There are plenty of photographers out there who can take great photos. So to answer this question, I feel I need to highlight what makes Lonely Hunter Weddings different.
While I could talk about my photographic abilities, I feel the real difference lies in my personalised approach when it comes to working with you on your wedding. Every wedding is unique and I want your experience to also reflect that. Lonely Hunter Weddings will not treat you or your wedding as simply another number. Instead, I aim to work closely with you and get to know you as a couple, so that together we can achieve your desired result. The benefit of working this way will mean that by the time your wedding day arrives, you won’t just be a client for me, you will be a friend.

I photograph the majority of a wedding day in a photojournalistic/documentary style. This is a process of capturing the moments and events as they unfold. I will, however, provide some guidance throughout the day based on where I believe the lighting and composition to be best. This is done so that in any given scenario we can achieve the best looking results. I always try to incorporate a good mix of tight shots and wide-angle shots which include the setting and surrounding environment as I feel this also helps to tell the story of your wedding day.
I don't like to pose couples and will do everything in my power to avoid it. Instead, I prefer to introduce movement and get my couples laughing and interacting with each other. This approach will ensure your wedding photography has a more natural look.

If you are unsure as to the style of photography you like or would like to know more about the difference between each style, then feel free to have a read my article on wedding photography styles.

As a professional Northern Beaches & Sydney wedding photographer, I pride myself on delivering the highest quality possible. I don't want to deliver photos which I believe could have easily been taken on a relatives camera or iphone. I want you to see a quality in your images that you haven't seen before. In order to achieve this, it means I need to use top of the range equipment.

In addition, I always shoot with two cameras, this is done so that I don't have to constantly change lenses. This means no moment will be missed and I will always be ready when one presents itself. It also acts as a safety net in the unlikely event that one camera should break.

Canon is my brand of choice when it comes to camera equipment and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Of course! Lonely Hunter Weddings is based in Sydney, but that doesn’t mean I am limited to this location. I love to travel and will go just about anywhere for a wedding. I thoroughly enjoy shooting in new locations, this is because it keeps my job interesting and fresh. Predominately I take bookings for wedding photography in Sydney, The Hunter Valley, Newcastle, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, South Coast and Southern Highland areas. However, I am available and happy to travel anywhere in Australia or Internationally for weddings.

For weddings located within a 3-hour drive from Sydney, I DON’T charge any extra for travel. If your wedding is located outside this area then I do charge a small fee. This fee is merely designed to cover my travel and accommodation expenses.
For any wedding which requires a flight interstate or overseas, all I request is that the flight and accommodation costs are covered.

I always aim to get your wedding images delivered in the quickest time frame possible.
This is because I know you are eager to see your images and share them with family and friends.

Following your wedding day, I will begin working on your highlight reel. It will consist of roughly 100 images and will be delivered within 3-4 days of your wedding.
Your remaining images (the entire collection) will be delivered within 3-4 weeks following your wedding.

Most people only see wedding photographers for an 8-12 hour period during a wedding day. Because of this, it's easy to assume that we get paid quite handsomely for one day's work. In fact, there is actually a lot more work which goes into wedding photography. From the moment we receive an inquiry up until we have delivered the finished product, we will spend on average, 40 hours on a single wedding. If you would like to read about the entire process then you can check out our article on 'why wedding photography costs so much'.

Personally, I really dislike the word 'pose' and all that it represents. I try to avoid asking couples to stand or hold a position for a given period of time which will result in a photo looking cold, stiff or lifeless. This act of posing isn’t a true representation of what would naturally take place and I don’t want that feeling to come through in your photography.
Instead, I try to photograph these moments a little more candidly. I'll provide guidance based on what I believe looks the most visually appealing in terms of setting and lighting scenarios. But when it comes to my couples, I usually try to encourage some form of interaction or movement. As a Sydney wedding photographer, I find it's this approach which tends to have a much more natural and positive effect.

Sure, if there are a couple of photos in particular that you would really like captured then please let me know and I would be happy to capture them for you but providing a full shot list really isn't necessary. Providing a list of photographs to take would also prevent me from being present to capture any real moments as I would constantly be looking down at a piece of paper. It can also take away the creativity I use to deliver the types of photos you see on my website.
As a Sydney wedding photographer, I have plenty of experience photographing weddings and I already know what to look for and the type of photos that are usually found in wedding albums. So please trust in me and my process rather than providing a shot list and I'm sure you will be much happier with the outcome.

For the most part, I am a natural light Northern Beaches & Sydney wedding photographer. When shooting during the day, I prefer to use the ambient/natural light which is produced by the sun. I don’t like to use flash, strobes or any artificial lighting equipment during the daytime unless it’s absolutely necessary. When day turns to night and there isn’t enough usable light available, only then will I begin to use flash within my photos.

