Portrait 3 - Self portrait "The Romantic" Sovereign Studio

As part of my Personal Portrait Project, I will be doing several self portraits. This one, "The Romantic" is first cab off the rank.

Was it painful. Yes it was. The challenge of trying to get the desired pose and emotional connection with oneself was quite an uphill battle!  Definitely a battle that requires a long term commitment - as it's an important one - it is SO important to put yourself in the place of your subjects, and experience what they do.  As such I'm committed to doing several more of these during this project.

On to the meaning!  I have come to realise over the years, even though I never thought of myself as a mushy, sentimental romantic, that I am nothing short of that.  I love love, and I love that I am able to be involved in so much of it as part of my job.  So here's to LOVE! (and having the first self portrait done!)

(It didn't kill me, so it must have made me stronger!)

Portrait 2 - The Muse (Personal Portrait Project) SOVEREIGN STUDIO

The second portrait in my personal portrait series is a portrait of Emma, portraying her as artists Muse.

I've known Emma for around four years now, and she's  continuously inspired my projects and brought ideas that have been trapped inside my head (scary place to be trapped!) into glorious reality.

Inspiring beyond her outer beauty - not only is she magnificently beautiful and incredibly lovely, but also brilliantly gifted in the brains department.  Having just completed a Bachelor of Politics and International Relations, Emma is currently studying Honours of Philosophy in Politics and IR. Wow. My brain hurts just thinking about it!

So here it is, my tribute to the fabulous Emma, my muse (big thanks to the wonderful Judy Stone for her gorgeous hair and makeup!)

(See more of my portrait photography on my website: Kate Luke Photography)

The wedding of Rebekah & Jacob - Love Love LOVE!

I have to start off on this blog post with some big thankyous:

1. To the universe for not raining on us but providing us with AMAZING skies (2 days in a row!)
2. To the folks at the Arboretum for producing such an amazing national treasure - we love your work!
3. To the Canberra Railway Museum, our wet weather back up location (that we didn't feel safe letting go of until just before the ceremony), big thanks to you Dave for your patience & understanding!
4. To Helen Murphy, who assisted and was second shooter and:
5. Last but certainly not least - the lovely Rebekah & Jacob for making the day the stunningly BEAUTIFUL celebration of love that it was, it was my complete honour to be involved.

Following on from the beautiful wedding of Helen & Peter the day before, the threatening weather was certainly still lurking around - so much so that I didn't dare cancel our backup photography location until I was on my way to see Rebekah getting ready!

As it turned out, the weather was perfect. The ceremony was held in the Senate Gardens of Old Parliament house, with beautiful filtered sunlight trickling through the trees that guests where seated under.  Julia & Angus Stone's song, Big Jet Plane - played on two Violas, saw the arrival of the stunning Rebekah on the arm of her very proud father.  It's been playing over and over in my head ever since - not that I'm complaining, editing the images, and reliving all the lovely moments, has been quite a moving experience done along to the beautiful, airy soundtrack of the day.

After the ceremony we headed off on location to the National Arboretum of Canberra.   This location is really beyond words, and I can't even say that the images do the location justice - as beautiful as (I think) they are.  The area is so amazingly HUGE and STUNNING, I think I could spend weeks there and still find more angles and vistas to shoot.  As it was we ventured into the Himalayan pine section which has a beautiful deck overlooking the city/lake region, and got to use the new sculpture - a section from the poem "My Country" taken from Dorothea Mackellars (the author) actual handwriting, and made into a huge sculpture.  What an awesome experience!

The Arboretum is having a big open day this Sunday (20th March) "Festival of the Forests" - WELL worth the visit, you'll be amazed! Visit the website for more info.

When we where done there we headed down the road to Mount Stromlo for some lovely moments between Rebekah, Jacob and the bridal party, then it was off to the reception at On Red, Red Hill Lookout.

Such a beautiful day in all regards, and one that I'll definitely remember forever.  It will be nice for Rebekah & Jacob to be able to go back each year and visit the Arboretum, seeing how all the trees and development of the area have progressed, it'll be quite a lovely marker for their anniversary.

Hope you enjoy the pics! xx

(See more of my wedding photography on my website: Kate Luke Photography)