Down-to-earth photography that won’t get in the way of you enjoying your day.
No stupid poses, just natural, easy-going Adelaide wedding photography focusing on those organic in-between moments.
Want great photos but don’t want your important day to revolve around them?
My approach to wedding photography is a bit different. I’m acutely aware that your day is about so much more than the photos, and I want your experience and the memories those photos to evoke to be good ones.
Starting earlier than most photographers means I get a chance to spend the morning chilling out with both parties, and so ease into the day alongside you. Great photography starts with cultivating the right mood – that’s impossible when a photographer rocks up, cameras blazing, in the chaos of T-minus one.
No need to structure your wedding around the photography, or plan moments around what time the photographer will be there. I have one package – I’m there all day and all night right up until you leave the reception.
Capture Everything
My package includes coverage all the way up until you leave at the end of the night.
I’ll start whenever you want – I’ve joined couples for their Saturday morning ritual of coffee & crosswords before they went to their separate preparations, gone dawn surfing, fishing, and my laughable attempt at sunrise yoga, and shared many an intimate or chaotic family breakfast. Whatever start you’ve chosen for your day, I’d love to be there to capture those memories for you.
Capture the Real Deal
My approach to wedding photography is relaxed, candid, and natural. Priority number one is making bridal parties and couples feel comfortable. After that great photos happen easily.
I know each wedding is different – I won’t demand we take photos of guys getting dressed for example if that’s not a thing you’re into. I’ll listen to your preferences and make sure we do it your way.
One package with everything you need
I offer one simple, all-inclusive package. It’s $4400 and includes:
- Coverage all day and all night
- An album containing all of your photos
- High resolution images with a licence to print, upload, or share anything you’d like
- No watermarks
- Superfast turnaround – you’ll have your photos in an average of two weeks
Include your best friend in your wedding.
I love shooting dogs in weddings. They’re a huge part of my life, and I understand how important they can be for couples too. My wife and I have two beautiful lazy rescue greyhounds who complete our little family.
Arriving earlier means I’ve always got time to roll around on the grass (or floor) and give your best friend time to get used to me as I get to know them. I’ve found you can’t rush this process if you want to capture their real personality.
Also, sidenote – I do free pet bereavement photo shoots. Not just for my clients. Get in touch if you’re about to lose your best friend and want some precious photos to remember them by.
Check out a blog post of some of my favourite pups in Adelaide wedding photography moments (and other pets) here.
Over 90+ 5-Star reviews on
This guy is an absolute legend. We LOVE our photos.
He is such a fun person to be around. Even our guests all raved about him on the day!
…We didn’t feel at all uncomfortable during the process, and he captured the relaxed, fun vibe of our day absolutely perfectly.
★★★★★
James is the ninja of photographers.
He was everywhere in a flash, capturing every moment of our day without anyone noticing.
…He included our fur babies and took the most amazing photos. James you were so laid back and stress free and put up with the craziness of it all.
★★★★★
James was phenomenal – he fit in with everyone seamlessly on the day and felt like a lifelong friend.
He makes people feel instantly comfortable with his style of photography.
…We’ll be gushing over our photos for years to come and would highly recommend James!
★★★★★
One Simple Package for $4400
- UNLIMITED HOURS. ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT COVERAGE, including preparations of both parties right up until you leave the reception. And as long as I can drive there and back on the day, there’s no charge for travel.
- PROFESSIONALLY EDITED photos in full resolution delivered electronically.
- HARDCOVER GLOSSY ALBUM which generally adds up to about 250 pages. Check it out in the video. All your photos are included, not just a small selection.
- Personal ONLINE GALLERY to share your photos with friends & family. Download images directly from the gallery. Password protected if you’d like. Check one out here.
- A LICENCE TO PRINT AND SHARE whatever and whenever you want – no watermarks.
- SUPERFAST TURNAROUND – you’ll be looking at your completed photos in an average of two weeks.
