Hunter Valley wedding photographer: Long light in the vines
We're a Hunter Valley wedding photographer working out of Cooks Hill in Newcastle, under an hour from the cellar doors of Pokolbin.
Vineyard weddings here are shaped by three things you can plan for: the heat, the harvest and the slow evening light. We plan every one of them with you before the day.
Hunter Valley wedding photography runs on the sun
Out in the vines there are no buildings to hide behind, so the light decides the shape of the day.
Pick your month: the times below are worked out for Pokolbin on the 15th, daylight saving included, and the ceremony time is the one we'd suggest to get you to golden hour with nothing rushed.
MarchDaylight saving
- Ceremony at
- 4:15pm
- Golden hour from
- 6:13pm
- Sunset
- 7:13pm
- Last light
- 7:38pm
Under the Brokenback Range the sun can slip behind the ridge before the official sunset, so we check your venue's own horizon on the walk-through and move the portraits earlier if it needs it.
Plan for the valley
Summer gets properly hot
January and February days in the vines often pass thirty-five degrees, with little shade between the rows. A ceremony in the late afternoon rather than at two o'clock keeps the guests comfortable and gets better light on the vows.
Vintage changes the view
Picking usually runs from mid January into March. Before it, the vines are heavy with grapes; after it, they turn gold and rust through autumn, and winter leaves the bare canes and frosty mornings that some couples choose on purpose.
Dusk brings the kangaroos
Mobs graze the vineyard edges and golf course fairways as the light goes. We can't promise them, but we watch for them, and a frame of the two of you with a row of grey ears in the background is a very Hunter photograph.
Four places we know well
Pokolbin
The heart of the wine country, where most vineyard weddings are. Rows that run to the Brokenback Range, cellar doors with deep verandahs, and the long straight lines of Broke Road and McDonalds Road for a walk at dusk.
Lovedale
A little east of Pokolbin and quieter: open paddocks, wide skies and venues spaced well apart, so the portraits rarely have another wedding in the background.
Maitland
A river city with old bones: the Hunter running past the Levee, brick churches and grand Victorian streets for couples who want a ceremony in town and a reception out in the country.
Morpeth
The old river port, with sandstone and brick shopfronts from the 1800s and the old timber truss bridge over the Hunter. It's small enough to walk end to end between the ceremony and the car.
Two we'd recommend
Both sit among the vines, one on the first corner of wine country and one out at Lovedale.
Open either for the road in, the hour the sun reaches the rows and the spots on the property we'd use.
Asked about the Hunter
Is there a travel fee for the Hunter Valley?
No. Pokolbin, Lovedale, Maitland and Morpeth are all under an hour from our studio in Cooks Hill, so the Hunter costs you nothing extra. We drive home the same night, so there's no accommodation to add either, even when the dancing runs late.
How do you handle a forty-degree day in January?
By moving the photos, not by asking you to stand in it. On a hot day we shoot the family groups in shade we've found on the walk-through, keep the portraits short until the sun drops, and save the long walk in the vines for the last hour. We carry water and a cool cloth for both of you. Your guests will thank you for an umbrella stand by the ceremony chairs.
Will harvest get in the way of our photos?
It changes them more than it gets in the way. Vintage in the Hunter usually runs from mid January into March, so a wedding in those weeks may have netted rows, picking bins or a harvester working the next block. We ask the venue which rows they're picking that week and choose spots away from it, and full vines heavy with fruit before picking make some of the best backdrops of the year.
Can we walk out into the vineyard for portraits?
Usually, but it isn't ours to decide. Most vineyard venues allow it in the rows nearest the lawn; some keep their vines off limits because of spraying or picking schedules. We check the rules with your venue before the day, and if the rows are closed we use the dam, the old sheds or the long gravel drive instead.
What if it's rained and the paddocks are mud?
Hunter clay sticks, so we plan for it. We pick firm ground near the venue for the portraits, bring towels for hems and shoes, and keep to paths and lawn for the walk. A light pair of flats for the bride to swap into between photos saves a lot of worry, and nobody sees them in the frames.
Can you photograph a morning-after shoot or the balloons?
Yes. Hot air balloons go up over Pokolbin at dawn on still mornings, and a sunrise session the day after the wedding, in your wedding clothes or something comfortable, is a quiet way to finish. Balloon flights depend on the weather, so we book it as a session with a back-up morning rather than a promise.
Save the last hour for the vines.
Tell us the venue and the month. We'll send the sunset time for your date, a ceremony time that works with it, and the collections.
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