Perth pre-wedding photos: Trinh and Matt hold hands beneath a towering white gum, the city skyline rising behind them in Perth
Home/Weddings/Perth
Pre-wedding session · Perth

Perth Pre-Wedding Photos: Trinh & Matt

Perth

Destination Pre-Wedding · City: Perth

Pale gums framing the city skyline, a slow dance at a Kings Park lookout and a floral skirt the river breeze would not leave alone. Trinh and Matt’s Perth pre-wedding session started high above the city in Kings Park, then crossed the Swan River to the Burswood foreshore beside Crown Perth, the resort that hosted their wedding. Two outfits, one soft grey sky and a whole lot of laughing: we were right there for every stop and loved it.

The gallery
Matt wraps an arm around Trinh under tall gums beside a quiet road at the start of their Perth pre-wedding session.
Trinh and Matt hold hands on the lawn at Kings Park and Botanic Garden, a pale gum trunk framing the city skyline.
Trinh and Matt kiss beneath a sweeping gum branch on their destination pre-wedding shoot, city towers rising behind them.
In black and white, the couple share a kiss on the hilltop lawn beneath an arching gum branch, the skyline below.
Wide view of Trinh and Matt standing small between two pale gum trunks at Kings Park, the city skyline spread behind.
A black and white pre-wedding portrait of the couple standing close between two tall gum trunks above the city.
Matt walks ahead in his white shirt as Trinh follows wearing his navy jacket onto a lookout at Kings Park, Perth.
Trinh and Matt slow dance at the rust-red railing of the lookout, glass towers rising tall behind them.
Close up, Trinh smiles up at Matt as they dance, noses almost touching, the city towers blurred behind.
Trinh laughs up at Matt mid dance, her drop earrings catching the light in their pre-wedding portraits above the city.
Trinh and Matt hold hands at the lookout railing, smiling at each other above treetops with the skyline beyond.
Trinh and Matt walk a curving path through the bush at Kings Park on Mount Eliza, kept tiny under a long grey sky.
In black and white, the couple stroll a winding bush path beneath tall gums, the river glimpsed through the trees.
Hand in hand, Trinh and Matt stroll beside a low fence at Kings Park and Botanic Garden with the city and river behind.
Trinh and Matt lean in for a kiss at the hilltop fence in a wide Perth pre-wedding view of skyline and river.
Trinh and Matt stand arm in arm at the fence, smiling, with the glass towers and the river spread out behind.
Trinh leans into Matt's chest with her eyes closed above the river at Kings Park, a road curling along the water below.
Trinh laughs as she leads Matt by the hand along the footpath, a joyful pre-wedding moment above the river.
Walking hand in hand along the hilltop footpath, Trinh smiles at the camera while Matt looks over at her.
Trinh and Matt pose arm in arm on a long shaded lawn under spreading trees for a relaxed pre-wedding portrait.
Trinh leads Matt across the grass at Kings Park, Perth, glancing back at him with a grin under the trees.
Holding hands, Trinh and Matt walk straight towards the camera across the shaded lawn, both smiling.
Under a drooping tree, Matt bends his head to Trinh as she beams up at him in their destination pre-wedding portraits.
Matt leads Trinh past a row of tall palms at Kings Park on Mount Eliza as she looks back, the river stretching behind.
Trinh and Matt share a smile as they walk hand in hand past tall palms, pale sky filling the frame above.
Trinh and Matt walk hand in hand along a narrow path on their pre-wedding walk, her lace hem swinging, palms and water behind.
Trinh and Matt stand close on a sloping lawn under pale gums at Kings Park and Botanic Garden, leaves scattered at their feet.
Solo portrait of Matt on the lawn in his navy suit, one hand in a pocket, tall pale gums softly blurred behind.
Trinh brushes a strand of hair from her face and looks down in a quiet solo pre-wedding portrait on the lawn.
Trinh turns in profile with a soft smile, drop earrings and clasped hands, the gums falling away into blur.
After an outfit change, Trinh in a floral skirt strolls the grass with Matt below the glass of Crown Towers Perth.
Trinh and Matt stand small beneath a lone tree whose long branches lean out over the river foreshore.
A black and white destination pre-wedding frame of the couple beneath a sprawling lone tree by the still river.
Trinh and Matt stand face to face on a flat rock in the Swan River at Burswood, apartment towers on the far shore.
In black and white, the couple hold hands on a rock just off the shore, wide still water all around them.
Trinh laughs with her hands in Matt's by the water, her hair loose and wavy for the second pre-wedding look.
Matt kisses Trinh's temple as she smiles straight into the lens, the grey river stretching out behind them.
The breeze lifts Trinh's floral skirt sideways as the couple stand on a rock off the Burswood foreshore.
Trinh's floral skirt streams out as she walks hand in hand with Matt beside a reedy lake on their pre-wedding stroll.
Skirt flying in the wind, Trinh walks a red path with a grinning Matt beside a reedy lake in Burswood Park.
The story

Our Perth pre-wedding photos: gums framing the skyline, a slow dance at the lookout and a skirt in the river breeze

Gums and the skyline in Kings Park · Slow dance at the lookout · Bush paths, lawns and palms · Outfit change by Crown Towers · A rock in the Swan River · Windblown walk at Burswood

Read the full story

Pale gums and the skyline

We met Trinh and Matt under the gums at the top of Kings Park, Trinh in a white off-shoulder lace dress and Matt in a navy suit with a white pocket square. The first frame was a quiet one on the path: Matt’s arm around her, Trinh smiling off to the side as he looked down at her. Then we walked to the edge of the hill, where a pale gum trunk and a sweep of branches frame the whole city. We stepped well back and kept them small, two figures under the canopy with the towers behind, and we kept one of those frames in black and white.