Yes, all images will be personally edited and colour graded by Lonely Hunter Weddings. I have spent a large amount of time defining my signature editing style and this will be applied to your wedding photography. The editing process will include everything from basic adjustments and colour correction through to some more in-depth creative editing on certain images which lend themselves to it. Your collection of images will contain both colour and some black and white images (up to 30%). I will not Photoshop or change body shapes, however, if there is a small pimple on your face which you are concerned about, I can remove that.

Yes, I love helping my clients organise their timelines. Being a professional Sydney wedding photographer means that I always want to deliver the best wedding photography package possible and to do that, your timeline will also need to be constructed with photography in mind. It's for that reason, I'm more than happy to lend a hand here. If you’re wondering how I put these together, then you may be interested in reading our guide to ‘creating a wedding day timeline’.

To make sure that your images are safe at all times I have put in place certain measures that are strictly followed both during and post-wedding day. Some may think this is overkill but I don't believe you can be too careful when it comes to dealing with memories as precious as these!

Backup:
On your wedding day, Lonely Hunter Weddings will always shoot using cameras which contain no less than two memory cards per camera. This means that each camera will always record the images that are taken to two separate memory cards.
This is done so that there will always be a backup copy in the unlikely event of one memory card becoming corrupt.
Following your wedding day, all your wedding images will be imported and stored on THREE separate external hard drive. Once the images are uploaded onto these external hard drives, they are always cross-checked against the memory cards to ensure all have been transferred correctly. One of these external hard drives is always stored in an offsite location so as to safeguard your images in the event of a house fire or burglary.
Once the editing process has finally been completed all your edited images are then uploaded to an online gallery where they are safely stored in a cloud server. Another copy of these images will also be transferred onto your personal USB device which will then be sent to you via registered post.

If you make a booking and I haven't worked at your venue before, I will always take my time to prepare and do as much research on the venue as humanly possible. This will always involve a visit to the venue in the months or weeks leading up to the wedding so that I can have a good look around and familiarise myself with the area and the features which make your venue unique. Quite often, I will also arrive a couple of hours early on the morning of the wedding so that I have enough time to take a second look and see if anything has changed since my last visit. Doing this research and planning means that I will know all the best spots for your photos and will have already formulated a game plan so that there is no wasted time and nothing is left to chance when the day gets underway.

Absolutely! Having a phone call or meeting prior to booking is always a great idea. Not only does this give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have relating to wedding photography but it also means that we can get to know each other a little better in order to work out if we are a good fit. After all, you will be spending more time with me than any other vendor on your wedding day, so it's important that you take the time to make a decision you're happy with.
Depending on whether you would like to have a phone call, skype chat or in-person meeting, I am available and would be happy to schedule a time with you at your request.

At Lonely Hunter Weddings, we receive multiple enquires daily from couples who are looking to secure their date, so you should really aim to book in as soon as you have finalised a date. We also only take on a limited number of weddings per year so this just another reason as to why it's important not to wait when it comes to booking LHW as your Sydney wedding photographer.

If you are after a general guide though as to how far in advance should book, there is one important factor that will influence this answer - The time of year or month that you are planning to get married. As I'm sure you may be aware, we have busy seasons and slower seasons. Some months for us are more popular than others and these book out much faster. If you're curious as to what some of these popular months are, then you may be interested in having a read of our article 'The Best Months To Get Married In Australia'. As a guide, we would normally recommend booking in at least 12 months in advance. If you really want to give yourself the best chance to secure your ideal date then making a booking around 14 or so months in advance would be advantageous. At Lonely Hunter Weddings, we don't like to take on bookings too far beyond this as it can be difficult for us to know our own movements that far in advance.

If I am personally already booked on your requested date, I will always notify you in my initial response to your inquiry. Within this email, I will also give you the option to use one or two of our talented associates to help cover your wedding day. All of our associates currently work with Lonely Hunter Weddings on a regualar basis and have been selected because their shooting style and approach is similar to ours. A big benefit to using our associates is that all your wedding images will still go through our usual editing and colour grading process so that that they have our signature Lonely Hunter look. Please let me know if this is an option you are interested in.

If you would like to receive a copy of my Northern Beaches & Sydney wedding photography pricing and packages then please fill out the form on my contact page and I will send you across a copy. Unfortunately, I don’t have this information listed on my site as I like to make contact with each couple prior to sending it out.
If you then decide you would like to secure your wedding day, LHW will require a $1000 non-refundable deposit and a copy of our wedding agreement will need to be signed and returned. Simply let LHW know that you would like to secure your date and I will send you all the required information to make this happen.