- FREE BACKUP of your photos for at least two years.
Frequent Questions
How long does it take to get my photos back?
Generally two weeks. In busy times it might take an extra week or so, but it’s always bloody fast!
I'm not a fan of the camera, please help!
This is my jam. I’m so glad you’re here. Helping people feel like themselves in front of the camera is the thing I get most fulfilment out of the work I do.
Having me shoot your wedding is totally unlike your uncle taking your photo with the DSLR he got for Christmas. No invading of personal space, no need to stand with smiles pasted waiting while I screw with camera settings. Good wedding photos start from comfortable people having a good time. Get that right and we’re 90% there.
I enjoy rocking up earlier in the day and being able to chill out with a bridal party or family when there’s much less going on. It’s a great opportunity for me to get to know everyone (and vice-versa!) learn group dynamics, etc. Easing into the photos slowly on the day makes such a difference to the vibe of the photo-taking.
It’s a night-and-day contrast when I’ve had a chance for example to join the boys for a beer in the morning instead of rocking up cameras blazing just before the big event to take staged awkward photos of them straightening each other’s ties.
It also helps that with today’s technology, my camera doesn’t make a sound, and I don’t have to hold the camera up to my face to shoot – being able to shoot silently and from the hip makes a real difference during some parts of the day.
How does the copyright work?
You’ll own a licence to use your images for whatever you want. You can download them in full resolution (and lower res) from the online gallery.
Share them to your socials and print anything you want from wherever you want.
I’ll keep a copyright and a copy of the photos too for my own purposes – both to back up your images and to use them on my website and social media if I ever get around to it. (You’re welcome to let me know if you’d prefer they don’t go on my socials.)
What about printing?
You own a licence to download the full-resolution images and print them however you’d like.
If you want something really high quality and long-lasting, I’ve set things up so you’re able to print directly from the online gallery. It’s connected to the (literally) world-class photo lab ‘Atkins’ in Kent Town. They’re incredible and they make gorgeous products. The pricing is set so that I make pretty much zero profit which actually makes it a bit cheaper for you than going direct as I get a wholesaler discount – it’s really just set up for your convenience. You’re a 100% welcome to take the photos elsewhere.
If you’d prefer something cheap and cheerful, Officeworks can be a decent option for that sort of thing (just be aware the printed photos may not last as long or look exactly like they do on the screen). I’ve had good results from posterfactory.com.au too lately – not so much if you want them to include framing, but if you’re on a budget and are looking for frameless options or willing to frame it yourself, their large prints are better quality than what you can get at Officeworks.
Is it just you on the day?
Absolutely. I much prefer the vibe of a day when it’s just me – I find it far easier to blend into being a member of the bridal party when I don’t have a team with me, and that can make all the difference to the photos. As soon as you have more than one photographer, the experience can start to feel like ‘us and them’ and can be a bit more intimidating for those not 100% comfortable in front of the camera too.
Having said this, on rare occasions, I’ll use an extra photographer to cover groom’s preparations if both parties want full coverage right up until they leave for the ceremony.
Tell me about the album
The album is a good-sized hardcover 26cm high x 21cm wide. They’ll generally come out between 200 and 300 pages depending on the day. Every one* of your photos is included. I design them and get them off to the printer right after I send you your photos. Without any back and forth and you having to agonise over which photos to include, the albums are done surprisingly quickly. Usually couples have them within 3 weeks after they receive their photos!
If your parents or other loved ones want their own copy of your album, I can make that happen too. Additional copies are $350 each (or $650 for two) and includes shipping anywhere in the world.
*The only exception is where I’ve shot a portrait and landscape of exactly the same photo (family photos for example), in which case I’ll only include one orientation in the album so you don’t have duplicates.
How many photos do we receive?
I don’t limit the number of shots I take or deliver. After the wedding, I go through all the photos and delete the doubles, the out of focus ones etc., and you receive the rest. This usually results in 600-700 photos (it has never been less than 500 or more than 900 for a full-length day).
