Have you visited The Somme?

Have you ever been to the Somme? 

I had always known that many Australians fought at the Somme in France in World War 1 where over 1,300,000 soldiers lost their lives.  As a patriotic Australian, I imagined visiting the Somme would be very special, right up there on the list of things you must do when near northern France.  What I was not prepared for was how moving an experience it would be to visit places like Pozières, and Villers-Bretonneaux with my family.  

We travelled just under three hours by car from Brussels to get to the Somme one December morning.  It was chilly but the skies were clear, at least for the morning.  Our first stop was at Pozières.

We found the Australian 1st Division Memorial at Pozières which stands over the main German line at Pozières.  There is a platform you can climb to see the ridge which the Australians captuted at a cost of 23,000 casualties.  Quiet moments of reflection were not enough to keep my tears at bay, my thoughts of the hell on earth it must have been in July 1916 were totally opposed to the tranquil setting I found with silence unbroken save for the birds chirping.

Memorial to the Australian 1st Division at Pozières

Photo by John Reyment, Reyment Photographics

SBS Food Article

Hi guys!

Want to know what Master Photographer John Reyment and Brisbane Food and Travel Writer Karen Reyment have been up to while living in Europe throughout 2009? 

They have been working hard on researching food stories, things like this photoessay featured on SBS Food.

Check out this photoessay on Bellotta-Bellotta.  Words are by Karen Reyment, photography by John Reyment of "A Day in the Life" Images.

We hope you enjoy the story and photos about this most yummy of hams!

What is the AIPP? And why is it important?

How many acronyms and buzz words are flying through your head while you are looking for a photographer? PMA, AIPP, PPAQ, MKII, CF, SD, PSCS...!

One particularly important acronym in that list is AIPP. It is the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, and it is the National professional photography industry body.

What does this mean? Well, when you are looking for a professional photographer, one of the first things you should look at is if they are a member of the AIPP. Photography is a completely unregulated industry. Your builder needs to be certified under law, your teacher needs to be certified under law, even your local restaurant needs to adhere to strict laws and regulations. But just about anyone can call themselves a photographer!

The trouble here is that you place a lot of trust in your photographer, particularly for a wedding day that cannot be repeated. Choosing an Accredited AIPP member ensures that you have selected a photographer who has agreed to uphold certain ethics within their business, and that their work has been assessed by other photographers in the Institute. Basically, this means that your AIPP photographer will be moral, and is actually a good photographer with a firm grasp of the basic concepts of photography, including light, colour and professional camera operation.

The chances are that your AIPP photographer will also have a high-level of service quality, meaning that they should look after you through the process, right from the moment you book them for your occasion. A bit of peace of mind for you!

The PPAQ (or Professional Photographers Association of Queensland) is another professional organisation for photographers. The PPAQ are Queensland-centric, and also have stringent guidelines for their members to adhere to.

John Reyment is a Master of the AIPP, and a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) with the PPAQ.
Melinda Comerford is an Associate of the AIPP, and Queensland AIPP Divisional President.

Rememberence Day 2009 in Luxembourg

Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

photo by John Reyment, Reyment Photographics

11th November 2009, a very special day in Luxembourg for me and my family.  Being Rememberence Day, we went to the service at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial.  Totalling 50.5 acres, the cemetery is located in a beautiful wooded area.

We were greeted by a foggy atmosphere which stubbornly refused to lift.  Inspecting the headstones revealed just how young and courageous these soldiers who gave their all were.  Row after row, lives cut short.  How different would our world be if these people had lived a full life? 

A wreath laying ceremony was followed by a ceremony at the grave site of General George S. Patton of the U.S. Third Army.  The cemetery was created on December 29, 1944 by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the U.S. Third Army while Allied Forces were stemming the enemy's desperate Ardennes Offensive, one of the critical battles of World War II. The city of Luxembourg served as headquarters for General Patton.

We must have looked like foreigners as we were approached by a reporter from France and asked in French why we were at the service today.  We explained (in our best French!) that as Australians, we like to pay our respects to the fallen and attending a service like this on this day is important.  Conversation soon progressed to the rest of our travels and the next day, we found an article in the paper about our story.

Nicole & Tim 7th November 2009

Nicole & Tim planned their entire wedding from all the way in NSW, but held the event in Brisbane! And they couldn't have done a better job.

Nicole's Wendy Makin dress was stunning! The boys were dressed by Spurling Formalware, and arrived looking spiffy and on time for the ceremony at Sirromet Winery's Laguna.

The day began with the clouds threatening to break open above us, but the rains stayed away for Nicole and Tim! We went off and had a beautiful photo shoot, and the colours of the vineyard from the recent rain were mindblowing!

Thank you, Nicole & Tim, for allowing us to be there with you on your special day, and capture all of your precious moments together as husband and wife!

K&A Maternity Portrait

K&A are growing bub #2, and we were lucky enough to be invited to capture this special process for them! We also did K&A's wedding photos, as well as photos of bub #1 in belly and as a newborn, so we have a very special relationship with them.
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to document this time in your lives together!

Rogasch Family Portrait

The Rogasch girls got dressed to the nines for their photos around their newly renovated backyard... until they decided to jump in the pool!

We all had such a great time!

Why Should I Have A Portrait?

There are so many times and occassions to have a portrait session with those people special to you.

• New Families
• Little Kids and Families
• Older Kool kind of Kids and Families
• Couples Portraits

New Families
Anticipating the birth of a child is an amazing time. The weeks leading up to the birth are precious moments. A personal portrait session for the mother-to-be near end of term can provide beautiful images of this unique time in her life.
Newborn babies are so cute! Photographs taken in the week after the birth are so precious as they will never be so tiny again.

