sharing. The finished shot turned out great. It’s always nice to challenge yourself and succeed!
February 19, 2010 - 3:28 am
Janine-Great shoot, Zack would love it…especially the can do attitude :)
February 22, 2010 - 1:11 am
lisa-Yay for taking chances! I always find it nerve wracking to try new techniques with clients, but doesn’t it feel so great when you pull it off? Nice work.
February 25, 2010 - 1:09 pm
Justin-Awesome skills as always Jonas – Thanks for the workflow video! How long did you spend on the post production?
March 1, 2010 - 11:09 am
reg-thanks for this. love to see folks’ workflows.
by Jonas
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