Is it really all day and all night?
Yep!
I begin the day when you’d like me to. Last season I started a wedding by joining the boys for some sunrise fishing in Second Valley. Crosswords, golfing, dog walks, greeting the dawn beachside, feeding the chickens, eating at your favourite café or cooking up your favourite breakfast with the family – whatever it is that makes your day yours, I’d love to join you for it.
I’ll be there until you leave the reception at the end of the night. (The one exception is if you’re on private property and are kicking on until 3am, in which case I’ll say my goodbyes and duck off a little after midnight to be fair to my next day’s couple.)
How does the online gallery work?
I’ll send you a link to your online gallery approximately two weeks after the wedding. This will have the whole collection of your photos. You can download the images in full resolution directly from the gallery.
You can also share the gallery link around with family and friends for them to download their own copies of their photos. If there are photos you’d prefer not to be in the shared gallery, let me know and I’ll remove them. Also, if you’d prefer the gallery to be password-protected, give me a password and I’ll set that up too.
The gallery will be online for years to come, but I recommend couples download a copy as an extra backup. In this digital age, there’s no such thing as too many backups!
How much time should we allow for photos on the day?
After you confirm a wedding, I’ll send you a stupidly long email going through my suggested timelines for all parts of the day. Here’s a brief outline in the meanwhile…
I like to spend at least an hour with the couple and bridal party between the ceremony and reception. This is excluding travel time between locations if the ceremony and reception aren’t in the same place.
However, if you’ve only got 30 minutes, we can still make it happen. Doing it in less than an hour means it’s likely to be pretty fast paced and will limit the number and range of photographs we take.
On the other end of the spectrum, I’m happy to keep shooting for as long as you want me to, but if you allow more than a few hours, I’d recommend we stop somewhere during this time for a beer/coffee. This can result in some lovely casual photos and give everyone’s cheek muscles a chance to relax. The couple themselves might be keen to keep taking photos for hours, but the bridal party usually needs a rest!
Bear in mind that the photo taking timelines above are separate from the ‘congratulating and mobbing time’ after the ceremony (15 mins) an optional big group photo (5 mins) and the family photos (usually 15-20 mins).
How many weddings have you shot?
As of June 2023, 610.
At an average of about 14 hours per wedding, that’s getting pretty close to ten thousand hours of Adelaide wedding photography and beyond!
Tell me about the booking process
Before locking anything in, I like to catch up with people face-to-face to make sure we’re a good fit all round. This comes back to my core desires to make sure the photography doesn’t get in the way of you enjoying your day, and that you end up with photos you love. If circumstances mean it’s hard for you to make it up to me in Stirling, we can do Zoom/Facetime etc. instead.
After our catch-up, you’ll get a link to my online booking system. If you choose to proceed, you’ll receive an invoice for the $1000 deposit and a contract. As soon as the contract is digitally signed and the deposit is paid, the date is locked in and yours.
I’ll send a bunch of emails between then and the wedding day with useful information, suggestions for timelines, and so on. A few months before the wedding, my system will shoot you an email with a questionnaire which will act as the springboard to help us start fine-tuning the smaller details of the day. After you’ve filled that in, we’ll have a final catch-up to run through everything. Of course, none of that means you can’t get in touch earlier if you’ve got questions – I’m very happy to be used as a resource for all wedding-related matters!
Can you shoot our wedding for less?
Possibly, yes. (If you only want me for a few hours, check out the next FAQ.) If you’re in a higher tax bracket and want to make your wedding photography tax deductible, read on.
My wife and I give 10% of our net income to some of the world’s most effective charities. I’m a big fan of effective altruism and the work of The Life You Can Save. Read more about them here if you’ve not come across them before.
