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 just want to document celebrations of love through my eyes. Capture the feelings and keep all the goodness forever.
What would you like couples to know about you/your business?
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 loved up 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.
Where are you based?
I am currently based in Melbourne, Australia.
Do you travel for weddings?
I do! If you’ll have me, I’ll be there!
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 glasses.
What is your most memorable career moment?
Being asked to continue to document a couples’ story.
My first and core love is capturing love, and to have a client ask to take photos of their family growing is an otherworldly blessing.
A few couples have begun to expand their family and have asked me to take photos of it all to continue the archive of their story. I will always be thankful for this trust and kindness.
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 skate photo journals, by travelling, by flowers. The physical nature of beautiful things really inspires me to create more beautiful things.
What motivates you to do what you do?
I think my motivation comes from my genuine love for what I do. I’m always motivated to learn more, connect more, create more.
It is such an honour to create photos for others and remembering that is so important to this job.
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. I have also fallen in love with Super 8 films and how that captures those little moments.
The slow, intentional nature of film photography is very romantic.
Do you have custom packages according to individual needs?
I currently offer packages that vary in lengths according to your day’s needs. However, I am always happy to chat about making a package and quote that works for your celebration! This might include bespoke options like an international destination or a multi day celebration.
What is a favourite product or service that you offer and why?
Fine art printing. Finding a fine art printer in Melbourne has been such a beautiful experience and has made me appreciate this practice so much more.
To print your photos, wedding or not, is so important. The exercise of printing these moments allow you to collect tangible memories. They get crinkled, maybe stained, piled on a bedside table, used as paper for love letters.
Where would you love to travel to for work?
I currently travel a lot interstate and love it.
I would absolutely love to travel internationally for a wedding. If there is a place that I’m invited to document love within, I want to be there. I have a special place in my heart for Japan and South Korea but would be oh so keen to explore anywhere in the world.
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.
How do you select music for your films?
I ask my couples for a mini playlist that I can work within. It’s nice to get an idea of what you actually like to listen to. Music is so important to my own love story - from our first slow dance in the living room to using that same song for our first dance as a married couple, so I know it’s important to my couples’ story.
What is your advice to couples getting married?
At the end of the day it is really about celebrating your love. Prioritizing 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.
