Wedding photographer’s sidekick is his talented 10-year-old daughter

By Jake Meeus-Jones via SWNS

A photographer took his 10-year-old daughter with him to capture a wedding day and says couples now want to book her.

Jerome Cole, 45, has been capturing weddings for the past 15 years, and his daughter Aisha, 10, had been desperate to join him.

Aisha initially joined Jerome for at a church choir photoshoot for a charity a year ago - with one of Aisha's shots used in their annual report.

Believing she was finally ready, Jerome equipped Aisha with a camera and the dad and daughter team shot their first wedding together on Feb. 25.

They used cues and signals to get the best shots at the right times, with Jerome focusing on front-on while Aisha captured shots from behind.

The young photographer took matters into her own hands when she snapped stunning photos of the newlywed's children and even helped to reshape the bride's dress so it was picture perfect.

Proud Jerome admits he shed a tear when reviewing the snaps - taken aback by Aisha's "amazing timing and hunger for the moment".

Jerome, from Melbourne, Australia, said: "She's been dying to come on a shoot with me.

"She's always been very creative and loved arts and crafts and makes lots of movies on the family iPad.

"I'm extremely proud. I'm so chuffed.

"I wanted her to have fun.

"She did so well on her first shoot with the choir and when she took photos at Christmas I thought she was scarily good for her age.

"I could tell they were going to be good just watching her - her hunger for the moment, moving her feet, constantly moving and wanting to get in there.

"For the first kiss, I decided to put Aisha behind the couple and that was the hero shot from behind.

"But all of a sudden she came bounding past the couple in front of them and took a photo of the kids face planting which was a great photo.

"I was so glad she disobeyed me and went for this photo as it's about knowing what's around you but she managed to get back in time for the first kiss."

Aisha added: "I was so excited.

"I'd been waiting for so long and I thought I had to wait until I was 12.

"I wasn't too scared to use the camera and I wasn't that nervous but I was so excited."

Jerome thought Aisha wasn't quite ready for a wedding last year and decided to let her have a go at a charity event.

He said: "I handed her my camera - which she'd never used before - and she took a shot of the choir coming in from the balcony.

"She did a great job and the charity chose one of her photos for their annual report.

"That was six months ago and she's probably used my camera once or twice since then.

"But I had this wedding coming up and the bride mentioned she'd love a photo of her dress from behind coming out of the church.

"So I was looking into a second photographer but then it suddenly hit me and I thought it would be perfect for Aisha.

"I told the bride 'I'm going to get my 10-year old-daughter to do it but she's really good' and the bride was all for it."

Aisha's first day working as a photographer lasted five hours.

Jerome said: "We got there early and the bride was quite late so we practiced a few shots.

"We wanted to get in front and behind the couple so we had signals to get behind and in front.

"I thought the fact that the couple had two young kids was perfect for Aisha as she could get close photos of the kids in a way that I couldn't.

"Then we drove to Parliament House to get some more photos there and she came to that location to shoot as well.

"To my surprise, Aisha kept on zhuzhing the dress and did all the dress arranging."

Jerome isn't sure when Aisha will next be joining him for a wedding but is keen to do it again soon.

He said: "I'm open to Aisha coming to the reception as well.

"I want to make sure it's the right wedding, but it's definitely a 'why not?'

"Yes, I'm a photographer and I'm her dad but I can't understand how her photos are so good.

"People on TikTok have asked if she can come and shoot their weddings.

"I shed a tear when going through her photos. Her timing was just amazing."

Aisha added: "On the way back in the car I said to dad 'so when's the next time I'm coming?' I love it so much!

"I'd love to give it a go full-time one day."