The Amazing Story of How a Photographer Found the Mystery Newlywed Couple He Captured in a Beautiful Photograp

Sam Yeldam

'I was just prepared to capture the magic, so to speak.'

This is photographer Sam Yeldam, who lives and shoots in Sydney, Australia.

A photo posted by Sam Yeldham (@samyeldham) on

Sam takes absolutely breathtaking photographs; mostly landscape shots and pictures of the city’s amazing architecture. (You can find many more on his Instagram, here.)

A photo posted by Sam Yeldham (@samyeldham) on

But recently, he happened to capture a particularly standout shot: A newly married couple, embracing as the sun set on the Sydney Harbour.

“I was shooting a time-lapse sequence of an epic storm that was descending over Sydney,” Sam told ET. “I had been camped out braving the weather for quite some time. When the couple came down, I was just prepared to capture the magic, so to speak.”


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Sam says he wanted to show his shot to the couple, but, “They had their own photographer and I felt a little shy, I guess, in going over and showing them what I had shot.”

He did post it on his Instagram though, and the shot quickly went viral, with the collective Internet helping search for the mystery couple. Sam explains, “I knew it was a special snap, but that really was driven home by my friends and family’s reaction on social media.”

And social media is exactly how he found the couple.

The photo went viral and eventually the groom responded in the comments, saying, “Hi @samyeldham you can call off the search! This is me and my wife @jessicapearson4 !!! What a great photo! Thank you so much for reaching out.”


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The newlyweds are Chris and Jessica Galvin and all this went down when they were halfway around the world in Hawaii, on their honeymoon:

"We were fine with the attention. It's pretty funny,” Chris told The Sydney Morning Herald. “This will probably never happen to us again, so we're happy for people to see this pretty great photo.”

Meanwhile, his new bride says, "We had such a great wedding day and getting all the lovely messages about the photo has just topped it off...I did sacrifice a lot of my dress to stand in the mud and the water but it was totally worth it to see the photos we ended up with.”

They got some equally exquisite shots from their official photographer, Liv Corbett of Liv Style Photography:

As for Sam, he isn’t ready to start his wedding photography career just yet. “I tend to shoot the Sydney Harbour and nature/weather events,” he told us. “So I would love to shoot more weddings if they intersect with those naturally occurring wonders!”

In other wedding news, Justin Theroux reveals new details about his wedding to Jennifer Aniston. Like how Jimmy Kimmel cried!