A slow dance at the lookout

Matt led the way out onto a curved lookout with a rust-red railing, Trinh following in his navy jacket, the city spread out below. At the rail they fell into a slow dance. We swapped to a longer lens and stepped right back across the platform, which pulls the towers in close so they stand tall behind the couple instead of shrinking into the distance. Then we moved in tight: noses almost touching, Trinh laughing up at Matt, Matt grinning back. The grey sky did us a favour here, keeping the light soft on their faces and taking the glare off all that glass.

Bush paths along the hill

From the lookout we followed a curving path through the bush, keeping Trinh and Matt tiny in the frame so the native trees and the long grey sky could set the scene. Further on, a low fence runs along the edge of the hill, and we used it for a run of wide frames: the two of them strolling the rail with the city on one side and the river opening out on the other. Wide shots like these are worth planning into any Perth wedding photos, because they show where you were as well as who you were with.

Above the river road

Then Trinh leant into Matt’s chest above the river, and he closed his eyes. Behind them a road curls along the water’s edge and the Swan stretches away into the distance, with tall grasses and bush right at their feet. We shot it from a little above so the plants frame the bottom of the picture. Straight after, they set off along the footpath hand in hand and Trinh could not stop laughing. Walking frames are our favourite way to loosen a couple up: give them somewhere to go and the stiffness disappears within a few steps.

Laughing on the lawn

The big lawns under the trees gave us shade and a soft green floor. Trinh and Matt stood laughing together, then Trinh took his hand and led him across the grass, glancing back at him with a grin. We asked them to walk straight towards us, holding hands, and they did it without a hint of awkwardness. Under a drooping tree Matt bent his head to hers and Trinh beamed up at him. Shade from a canopy keeps the light even on faces, so it is our go-to spot whenever the sun threatens to break through.

Palms above the water

Our next stop was a row of tall palms on a lawn above the river. Matt led Trinh down the path and she looked back over her shoulder at us, the water and the far shore stretched out behind the trunks. We framed one wide, with the palms filling one side and lots of pale sky above, a clean and airy picture that feels like a holiday. Then they walked back towards us along the narrow path, hand in hand, lace hem swinging. Palms and a big sky make a lovely change of mood after the gums and the bush.

One portrait each

Before the outfit change we took a few portraits of each of them on their own, something couples often forget to ask for. Matt stood on the lawn among tall white trunks, one hand in his pocket, relaxed and smiling. Trinh brushed a strand of hair from her face and looked down, then turned in profile against the trees with her drop earrings catching the light. Solo portraits take five minutes and couples love having them later. We like a background with depth for these, so the person stays sharp and the trees fall away into a soft blur.

Florals by Crown Towers

Then came a change of outfit and a change of scene. Trinh swapped the lace for a white top and a long floral skirt, Matt kept his navy jacket over chinos, and we crossed the Swan to Burswood. The first frame there was a stroll across the grass with the glass of Crown Towers rising behind them, part of Crown Perth, the resort that hosted their wedding. Down by the river, a lone tree with long, sprawling branches leant over the foreshore, and we kept the couple small beneath it, once in colour and once in black and white.

A rock in the Swan

At the water’s edge Trinh and Matt stood together on a flat rock just off the shore, the river wide and still all around them. From the bank we went wide, with apartment towers small on the far side. Up close, Matt kissed her temple and Trinh smiled straight into our lens. Then the breeze picked up her skirt and sent it flying sideways, so we kept them walking along a red path beside a reedy lake, skirt streaming out and both of them grinning. Wind is a gift with a floaty skirt, and we finished right there.

Photographer's venue notes

Kings Park and Burswood, Perth: gum-framed skyline views, a lookout dance and a breezy river walk

Read the venue notes

Two halves of one session

We split Trinh and Matt’s session between two very different settings. The first half stayed up on the hill in Kings Park, working from the pale gums near the top to the curved lookout, then along the bush paths and the fence line, across the shaded lawns and past the row of palms above the water. After the change into the floral skirt we crossed the river to Burswood, where the open grass below Crown Towers, a lone tree on the foreshore, a flat rock in the water and the reedy lake gave us a completely new mood.

A grey sky that worked for us

Cloud sat over Perth for the whole session, and we were glad of it. Looking out from the hilltop, bright sun on all that glass can wash the towers out into haze behind a couple. Under a grey sky the skyline kept its shape, faces stayed clean, and we could turn in any direction at the lookout without anyone squinting. Down at Burswood the same cloud left the river pale and calm, a quiet background that let the colours in Trinh’s skirt and her loose waves carry each frame.

Why these spots earned their place

The gums at the top gave us natural frames: a pale trunk on one side, a low branch overhead and the city sitting neatly inside. The lookout railing gave the couple something to hold and lean on, which turned straight into a dance. The fence along the hill let us show the city and the river in one wide frame. At Burswood, the rock just off the shore isolated the two of them in open water, and the red path by the lake gave them a clear line to walk.

Tips for a two-location session

Let the outfit change mark the move between places: lace suited the gums and the bush, and a floaty skirt suited the open water. Save the breeziest spot for last. Once the wind found Trinh’s skirt at Burswood, we stopped trying to settle it and kept the couple moving, and those streaming frames ended the session on a high. Allow for the drive across the river in your timing, so the second location never feels rushed. A few minutes of portraits on your own before the change are worth asking for too.

Keep exploring

Perth weddings

More real weddings across the city