Casey & Jon Engagement Photography Session
Casey & Jon are getting married in March 2024 at the gorgeous Bulong Estate in Yarra Junction and I am lucky enough to be their camera ninja for the day. This will be the second time I visit there after shooting Eleanor & Sam’s wedding in January 2022. They approached me for an engagement photo session to get some photos for their wedding invites, and of course I was happy to oblige, I get to have them for a shoot without the time pressures of a wedding day and I will have some creative input into the location as well.
I asked what vibe they’d be after, so I could formulate a shoot location and maybe give them a little inspiration for a theme or a look for the session. They were into the city of Melbourne rooftop glamour idea I pitched them, which would send me down a rabbit hole of location scouting on both Google maps and on the ground in the city, both by car and on foot. Then I decided to add the complexity of having a vintage car (of which I don’t own), as I am often stuck for ideas to photograph a couple with a car, on a wedding day with a compressed timeline, a big dress in many cases and a limo driver tapping their watch constantly (they all do it, so don’t give me that look haha), so I wanted to challenge myself. Plus I wanted the best possible experience for Casey and Jon, which I haven’t met in person yet before the shoot.
I wanted the car to be a surprise at first, but I had trouble finding one initially. The one place that hires out cream coloured vintage Mercs had booked theirs out for the exact day I was booked in for the shoot, so I delved into the Friend’s of Mercedes Club Victoria on Facebook and just started randomly messaging owners. I found a great white W114 coupe, booked the owners in and kept them informed of my process in the lead up to the day and the weather report. But two days out when I triple confirmed, they decided to invite friends around for dinner! So the four days of location scouting would’ve gone to waste (plus all the permissions I emailed and called for, along with all the parking fees to scout). So again I put a call out to my network and a friend of friend (now a national hero) volunteered his time and his gorgeous, original 1970 250C Mercedes Coupe. A big thanks to Bill at BM Leather Creations for saving the day. His fleet is very impressive!
Overall I am super pleased how the shoot turned out, we had a mixed bag of weather, high winds, very spotted sunny breaks and heavy cloud. We managed to shoot until dusk so I could get that dream shot I wanted lit by nothing other than the headlights. I did embellish the lights a bit with a pair of Rotolight Neo3 Pro LED lights to add some colour and punch.
Enjoy! From now on, all of the engagement sessions I do will be theme based, I want to get down to what excites you, go on an adventure and push the three of us creatively. Send me an email through the contact form to tell me your ideas.
