About

Overview & Vibe

Van Middleton is a wedding photographer based at Tugun on the southern Gold Coast, working from Brisbane down to Byron Bay and across the Tweed. He has photographed more than nine hundred weddings and takes a limited number each year. His work has been named among Junebug Weddings’ World’s 50 Best four times, won the Lit category at the International Wedding Photographer of the Year awards in 2023, and he judged the same awards the following year.

Style & Approach

His photographs are, in his own description, generally natural and unposed. He guides and directs during the portrait session, because for most couples a wedding is the first time they have had meaningful pictures taken together, and then shoots discreetly for the rest of the day to catch unguarded moments rather than arranged ones. Long portrait marathons are not part of it. Every photograph is delivered twice, once in colour and once in black and white.

Ideal For

Couples who want the day recorded as it actually happened rather than staged, and who would rather one photographer covered the whole thing than a studio assign whoever is free. It suits anyone marrying between Brisbane and Byron Bay, where travel is included, and it works for a couple who feel awkward in front of a camera. There is a weekday elopement package for small groups of fewer than eight.

The Need-to-Knows

Three packages: a weekday elopement at $1,400 for two hours, Package One at $3,800 for six hours, and Package Two at $4,500 for eight hours or more, which is where most couples land. All prices include GST. An $800 deposit holds the date and the balance falls due by or on the wedding day. Extra hours are $350 each and a second photographer is $750. A preview gallery arrives within a week and the full edited gallery in three to four weeks. Most couples book twelve to eighteen months ahead.

Standout Feature

The volume of finished work and how long it stays available. A typical wedding yields around six hundred and fifty individually edited photographs, each supplied in both colour and black and white, so the real count is roughly double. Files come at full resolution with no watermark and a full print release, and the private gallery stays live for at least five years with a fine-art print shop built in, connected to Atkins Lab in Adelaide, the oldest print house in Australia.

Albums & Prints

Albums the couple designs themselves, from $890, using an online designer included with every package.
Ten by ten inch faux leather album from $890.
Twelve by twelve inch premium leather album from $1,200.
Fine-art prints through the gallery's built-in shop, printed by Atkins Lab in Adelaide.

Appointment Policy

Enquiries are made through the contact form, giving the date and a little about the day.
Only a limited number of weddings are taken each year.
Most couples book twelve to eighteen months ahead, though weddings have been photographed on three weeks' notice.

Areas Serviced

Based at Tugun on the southern Gold Coast, photographing weddings from Brisbane down to Byron Bay and across the Tweed.
Travel is included within Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Byron Bay and the Tweed.
Weddings further afield are quoted individually, and have included Sydney, Melbourne, Fiji, Bali, Italy and Lord Howe Island.

Booking & Deposit

An $800 deposit holds the date.
The balance is due by or on the wedding day.

Hours of Coverage

[2,8]

Nearby Landmarks

Tugun sits on the southern Gold Coast between Currumbin and Coolangatta, a few minutes from the New South Wales border.
The Tweed Valley and its hinterland lie just over that border, and Byron Bay is about an hour south.
Brisbane is roughly an hour and a half north.

Photography Packages

Package Three, weekday elopement. Price: $1,400. Description: Two hours of coverage for a small day of fewer than eight people, with a minimum of one hundred photographs edited in colour and one hundred in black and white. The minimum is two hundred images and it usually runs closer to four hundred. Includes GST.
Package One, Essentials. Price: $3,800. Description: Six hours of coverage with a minimum of four hundred photographs edited in colour and four hundred in black and white. The minimum is eight hundred images and it usually runs closer to a thousand. Includes GST.
Package Two. Price: $4,500. Description: Eight hours or more of coverage with a minimum of six hundred photographs edited in colour and six hundred in black and white, plus a $165 print credit for the online shop. The minimum is twelve hundred images and it usually runs closer to fifteen hundred. The most commonly chosen package. Includes GST.

Photography Style

natural
candid
relaxed

Price Notes

All package prices include GST.
Extra hours are $350 each, added to the package in advance.
A second photographer is $750, recommended for weddings over one hundred guests.
Albums and prints can be bought long after the wedding.

Services Offered

Wedding photography
Weekday elopement photography
Engagement and pre-wedding sessions
Second photographer for larger weddings
Hand-made albums the couple designs themselves
Destination weddings in Australia and overseas

Starting Price

From $1,400

Travel & Destination

Travel is included within Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Byron Bay and the Tweed.
Anywhere else is quoted individually, generally covering flights, two nights' accommodation and car hire.

Turnaround Time

A preview gallery arrives within a week of the wedding.
The full edited gallery follows in three to four weeks.

What You Receive

Every photograph edited in both colour and black and white
Around six hundred and fifty individually edited photographs from a typical wedding
High-resolution files to keep, with no watermark
Full print release
Private online gallery that stays live for at least five years
Fine-art print shop built into the gallery
Preview gallery within a week of the wedding

Similar businesses

Brisbane, Queensland

Contact

Website: vanmiddleton.com

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Van Middleton Photography