Little Kids and Families
A new baby quickly grows up to take a place in the world. Parents often remark, “My little one is growing up so fast!” By the age of two, that little one of twelve months is gone forever!
When children reach 6 months of age, most are sitting up and smiling at you.  This is a great milestone and time for a portrait.
Our approach for baby and children’s photography is to be as unobtrusive as possible. Photographs of children playing in their natural environment can be a wonderful memento of their age for parents.
Our on location in home service is very popular and follows our personal approach to photography.

Older Kool Kind of Kids and Families
Family portraits make a terrific gift idea. Mothers Day, Fathers Day, parent’s wedding anniversaries, birthdays and Christmas are all occasions when a family portrait would be a wonderful gift.
Capture the essence of your family or older children in an on-location portrait.
We will work with you to choose locations, fashions, props and photography styles that reflect their personality.

Couples Portraits
Any occasion is an excuse for a portrait with the one you love.
Just a few excuses for portraits include:

• Will you be my valentine…
• Boys and their toys (Porsches, HSV’s, Harley’s, Jet ski’s, Subaru WRX, etc)
• Our new car. Why not have a portrait with you and the car on your favourite stretch of road!
• That special picnic…
• We’re engaged!
• It’s our anniversary!
• Documenting our pregnancy…
• I want to surprise him…
• I want to surprise her…

What does AUD$8.5 million worth of cars look like?

Spa Francorchamps...
 The name of one of the worlds most famous racetracks, a place steeped in motor racing history since the 1920's and the track with Eau Rouge, the most famous corner in all motorsport.


We found ourselves at Spa Francorchamps, the home of the Belgian Grand Prix on a bitterly cold, wet November day and enjoyed a guided tour of the facilities there. 


The sound of the rain and wind was interupted by the howl of a high performance engine rounding La Source.  What was it, a supercar for sure...  A blue flash through the wet with rooster tails behind, now all was revealed, the source of that glorious engine note was an Audi R8 V10 at high rpm, the way it hunkered down and stuck to the apex on Eau Rouge was a sight to behold.


A little more investigation revealed that there were lots of Audi R8's, blue ones, red ones and white ones, all V10's!  There were 23 of them at what must have been a corporate drive day.  Lucky buggers!  With each car costing in excess of $366, 000, the carpark below is not your average collction of cars you see at the supermarket!

Photo by John Reyment, Reyment Photographics

23 Audi R8 V10's at Spa Francorchamps

Ideas and Tips for Planning Your Wedding

You only get one chance to have the perfect wedding day, so how do you start? What are some of the important things to remember and plan when organising your wedding?

One of the advantages of hiring a full-time professional photography studio for your wedding, is that they have done it all before! They are sure to have tips and tricks, and are prepared for any eventuality before, during and after the wedding.

AIPP Master Photographer, John Reyment, offers some suggestions that might make planning your dream wedding a little easier.

• Start planning your wedding not long after you get engaged.
• Did you know that venues and photographers often book out more than twelve months in advance; longer in peak wedding seasons. For peak periods, we recommend that you book 12-18 months in advance to avoid disappointment.
• Prior to confirming any bookings, ensure that your preferred ceremony and reception venues and photographer are all available to you on the same day.
• Your hair and make-up and make or break your look. Ask your photographer for a referral for artists who can provide beautiful, camera-ready looks, and you'll be sure to have picture-perfect photos.
• Chat with your photographer about timings for the day before confirming hair and make up timings, ceremony times and reception start times. Your photographer should be able to give you a realistic guide as to how long things will take to ensure you have plenty of time to enjoy the moment. Reyment Photographics clients enjoy this type of guidance as part of service to them.
• Allow time after your honeymoon before returning to work to view your wedding photos with your wedding photographer.

Read more on our website, www.reymentphoto.com.au.

New Website!

Our new website has launched! And it's stunning, showcasing our uniquely candid style, and loaded with heaps of information about your wedding or portrait.

Take a look at our new site here, and tell us what you think!

Nikki & Luke 29th August 2009

Nikki & Luke's vintage-themed wedding day went off with a splash of flair!


The most important thing to Nikki & Luke on their big day was being surrounded by their friends and family. And, to match the vintage theme of the day, guests were asked to dress up in vintage attire - quite a sight! Nikki wore a knee-length 50's dress, accessorised with a hot pink fascinator and shoes. Luke wore a chocolate pin-stripe suit with matching fedora and a feather in his button hole.


They had their ceremony amongst the beautiful, ancient fig trees at Old Petrie Town, where friends and family witnessed the couple making their vows amongst the rose petals adorning the grass aisle.


The photo shoot was done in and around Old Petrie Town, using the old Fire Station, fields and barns for some interesting backdrops! We truly had a great time, with Luke & Nikki both keen to pose for as many photos as they could fit in before their cocktail reception at Tom Petrie's Restaurant & Bar.


A sensational day with a twist! Nikki & Luke put their own special touches on every element of their wedding day, and each and every detail was personalised perfectly for the couple!

Some of our favourites from 2009 so far...

Well, since we last posted in November '08 (!), we have been lucky enough to photograph some stunning weddings! Here are a couple of our favourite images...

Fiona & Mark

Matt & Pushpa

Petrina & Ben

Jo & Jon

Sarah & Daniel

Mel & Pat

Carla & Matt

Melissa & Kevin

Has it really been that long...?

Wow... we had really let the ball drop here!

This is our first blog entry in far too long! John and Karen have been travelling around Europe for most of the year (currently in Italy), and we have been run off our feet while they have been away!

Keep an eye out soon for a brand spanking new website! We're so excited to unveil it within the coming days... lots of new photos, information about planning your wedding or portrait, and even some of John's photos from overseas.

So, watch out for our new site, launching super soon!