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Well my dream invite arrived in January requesting the pleasure of My husband and I to attend a wedding at Hamilton Island in July. It was such a hard decision to make as you can understand, we had to regretfully agree to leave our 3 kids with my mother in law for 5 nights.....mmm it took me a whole 2 seconds to decide and without any doubt i said we will be there!! And that wedding has finally arrived. I have been eagerly awaiting this wedding due to the fact its a friend who i've known for over 17 years now and they've finally decided to settle down and also because its the first real holiday i've had in mmmm 10 years since our honeymoon!

So, i am off to Hamilton Island on friday morning and apparently the weather doesn't look like its going to be too kind, but I am going to bring my gear and try get out and shoot some of the scenery and wildlife. I have never been there before but according to past threads, there seems to be some fantastic spots to go and photograph. Has anyone been since owen went a few years back?

I would love to get a pano....never tried one before....so that will be interesting, plan is to set my gear up on the tripod and shoot away - joystick head should allow for a similar shot each time surely.... - But i have no idea where to go to get the best shots. We are staying in an apartment thats a few minutes walk from catseye beach. So if you've been before i'd love to know or see some of your shots to get an idea.

It will be nice to finally attend a wedding where i am not the photographer or been asked to tag along and take some extra shots for the couple....so I am looking forward to having a nice relaxed wedding (but knowing me i will still try set up a few shots for my keepsake!! So please fill me in on some of your experiences and spots you loved and hated. Thanks kristen

Hi Kristen,

In addition to all you are doing, I would also suggest to look in Flickr for various Hamilton island photos to give you an idea of the possible angles etc.

Good luck and have fun!

Whatever you do, have fun!

The tip to look at Flickr and more generally on the net for images is a great idea. For pano's I have found the PistolGrip (Joystick) head to be nuisance. I actually hand hold most of my panos, but when the light is low the tripod is better than nothing. Try to get large overlaps in your pano to help maximise your chances of success. Also shoot at longer focal lengths to remove the distortion you will get at wider angles.