Akwoo Wedding Photography Blog » Portrait Photography

Big Fat Greek and Lebanese Wedding

Akwoo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:17:20 +0000

We love Greek and Lebanese weddings, and Charles and Diana’s wedding celebrated both cultures! It was one massive wedding feast!
This wedding had it all -

Beautiful Greek Othodox church
Melbourne city backdrop for location shoots
Fantastic Greek music and DJing from Nick Missailidis
Awesome singing from Lebanese / Arabic Idol Winner – Ahmad Masri and team!
Delicious food at “The Manor on High”

And of course plenty of dancing with friends and family! It was an amazing celebration and testimony of love and faith. One thing that impressed me the most was their reception bridal entry. Charles and Diana danced their way into the reception hall to the awesome beat of the drum and to singing voice of a famous Lebanese (Arabic) Idol winner, Ahmad Masri. Soon after, their family and friends held hands and surrounded Charles and Diana while they flirted with the music. It was so surreal to watch. I keep weaving myself in and out and under their dancing circles to capture their energetic dance moves from all different angles. I had to keep up or I’ll get lost in the crowd! One stage, they even lifted Charles and Diana in the air and carried them around as they danced!

Please find some photos of the memories below and also a video snippet!

Charles and Diana Wedding Entrance Snippet from Akwoo on Vimeo.

Here is a small video snippet of the from Charles and Diana’s wedding.

We love Greek or Lebanese weddings and would love to capture yours, so contact us today! – http://www.akwoo.com.au/contact-us

Grandpa Watson

Akwoo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:35:24 +0000

It has been a long time since I had a free Saturday afternoon to belt out a few tunes. Music is definitely one of my favourite past-times (other than playing with my camera) where I can express my emotions. Anyway, I popped over to my friend’s house to prepare for Sunday church praise and worship segment. I currently lead a worship band at church and loving it. While we were singing away, I couldn’t help noticing my friend’s dear Grandpa Watson sitting alone in the living room watching Chinese opera re-runs. Karen has been given the responsibility to look after her grandfather every weekend, and I have so much respect for her because it’s not the easiest thing to do. She has shared that it’s been a huge sacrifice to let go of weekends and care for Grandpa Watson and miss out on what most people enjoy doing on Saturdays – catching up with friends, shopping or lying out on the beach. About a year ago, Grandpa Watson lost his wife from a sudden stroke, and passed away 3 days later. The sad news shattered Grandpa Watson, and since then he was left heartbroken, distraught and became physically frail. He has gone on walk-about, calling out to his wife. They married in year 1947!

I tried to strike up a conversation with Grandpa Watson, but I was lost for words. It was one of those boring old conversations like, “how are you, what are you doing”, but it didn’t feel genuine. It was only until I walked away and saw the intimate relationship Karen had with her Grandpa; I wanted to capture it (Yes, I had my camera on me…hehe). It was so beautiful to watch so I asked for their permission to take pictures of Grandpa Watson. From the first click of my camera, it totally change Grandpa’s perspective of me and he opened up to me and towards the camera. Cameras are a fantastic communication tool! Apparently he use to own an SLR but during the war in China, his camera got confiscated. I had sweet pleasure taking pictures of Grandpa Watson. Their story is a reminder how we should all treasure and respect the elderly. I dedicate this story to my dear friend Karen and Grandpa Watson – a real testament to life.

Lamie at Crown Towers

Akwoo — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:22:09 +0000

Tested out our new Canon 5d Mark II inside the Crown Towers hotel room with our friend Lamie.
What an amazing camera! We are very happy with the purchase and the stunning results. The photos turn out so sharp and defined, low light performance is perfect, HD video is so clear and the 21 Megapixel files are huge.
The HD video inbuilt into this camera is going to change how some photographers will approach Wedding photography. I have already started seeing some of the videos people are doing with this camera, and the results have been breathtaking. We have also started mixing up video and photography into some of our photoshoots. Looking forward to next wedding!