My love affair with light and capturing images started in New Zealand one Christmas day when I was 12 years old. After opening my presents I walked down to Stanmore Bay beach for a swim and found an old Olympus film camera sitting in the sand. That’s how it started. Fast forward through the years, I studied photography in Auckland, lived in Tokyo where I became obsessed with polaroid, then London where I shot my first wedding (not as scary as I had imagined). After many U.K weddings I shot my first destination wedding in Positano on the Amalfi Coast. As a lover of travel I was hooked. I went straight back to London and did everything I could to book more destination weddings. More followed throughout Italy, France, Corsica, Iceland, Cyprus, Japan, New York, N.Z & Rarotonga. 

I always feel grateful and privileged to be chosen to photograph a couple’s wedding. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s in some amazing venue or country, or in someone’s backyard. Two of my favourite Australian weddings have been DIY backyard weddings. It’s the people and the couple’s energy that make a great wedding, not the location or venue. I just slink around and soak it all up while capturing the beautiful moments as they unfold.

www.haydenphoenix.com