Business Photography Christchurch I had a really wonderful photo shoot with Philippa recently. Philippa was after some more relaxed business photography. She didn’t want a boring headshot with a white background. And she didn’t want to look too formal. She wanted to look like she was having a conversation.  She came to me as I do a lot of business photography in Christchurch. Shooting on Location in Central Christchurch I went around to her flat in the centre of Christchurch and even though I hadn’t been to her house before I knew that I would do some natural light photos and some usi ..read more

Last Autumn I had the most fun photoshoot with little Archie and his Mum. We met up at one of the most beautiful gardens in Christchurch and found the most gorgeous pile of leaves. The weather was perfect and Archie was just a little dude and was so happy in the leaves. Archie is the kind of baby that makes me want to have more babies – I have three of my own already but they are not babies anymore.  My youngest is nearly 10.  Anyway I think that ship has sailed!   We did a lot of photos in a patch of open shade with a lovely green background.  I always recommend that bab ..read more

Sometimes you just feel like doing something creative and it’s all about the art. Logan and Letitia had just met each other very recently and wanted to model together because they had bright coloured hair at the same time. Logan had red hair tending towards pink and Letitia had teal green hair.  I set up my studio gear and then we tried out different backdrops and different coloured clothing. I love playing with colour. Sometimes it’s just fun to go full on and not think about making everything match or doing things in a neutral palette. Letitia and Logan really enjoyed the shoot and I ..read more

 A couple of months ago I had an amazing family photoshoot actually just around the corner from me in Christchurch. I took photos for a wonderful family for their dad’s birthday for the dad‘s birthday.  They wanted some arty family photos for the wall and an indoor shoot, not outdoors.   The great thing about studio lighting is that it’s often portable. It was a fairly easy process for me to pick up my lighting gear put it in my car and drive around the corner to my client’s house.  It was just as well we did an indoor shoot as it was a very rainy night that night.   ..read more

 Yesterday Chloe came to see me for a very special photo shoot shoot. It was to create a present for her dad‘s 50th birthday. We decided to do a mix of silhouettes and double exposures.  I also added in a small studio shoot with some black and white photos of Chloe so that there was plenty to choose from.  I love creating creative artworks in my studio and outdoors in Christchurch. Early Ideas for creative artworks Chloe is an amazing piano player and also plays the guitar. Initially the shoot was going to be Chloe playing the piano with some sort of outdoor background. We thoug ..read more

How to take landscapes on the Fuji film X-T2. Landscape photography is one of the most popular photography styles in the world. Mainly due to the power of the landscape on the human mind.  It can be beautiful and ever changing with the weather.  In this blog I will aim to teach you how to take landscapes on the Fujifilm X-T2. This is my most modern camera currently but there are much newer models now such as the X-T3 and X-T4. This blog is about how to take landscapes on the Fujifilm X-T2 but it will apply to others in this range including earlier models like the X-T1. The perfect la ..read more

The Covid-19 lockdown in New Zealand has been making me think lately – maybe too much.  I decided to write a blog on how to juggle motherhood and business.  This has been brewing for a while, like one of those super dark cups of tea that have been keeping me going recently.  I haven’t felt myself – probably lower in mood than usual – but it brings up how I’ve felt in the past about my business and motherhood together.  Both of these things are extremely rewarding – but can also be like hanging on to a crazy ride. Motherhood | How to juggle motherhood and business! Moth ..read more

An idea for Iris – a Climate Change Shoot Every year I enter the Iris awards and I had an idea for a shoot for several months for the in-camera portrait section of the 2020 awards. The theme was climate change.  Next I had to think how to set up my climate change shoot. My Model I had a beautiful model in mind –  Francesca. She is a ballroom and Latin dancer with Silhouette Studios NZ and has the perfect look for being a goddess of the earth. I had no idea who this goddess was, so googled it, as you do, discovering that the most common name is Gaia.   Costuming and props I had a ..read more

Hazel and Cass Photography in my studio Last year I started painting interesting backdrops for my studio.  This was to add a unique look to my photos.  Before I unleashed my new backdrops on my clients I wanted to try them out with a model.  Who better to model than little Hazel, part of the brand Hazel and Cass Photography. A fire cracker of a model Hazel is one cute little girl and told me what she thought of my backdrops.  One was a pink colour with spots.  I still have it but very keen to paint over it shortly as I don’t use it for client work.  It is a bit to ..read more

Covid-19 why oh why? So there is this whole Covid-19 thing and I had to think how to take dark portraits to represent it.  New Zealand has the most amazing Prime Minister who has closed down the country very early on to avoid a massive fast spread of this dangerous virus.  To my age group who are non-smokers and eat fairly healthy and are not immune compromised, the virus is probably going to be mild, however I have a 91 year old grandma who I love dearly and an 82 year old Dad who has had health problems but keeps going. A dark project – how to take dark portraits So my family which ..read more