The reason that’s relevant is because my wife and I donate a bunch to The Life You Can Save at the end of the year anyway, we can shift things around to save you some $$ if you’re in a higher tax bracket. This works because income I receive is taxed, and when I donate it it’s deductible, so it makes a net change of zero tax to my bottom line as it comes and goes. But if you donate it directly, you get the tax benefit, and my bottom line is still zero. We split that benefit 50/50, and the neat thing is that the charity ends up with more than if we did things the usual way too.
When you donate the cost of your wedding photography to the tax-deductible ‘all charities fund’ at the Life You Can Save, you’ll receive back either 37% or 32.5% depending on the tax bracket you’re in.
You’ll pay more up front, but you’ll have paid less in total after you get your tax back at the end of year. As mentioned, the figures below are devised so that we split the benefits 50/50.
If you’re in the $45k-120k bracket, you pay $5250 to The Life You Can Save. After deducting it, you’ll effectively pay $3550. A saving of $850. The charity also receives $850 more than our usual 10% contribution.
If you’re in the $120k-$180k bracket, you pay $5400 to The Life You Can Save. That’ll be effectively $3400 after tax, ($1k saving) and the charity receives an extra $1k for the year.
If you’re interested in doing this, get in touch and I’ll let you know if it’s still available for that financial year.
Do you shoot shorter days? Elopements?
Yesiree. Minimum job charge is $600, get in touch if you only need me for a few hours or a little longer. I’m up for anything!
How long does it take to get my photos back?
Generally two weeks. In busy times it might take an extra week or so, but it’s always bloody fast!
I'm not a fan of the camera, please help!
This is my jam. I’m so glad you’re here. Helping people feel like themselves in front of the camera is the thing I get most fulfilment out of the work I do.
Having me shoot your wedding is totally unlike your uncle taking your photo with the DSLR he got for Christmas. No invading of personal space, no need to stand with smiles pasted waiting while I screw with camera settings. Good wedding photos start from comfortable people having a good time. Get that right and we’re 90% there.
I enjoy rocking up earlier in the day and being able to chill out with a bridal party or family when there’s much less going on. It’s a great opportunity for me to get to know everyone (and vice-versa!) learn group dynamics, etc. Easing into the photos slowly on the day makes such a difference to the vibe of the photo-taking.
It’s a night-and-day contrast when I’ve had a chance for example to join the boys for a beer in the morning instead of rocking up cameras blazing just before the big event to take staged awkward photos of them straightening each other’s ties.
It also helps that with today’s technology, my camera doesn’t make a sound, and I don’t have to hold the camera up to my face to shoot – being able to shoot silently and from the hip makes a real difference during some parts of the day.
How does the copyright work?
You’ll own a licence to use your images for whatever you want. You can download them in full resolution (and lower res) from the online gallery.
Share them to your socials and print anything you want from wherever you want.
I’ll keep a copyright and a copy of the photos too for my own purposes – both to back up your images and to use them on my website and social media if I ever get around to it. (You’re welcome to let me know if you’d prefer they don’t go on my socials.)
What about printing?
You own a licence to download the full-resolution images and print them however you’d like.
If you want something really high quality and long-lasting, I’ve set things up so you’re able to print directly from the online gallery. It’s connected to the (literally) world-class photo lab ‘Atkins’ in Kent Town. They’re incredible and they make gorgeous products. The pricing is set so that I make pretty much zero profit which actually makes it a bit cheaper for you than going direct as I get a wholesaler discount – it’s really just set up for your convenience. You’re a 100% welcome to take the photos elsewhere.
If you’d prefer something cheap and cheerful, Officeworks can be a decent option for that sort of thing (just be aware the printed photos may not last as long or look exactly like they do on the screen). I’ve had good results from posterfactory.com.au too lately – not so much if you want them to include framing, but if you’re on a budget and are looking for frameless options or willing to frame it yourself, their large prints are better quality than what you can get at Officeworks.
Is it just you on the day?
Absolutely. I much prefer the vibe of a day when it’s just me – I find it far easier to blend into being a member of the bridal party when I don’t have a team with me, and that can make all the difference to the photos. As soon as you have more than one photographer, the experience can start to feel like ‘us and them’ and can be a bit more intimidating for those not 100% comfortable in front of the camera too.
