PHOTOGRAPHER | Brooke McBurnie Takes Photos

Brooke McBurnie is a Melbourne and Mornington Peninsula based Wedding Film Photographer. With a documentary and heartfelt approach, Brooke has a passion for the slow, intentional nature of analog photography. Brooke McBurnie often travels interstate to capture weddings and is available for bookings worldwide.

Tell us about your business!

I am a film and digital photographer based out of Melbourne, Australia. My love for this job is almost exclusively fuelled by my love of film and love of love itself.

What would you like couples to know about you?

I feel all the feelings. I notice all the little moments. I try to grab those moments so you have them forever. 

I’ve spent most of my life on the Mornington Peninsula. The winter nostalgia of skating and taking photos with my most loved ones will always have my heart. Taking photos has always been my thing. My Pop was the photographer in the family, which inspired my love for it. 

Bringing a camera with me literally everywhere in my early teens allowed me to document the early days of meeting my best friends and later, my now husband. Having this archive of love - platonic and romantic - inspires me everyday to make these galleries and archives for couples. It’s very special to have documented my life via film, if I can do it for others I would be a happy girl.

Do you travel for weddings?

Absolutely. Being able to pair my love for exploring new places and capturing people in love via travelling for wedding days, is truly a dream come true. It feels very intimate to be able to explore places that have so much personal history in it for my couples. To be invited into these familiar/

unfamiliar places under such beautiful circumstances is something that I will always be grateful for.

How would you describe your style?

I have always shot instinctually. Capturing what is really happening. I try to document all of the day and those in it - the giggles, the tears, the squishes, the burnt candles, the spilt wine. I also allow myself to bring elements of editorial / prompted moments if the mood is right. The balance between allows for storytelling of what the day actually felt like.

What is your most memorable career moment?

This is a tough one. I have weddings that will always bring me back but every couple that comes to me with complete artistic trust feels like a career highlight. When a couple allows me to document a day filled with so much heart, so much love and so many intentional details - how could I not feel as though this is a highlight of my career. Every. Time.

What inspires you?

Truly, there is so much that inspires my work and I, both personally and professionally. I feel very inspired by physical artworks, by love, by travelling, by flowers. 

The physical nature of beautiful things really inspires me to create more beautiful things.

How would you describe your working style?

Soft and romantic. Documentary and heartfelt. All I could hope for is that the galleries I create feel like home - familiar and nostalgic. 

On a wedding day, I try to act as an extension of your most loved ones - becoming a source of comfort and ease on a day that can become chaotic quickly. Creating and cultivating connections with my couples before the day absolutely helps with this. I just want to hang out and be all giddy about the love.

Do you shoot digitally, on film or both?

Heavily film. I began taking photos on film years ago and have never shook the love for it. I do tend to shoot digital alongside film on wedding days, but the way I fell in love with taking photos was via the analog medium. 

The slow, intentional nature of film photography is very romantic. Shooting real film on a wedding day is important to me. While I do shoot with digital, I think it is important that my couples know my love of film is not a trend but a core artistic love - I hope this shows in my work. It’s not an add-on, it’s integral to my practice and your gallery.

Who is your dream client?

A dream client would love film the way I do, with all its perfect - imperfections. 

I adore working with a couple that wants to do their day - their way. Lovers that have their day full of intentional moments; traditions and sentiments that mean something to their love story. A couple that is excited to be married, is a couple I am excited to capture.

What is your advice to couples getting married?

At the end of the day it is really about celebrating your love. Prioritising the details that fill your hearts will make the day yours. Making intentional decisions in your day allows you both to savor more and let you soak up all the goodness.

Brooke McBurnie Takes Photos

Website: brookemcburnietakesphotos.com

Instagram: @brookemcburnietakesphotos