A picture is said to tell a thousand words, and in so many ways I find this to be true when photographing people in love. But I still believe in the power of words to put love in context, generate emotion and record history in the same ways we do with our cameras. Douglas' speech after he married his childhood sweetheart, Sophia, was so honestly written that I asked if he would let me share it with you. This is their love story, told by our images...and his words...

James and Jo's great love began 14 years ago and it was amazing to see how the emotional energy created by a wedding day was able to take them both back there to the feelings we all remember from the start of a relationship.

There are a couple of things key things that, as a photographer, contribute to making a wedding really memorable and special for me. First, it's good, old-fashioned chemistry. A couple who are IN LOVE, all capitals. It's nothing to do with how they look, it's all about how they are together. Secondly, it's a location that isn't just beautiful, but historical. A place that has generations of family memories layered on it, and I'm a big part of making some more very special ones.

Occasionally people ask if I ever get bored shooting weddings (I've shot about 600, so it's a fair question!). I can confidently say 'no' because, for me, it's not the wedding that excites and interests me, it's the people. And even though it's bound to happen someday, I've yet to shoot the same bride twice. And I've never shot a bride like Kelly. She is a free spirit, a courageous, strong woman with the softest heart. When I found out she was getting married on my 40th birthday at Waipatiki Beach, I knew I had my party plans sorted.

I've known Kelly for about almost a decade now - which is one of those comments that makes me realise time waits for no man. Unless your name is Scotty. He's known Kelly for far longer than I have and never forgot her after their paths went in different directions after a childhood friendship. But fate has a way of making things happen just when they should...

The last time I had Abi and Ethan in front of my lens, they were half the size they are now. We got some lovely, playful images of them in the late afternoon sun down by the river. But lately, I've really been enjoying shooting pre-teens in the simple setting of the studio, exploring personalities without the distraction of pretty backgrounds. I asked them to come in wearing what they felt most comfy in, and to bring one or two of their favourite things.

We are mostly Hawke's Bay wedding photographers, but for that reason, we love the chance for a good old-fashioned roadie to discover new creative spaces for wedding photography and to tell different stories. It's especially cool (literally and figuratively!) when the roadie is to Waihi Beach right bang smack in the middle of winter.

Alex and I last caught up a year ago when he was four and I promised treasure if he joined me in a pirate hunt among the autumn leaves of Havelock North. I'm not sure he's forgiven me yet for not delivering, however he showed up with his game face on when we met a year later for some soccer at Waipatiki beach in winter.

I have photographed what must now be hundreds of little hatchlings over my career, but at four days old, Louis was the youngest. And I swear, his older brother Felix was, without doubt, the most adoring older sibling I've ever encountered. As I quietly shot the two boys together over the course of a morning, I literally watched him fall in love. It was quite beautiful to behold, and even more beautiful to press pause on these fleeting moments for their mum and dad, who generously let me share these very personal images with you.

The job title 'photographer' describes so many very different occupations, and the people that slot under that definition are often as different as chalk and cheese. I became a photographer not because I love gear or even because I specifically love taking photos. It's mostly because I love people, and being up close and personal with the big moments of their lives, and feeling like I contribute something a little worthwhile by saving those memories for them.

With a blossoming industry based around the creation of the picture-perfect wedding, it has become very easy for the focus to fall on 'things' rather than what I feel really matters at a marriage; connections, history, feelings and - most importantly - people.That belief is the reason why Breanna and David's wedding was one of my favorites of the summer

London locals, Katy and Andrew really wanted a proper Kiwi home-coming for their wedding, and so the lovely little locations of Eskdale and Bay View (where Katy grew up) set the scene for a gloriously simple and beautiful Hawke's Bay country wedding.

After a long love affair, Michali and Bree made things official at Millar Road, high on the Hawke's Bay hills looking back to the coastline of Napier and in the heart of the beautiful Tukituki valley. "We picked the venue because it was somewhere different that most people hadn't herd of.

It was a treat for us to take our creative show on the road to Oreti Village in the tiny lakeside settlement of Pukawa, on the western shores of Lake Taupo. A wilderness of native New Zealand bush and early Maori and Colonial history, the area promised us some exciting opportunities to play in a very different landscape from our normal haunts as Hawke's Bay wedding photographers.

Ben and Ruth are a chilled out Kiwi couple who believe in keeping it real. They wanted a wedding that reflected that, with a focus on friends, family and the things that matter rather than the complicated trimmings. A country wedding at the chocolate-box-cute church down the road from Ruth's parents' home was followed by a reception at the local hall of small Hawke's Bay settlement, Maraekakaho.

Graeme and Lasi have a big love, and so it went without saying their wedding would reflect that, with 400 guests and 42 in the bridal party creating a unique and truly awesome challenge for us...

As a Hawke's Bay photographer who adores storytelling and emotional connections between people, it doesn't get much better than having one of my couples get in touch a few years after their wedding to ask me to spend some time with them documenting the next big milestone in their lives, the arrival of children.

Hawke's Bay native, Laura, describes herself and new hubby, Rob, as 'truly laid back humans' and so it went without saying that was the vibe they wanted on their wedding day. Under the stars and beside the slow-moving Tukituki at Black Barn Winery's riverside wedding venue, roving canapés replaced a formal sit-down dinner and guests sat down on large vintage rugs strewn amid lanterns and flowers to enjoy the speeches.