Tamborine Mountain, QLD
For me photography wasn’t something I ever thought I would be doing as a job, I honestly thought I would be a Veterinarian, nurse or Midwife. 6 years ago I left my job as a nurse’s assistant to have our daughter. As a stay at home mum I needed to find something to fill my time and perhaps make a little money on the side, just enough for a few coffee (and cake) dates with my girlfriends. I mentioned to my partner that I always enjoyed sewing while at school and because I had sewen the coolest plastic bag holder I thought I would be pretty good at making a few things. I taught myself how to sew and before long was selling things all over the globe. I was however frustrated with how my product shots looked so I saved my profits and brought my first DSLR Camera. I wanted that “magazine look” and so I concentrated on my composition and lighting. I carried on with my little online shop as well as teaching at a sewing centre until February 2011 when I asked two local girls from the supermarket if they could come out with me for a little photo shoot so I could practice. I went out with my camera and my 50mm lens and a large white board as my reflector. To my surprise it went really well and I immediately had girls offering to be my muses. I then immersed myself in self-directed learning and concentrated on my off camera lighting techniques inspired by the very talented Zack Arias . As things progressed I updated my camera to a full frame body and added the 24-70 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8 lens. I also use Speedlight’s that I usually fire through shoot through umbrellas and always prefer to shoot towards the sun to create a Hazy effect. Sometimes though if I have beautiful afternoon light I will use a large sheet of white plastic board as my reflector that I purchased at the hardware store as it creates large catch lights in the eyes and a soft white light. I’ve always found the silver/gold reflector’s too harsh for my liking. At one stage I modified a white bucket as a beauty dish LOL! And it actually worked quite well…..but looked ridiculous. I also used a leaf blower as a wind machine once on a personal shoot! But I quickly learnt that they induce headaches and again look and sound a little silly. I feel like photography was a natural progression for me and I’m glad that I also have my sewing skills as I often make the props and outfits for my creative shoots. I have the freedom to dream up ideas and bring them to life with specifically designed outfits and props. I also love styling hair and I have also done makeup for a number of my shoots as well. I plan on continuing to specialise in my chosen areas of wedding and fashion photography and don’t plan to venture into families or children. Photography is definitely my dream job combining every ting I love, Creativity, Sewing, prop making, meeting new people, exploring new locations but mostly I’m ALWAYS learning and you can never get bored of that.
