Next Chapter Photography

Just married couple exit the church in Sydney after their Greek wedding ceremony

Hey my name is Jen and I’m the girl with the camera at Next Chapter Photography. ‘Next Chapter’ was created and named to signify the next chapter in my life, committing to photography as a full time career and to tell the stories of the lovely people I get to meet. It’s always hard to answer the question, “When did you become a photographer?” but I’ve been shooting a range of ‘life’ for over 10 years with weddings being my focus for the last 5 years. What I love about photography is capturing genuine, honest moments in the stories of those I photograph that allow people to re-live their happiness for a lifetime. To me, that feeling of looking back at the photos of those moments, is almost as heartfelt as the moment itself. Sometimes, even more so, particularly given how fast a wedding day can fly by.  Share and re-live those moments with your favourite people and that’s what photography is all about.

I can’t say I have one favourite photo shoot because each and every time I meet awesome new people I get to hear a little bit of their unique story, meet those important to them and hang out with them somewhere that’s either important to the them or just really beautiful! Adventurous couples that love the outdoors are my favourite, and for that reason you’ll usually find me climbing up things, clambering down things and wading through things to get the very best images and have some fun whilst I’m at it. Engagement shoots are great for this given their more relaxed nature and in the last few months some of my favourites have been on headlands, in row boats, forests, by the ocean and in the city.

One wedding that will always stay close to my heart is that of Aristea and Jojo. It’s what I consider my first “real wedding”. Although I had shot many other weddings prior to that, earning my stripes as a second photographer or as head photographer at the lower end of the budget spectrum, this was the first time I really took control of my photography, hours planning the engagement session and wedding locations. I was nervous of course but as soon as the day began I was the cool, calm photographer they needed me to be. I came home from that wedding and couldn’t stop talking about it. I really connected to their story and to them as a couple, so much that we became good friends.

 

The newly married couple take a moment on the stairs of Sydney's Intercontinental hotelThe bride and groom walk around Sydney's back streets after their wedding ceremonyThe brides nerves before she walks down the aisle for her Sydney wedding

Like fine wines, photographers improve with age (and investment in learning), I definitely believe my style, knowledge and approach has improved massively and no doubt will continue to do so in the years to come.

This year has been pretty big for me, however next year will be even bigger as I am travelling back from Sydney where I am usually based to my home country, to shoot weddings in the UK and Europe for the summer, I cannot wait! Let’s hope I bring the sunshine.

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