11 October 2011

Wedding photos in Summer. Where to shoot in Canberra

| Shanski_0
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Hi Guys,

In February I’m getting married, And im looking for a few nice places to get our wedding photos taken somewhere… We looked at the Stromlo Observatory today, it was lovely, and also looked at Lanyon homestead, It was amazing!

Can anyone suggest other places that will look lovely, and not dead in Summer?

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Old Parliament House – Front or Back.

Rose Gardens beside OPH require NCA permission, I believe.

We had photos at Lanyon in February many years ago. Great location but 38 degrees is not comfortable in suits and a wedding dress.

My wife and I had our wedding photos at Manuka Pool. Time of year was November and we had the whole place to ourselves! A historic Canberra building that looks great from inside and out.

Depends what you like. Many people find Paris beautiful but I prefer a more tropical setting – some of the Islands around Thailand are pretty special but can be a little trashy. Canberra wouldn’t be top of my list but Lanyon is rather lovely. As an option get a few snaps in of a blue screen and insert scenery at a later stage?

Try the gardens (in particular the water features) around New Parliament House. Great photo shots over city at sunset too!

jules_from_latham8:20 pm 11 Oct 11

We got married in the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery, and the photos were absolutely amazing – a mixture of photos in front of gardens as well as sculptures. Very playful props some of those sculptures…

Holden Caulfield8:15 pm 11 Oct 11

+1 for the Sculpture Garden at the gallery. Mrs C and I had our reception there with photos taken while guests were having drinks. We got married in summer as well, and it was an excellent venue. If you consult with the gallery they should be able to put the fog mist on for you as well.

Thanks everyone!

We are getting married at 6pm, so the photos are happening before the wedding :o)

Our photographer is a great one! She has made some suggestions, but i thought i’d try and find a few to fling her way…

Looks like i got some lookin’s to do this weekend!

It’d probably help to know where abouts in Canberra the ceremony will be held, and where your reception is too. Given you’ve looked at Mt Stromlo and Lanyon already, I’m guessing more Southside?

The Stromlo observatory can be great – you can get some really good shots using the old burnt out telescope domes in all sorts of creative ways. It is a bit out of the way though. Same with Lanyon – unless your reception is in Tuggeranong, you probably don’t want to spend the time driving all the way down there.

By the lake and anywhere in the parliamentary triangle looks good.

A professional photographer should be able to suggest numerous locations that will give the best results. Things to take into consideration: how much time you have between the ceremony and reception (the more the better, this is coming from a bride who was an hour late to her own reception, oops!), and who you want included in the photos. The more people, the longer it takes. Also think about a wet weather plan – again, discuss this with your photographer as they should know where to go.

All the best 🙂

Monster of the Deep4:24 pm 11 Oct 11

Nara Park in Lennox Gardens is a lovely spot all year round.

If you haven’t chosen your photographer yet, I want to recommend a person to STAY AWAY from. We had our wedding photos taken by a local photographer whose initials are AF. It took four months of nagging and wrangling to get the photos we paid for, with practically no communication from the photographer for month after month, and they were very substandard in the end. Terrible digital editing and composition. I just hope that by posting this message, I might prevent at least one other person from having to deal with this unprofessional ‘photographer’!

Good luck with your wedding 🙂

We had wedding photos on the road that leads to the Governor General’s residence and then a short walk away there was an old wooden fence where the photographer took some nice black and white shots…Someone I know had photos taken at the train station !

creative_canberran2:29 pm 11 Oct 11

Deref said :

The Botanic Gardens is always beautiful – but why not have the photos taken where you were married?

Just on this, the Botanic Gardens are indeed an ideal place. Be warned though that wedding photography there requires a permit and fee to be paid. You can try and skip it, but thought I should warn you as their staff could notice and cause some issues.

Have to say if the photographer is any good, they will know the best locations and even have a portfolio or demo to show you the different spots. My picks though would be:
*Botanic Gardens
*Lanyon Homestead
*Lennox Gardens
*National Gallery sculpture gardens
*There’s also some beautiful rural scenes around Yass and Bungendore which have the whole, straw coloured field look that I’ve seen used to wonderful effect.

When trying to find somewhere to have your photos taken, keep in mind that when they are taken is just as important – if not more so – than where – especially at the height of summer.

I take it you have booked a professional photographer? I’d definitely be talking to them, and getting their thoughts. Also, please take their advice when it comes to timings. Every time you need to get a wedding party together to move locations, it ends up taking a lot more time than you expect it will. The last thing you want, is to have to be running around too much, especially if it’s hot. Believe me, someone in your party will be over it pretty quickly, you’ll be hot and sweaty, and keeping things simple will reduce a whole lot of stress on you and everyone else – that stuff shows up in your photos.

Time of day makes a big difference too. If you can work it, try to have your photos done in the last hour before sunset – the so called ‘golden hour’. The sun is lower in the sky, and the quality of the light becomes amazing. Instead of the harsh shadows you can have with overhead February light, it will be much softer, and your photos will look much better.

Remember too, that the photos you have taken for your wedding are supposed to be photos of people…not landscape photography. Sure, a nice environment can make for some stunning wide shots, but it’s amazing what a decent photographer can do with not much to work with. Most of the time when I take these type of photos, I’m deliberately throwing the background completely out of focus anyway!

But please, involve your photographer in the process nice and early, listen to their advice, and look at the style they shoot. And don’t go running around town to find a ‘nice spot’, when a good photographer could probably get the same effect in a paddock just down the road!

Deref said :

The Botanic Gardens is always beautiful – but why not have the photos taken where you were married?

We are getting married in my partners parents back yard, while it is very beautiful, the background is all houses.. big red houses, and I don’t what them in the photos, in the… Photographers photos anyways.

There are some places around the ANU that are amazing near the engineering wing has the long tall tree’s and a lengthy walk. There is also Glebe Park, The Carillion or Springbank Island on Lake Burley Griffen.

The Botanic Gardens is always beautiful – but why not have the photos taken where you were married?

Most of the parliamentary triangle gets watered – so you’ll have green grass.

Rose Gardens?

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