Having said this, on rare occasions, I’ll use an extra photographer to cover groom’s preparations if both parties want full coverage right up until they leave for the ceremony.
Tell me about the album
The album is a good-sized hardcover 26cm high x 21cm wide. They’ll generally come out between 200 and 300 pages depending on the day. Every one* of your photos is included. I design them and get them off to the printer right after I send you your photos. Without any back and forth and you having to agonise over which photos to include, the albums are done surprisingly quickly. Usually couples have them within 3 weeks after they receive their photos!
If your parents or other loved ones want their own copy of your album, I can make that happen too. Additional copies are $350 each (or $650 for two) and includes shipping anywhere in the world.
*The only exception is where I’ve shot a portrait and landscape of exactly the same photo (family photos for example), in which case I’ll only include one orientation in the album so you don’t have duplicates.
How many photos do we receive?
I don’t limit the number of shots I take or deliver. After the wedding, I go through all the photos and delete the doubles, the out of focus ones etc., and you receive the rest. This usually results in 600-700 photos (it has never been less than 500 or more than 900 for a full-length day).
IS IT REALLY ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT?
Yep!
I begin the day when you’d like me to. Last season I started a wedding by joining the boys for some sunrise fishing in Second Valley. Crosswords, golfing, dog walks, greeting the dawn beachside, feeding the chickens, eating at your favourite café or cooking up your favourite breakfast with the family – whatever it is that makes your day yours, I’d love to join you for it.
I’ll be there until you leave the reception at the end of the night. (The one exception is if you’re on private property and are kicking on until 3am, in which case I’ll say my goodbyes and duck off a little after midnight to be fair to my next day’s couple.)
HOW DOES THE ONLINE GALLERY WORK?
I’ll send you a link to your online gallery approximately two weeks after the wedding. This will have the whole collection of your photos. You can download the images in full resolution directly from the gallery.
You can also share the gallery link around with family and friends for them to download their own copies of their photos. If there are photos you’d prefer not to be in the shared gallery, let me know and I’ll remove them. Also, if you’d prefer the gallery to be password-protected, give me a password and I’ll set that up too.
The gallery will be online for years to come, but I recommend couples download a copy as an extra backup. In this digital age, there’s no such thing as too many backups!
HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD WE ALLOW FOR PHOTOS ON THE DAY?
After you confirm a wedding, I’ll send you a stupidly long email going through my suggested timelines for all parts of the day. Here’s a brief outline in the meanwhile…
I like to spend at least an hour with the couple and bridal party between the ceremony and reception. This is excluding travel time between locations if the ceremony and reception aren’t in the same place.
However, if you’ve only got 30 minutes, we can still make it happen. Doing it in less than an hour means it’s likely to be pretty fast paced and will limit the number and range of photographs we take.
On the other end of the spectrum, I’m happy to keep shooting for as long as you want me to, but if you allow more than a few hours, I’d recommend we stop somewhere during this time for a beer/coffee. This can result in some lovely casual photos and give everyone’s cheek muscles a chance to relax. The couple themselves might be keen to keep taking photos for hours, but the bridal party usually needs a rest!
Bear in mind that the photo taking timelines above are separate from the ‘congratulating and mobbing time’ after the ceremony (15 mins) an optional big group photo (5 mins) and the family photos (usually 15-20 mins).
HOW MANY WEDDINGS HAVE YOU SHOT?
As of June 2023, 610.
At an average of about 14 hours per wedding, that’s getting pretty close to ten thousand hours of Adelaide wedding photography and beyond!
TELL ME ABOUT THE BOOKING PROCESS
Before locking anything in, I like to catch up with people face-to-face to make sure we’re a good fit all round. This comes back to my core desires to make sure the photography doesn’t get in the way of you enjoying your day, and that you end up with photos you love. If circumstances mean it’s hard for you to make it up to me in Stirling, we can do Zoom/Facetime etc. instead.
