A pretty great day.

This is a preview.

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here joanne & travis. a preview.�

I like telling stories. Capturing couples in love on their wedding day. Seeing things that might otherwise get missed.

Shooting the bride and groom standing by a car – not so much.

But I really like this one.

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here car shots….â��

It totally was, too. In fact, the whole day was just comfortable, and relaxed, and beautiful.

Best part of the day? During the speeches, little Jonah – you will see some pictures below – poking his head in through the door, and shouting, “What are you guys TALKING about?”

Second best part of the day?

The light.

Oh yeah.

Check it out.

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here ariana & pier.�

And it was glorious.

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here asami & kang – preview.â��

Why do I do it?

This is why…

Meet Trish and Karl.

And this is Monique and Doug. And a bunch of friends.

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here glimpses.�

The night before, during my drive there, my uppermost thoughts – worries, really – were all to do with the weather.

Sure, I have shot rainy weddings before, but this was no ordinary rain. This was Melbourne getting lashed by the tail of cyclone Yasi. This was flash flooding, road closures, lakes appearing over night.

And then I review the images. And just about the last thing that comes through, from hundreds of photos, is the weather.

First and foremost – always – it’s about the people.

Which is not to say that things ran smoothly. About an hour after I got to Mandy’s house, she got a call. It was the winery where her wedding ceremony was going to take place. Except it couldn’t. It was flooded out, and unsafe. But that was going to be alright, ‘cos people got mobilised, and alternative arrangements were made, and the entire thing was shifted – seamlessly – up the hill.

It was amazing.

And Mandy? Well, she was amazing too. So was Ed. The manner in which this upheaval was handled was just extraordinary. By the time the ceremony got underway, it felt as if it had always been planned that way.

Mandy & Ed – you were brilliant. Your wedding was thrilling. Thank you.

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here mandy & ed.�

Sometimes it means catching the unguarded moments. I really love this image, too – I love how its so very bridey, with flowers, and hair, and emotion – oh! and a singlet!This is a cool image – kinda shows what it was like: a bunch of girls getting ready, make-up, hair… and buttonholes just laying around. When I saw the frock, I KNEW Jess was going to look amazing! I have spoken to so many brides, and the most oft repeated refrain is… “I tried it on, and it was just… RIGHT!” You know, getting ready to get married isn’t an entirely serious business.. Love this shot…And this one. This is the kind of thing that is sooo often staged, but really, the real thing is always better. Jess, Jess, Jess… You are absolutely stunning. And so, off to meet Matt. Nice suits.Attentive celebrants… And cheeesy, yet slightly nervous smiles… It’s alright, Matt – she arrived. You knew she would. And this is how he looked when he saw his bride for the first time on his wedding day. You know, I reckon it is easy to forget, as a wedding photographer, that this is a PRETTY DAMN IMPORTANT DAY! It’s not every day you get up in front of your family, your friends, everyone who is close to you and declare that you have met the love of your life, and you are going to spend the rest of your life with them. That is a really big deal. And I love getting the opportunity to try to capture that time, that feeling.

Here, therefore, are a bunch of moments from Jess and Matt’s ceremony that stood out… Sorry about the lack of commentary. I just felt that the images pretty much spoke for themselves – at least, I hope they did!

This one does. Hey, flowers – on grass! Cool! I think it’s safe to say that I was pretty happy with the light, the long grass, the fantastically happy and beautiful couple… And I really like the minimalism of this cake shot. And I rather like the word… minimalism…  And they ended up at Elmswood Estate – which is easy to find. Provided you know exactly where it is! Great place, though – relaxed, friendly and cool.

Just about perfect for our happy couple. Jess and Matt – you are a beautiful couple. I loved shooting your wedding, and I know that this day will set the tone for your life together. Well done!

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here jess & matt. simply beautiful….â��

Jean and Gavin got hitched at Elmswood Estate, a beautiful vineyard out in Wandin. Don’t worry – I had never heard of it either. The GPS was a little confused too – fortunately I can read a map!

Here’s Gavin. As you can see, he is doing a great job hiding his nerves. Actually, he wasn’t nervous at all – definitely a man who knew he was doing the right thing.

Jean, on the other hand, was super nervous, excited – and completely beautiful. Fortunately, she remembered to put the veil on first!

Did I mention how cool it was? The light was all over the show, in that particularly Victorian way. Bright sunshine one moment, cloudy and almost stormy the next. Challenging – but also stunning.

Slipping on the rings – what I love about this is the perfect look they are exchanging. Also, well done to Jean for looking at Gavin, instead of the ring while she did that.

Have to say I am completely not a fan of a posed signing the register shot. I always find that you get better moments – thus, better images – when it is actually being signed! Radical, I know.

Like I said, the actual moments are always better than the posed ones. I really love the bridesmaids in this one…

And somehing about this shot really works for me – maybe how the focus is on Jean, but it’s Gavin providing the moment.

This was kinda funny – Jean and Gavin did the traditional walk through the crowd. And then kept walking – no reason to stop, I guess! I kept snapping, naturally. I was pretty happy with this shot, taken just before they stopped to finally greet everyone as a married couple.

I have already mentioned the changeable light. Well, It really turned it on for some fantastic shots of our happy couple. It certainly helped that they look so great together…

And naturally, you just have to shoot something like this when you get married in a vineyard. I was super impressed with how graceful and beautiful Jean looked. Just a wee bit of radiant happiness, too…

Now THAT”S what I call an entrance!And I think they were ready to party!

Frankly, I reckon all venues should provide totally funky aged wine barrels to lay your flowers on…

And I wouldn’t normally do this, but I had to drag the pair of them out for one final shot, as the sun started to sink lower and lower over the hills…

Jean & Gavin – nice work!

Darin Collison is a wedding photographer in Melbourne. He specializes in beautiful, fine art documentary wedding coverage. You can read the original blog post here jean & gavin got married!.