After our catch-up, you’ll get a link to my online booking system. If you choose to proceed, you’ll receive an invoice for the $1000 deposit and a contract. As soon as the contract is digitally signed and the deposit is paid, the date is locked in and yours.
I’ll send a bunch of emails between then and the wedding day with useful information, suggestions for timelines, and so on. A few months before the wedding, my system will shoot you an email with a questionnaire which will act as the springboard to help us start fine-tuning the smaller details of the day. After you’ve filled that in, we’ll have a final catch-up to run through everything. Of course, none of that means you can’t get in touch earlier if you’ve got questions – I’m very happy to be used as a resource for all wedding-related matters!
CAN YOU SHOOT OUR WEDDING FOR LESS?
Possibly, yes. (If you only want me for a few hours, check out the next FAQ.) If you’re in a higher tax bracket and want to make your wedding photography tax deductible, read on.
My wife and I give 10% of our net income to some of the world’s most effective charities. I’m a big fan of effective altruism and the work of The Life You Can Save. Read more about them here if you’ve not come across them before.
The reason that’s relevant is because my wife and I donate a bunch to The Life You Can Save at the end of the year anyway, we can shift things around to save you some $$ if you’re in a higher tax bracket. This works because income I receive is taxed, and when I donate it it’s deductible, so it makes a net change of zero tax to my bottom line as it comes and goes. But if you donate it directly, you get the tax benefit, and my bottom line is still zero. We split that benefit 50/50, and the neat thing is that the charity ends up with more than if we did things the usual way too.
When you donate the cost of your wedding photography to the tax-deductible ‘all charities fund’ at the Life You Can Save, you’ll receive back either 37% or 32.5% depending on the tax bracket you’re in.
You’ll pay more up front, but you’ll have paid less in total after you get your tax back at the end of year. As mentioned, the figures below are devised so that we split the benefits 50/50.
If you’re in the $45k-120k bracket, you pay $5250 to The Life You Can Save. After deducting it, you’ll effectively pay $3550. A saving of $850. The charity also receives $850 more than our usual 10% contribution.
If you’re in the $120k-$180k bracket, you pay $5400 to The Life You Can Save. That’ll be effectively $3400 after tax, ($1k saving) and the charity receives an extra $1k for the year.
If you’re interested in doing this, get in touch and I’ll let you know if it’s still available for that financial year.
DO YOU SHOOT SHORTER DAYS? ELOPEMENTS?
Yesiree. Minimum job charge is $600, get in touch if you only need me for a few hours or a little longer. I’m up for anything!
About James
When I first started out as a Adelaide wedding photographer, my focus was all around taking amazing photos.
These days, after more than 600 weddings, I still like taking beautiful photos, but the aspect I find most fulfilling is being a calming presence, decreasing stress, and increasing the amount of fun a couple has on their day. This, and the feedback I’ve received from couples who weren’t keen on having their photos taken; “that was so much easier than I was expecting, I was worried about my photos, but I actually enjoyed myself” are by far the things I enjoy most about my job. I love it.
Outside of work, my wife and I live in the middle of a beautiful bush block in the Adelaide Hills with our lazy rescue greyhounds.
The native landscape we live in has become a whole new hobby for me. I’ve gotten all nerdy about the bush regeneration we do on the block and volunteer with groups like Bush for Life in nearby national parks when I can find the time.
I’m a keen trail running and spend a few mornings a week on the trails in the Adelaide Hills.
I also offer free pet bereavement photography to those about to lose their best friend.
Am I free on your date?
I’d love to celebrate with you.
Let’s make a time to catch up over a beer/red/coffee to make sure we’re a good fit.
Usually at my place in Stirling, but I’m fine with Zoom too if you’d prefer.
You’re welcome to get in touch via the form below or else email me at [email protected] or call 0421 566 933