Q&A

-How did you first become interested in photography?

I can’t remember a time when I WASN’T interested in it – even as a child I would hoard old photographs of my grandparents (who were married in the 30’s). To this day, I have many of them framed and displayed throughout my house. I may have never met the people in them, but I love how I can feel like I was part of them just through the photos.

-How would you describe your style of photography?

Whether I’m shooting weddings or beauty in the studio, I like to think my style is clean and bright.

-How do you market your business?

I actively use SEO and my website as the main source of my marketing. Although I had previously had paid vendor listings, I’ve been cutting back on those as the nature of communication has been changing. Social media used to be my largest source of marketing, but they’ve recently been making it more and more difficult for artists and creators to reach their audience. I’ve also started to work backwards, re-instating old marketing techniques like email newsletters. I’ve been seeing great results with that recently!

-How do you go about building trust between you and your clients?

First, it starts with simply being consistent. My work, although it grows and changes, has stayed relatively consistent throughout the years. I also focus on client communication – I have an entire section of my website for my clients with information we’re most frequently asked. And finally, just doing what’s right. Outside of my business, I’m a vocal advocate for human rights issues and I’ve found my clients really respect that.

-What is your post-production workflow like?

Following a wedding, I have a multi-step backup process to ensure the safety of my images. Then, I’ll use PhotoMechanic to cull through the images, picking the best shots for my “highlights”. These get edited first and are the ones I’ll use to share with vendors, post sneak peeks and submit for publishing. We will do basic adjustments in Lightroom before uploading the event to our ShootProof gallery for the clients.

When I’m working on beauty projects in the studio, the workflow is considerably different. I’ll pick my favourites in Lightroom and then do full editing in Photoshop. Where I may take less than a minute on a wedding image edit, a beauty image edit can take 20 minutes or more.

-What is your dream project?

Creatively, I feel like working on beauty projects for makeup brands would be an absolute dream. There’s something so challenging about beauty photography and I feel the most inspired by those shoots. When it comes to weddings, it’s always still a dream to be invited with couples on their destination weddings. I think I’d love to photograph a wedding or elopement in Africa, Tokyo or Norway!

-How do you approach posing or directing your subject?

It’s definitely more of a natural ‘directing’ style. I encourage couples to do things that feel natural, and I love getting to see how each couple is different! It’s my job to watch and take mental notes so I know how to best showcase their love. I can never approach 2 couples in the same way, and that keeps me on my toes!

-What is your general guide when it comes to lighting?

I LOVE light! I’ll often look for the lighting I love first, and then focus on background second. Although I adore big open shade for the consistency, I also love that little break of sunlight just over the back of my subjects.

-How would you advise someone just starting out in wedding photography?

I would first recommend taking business courses! There’s a lot on the line when you’re photographing weddings – and it’s important to understand contracts, accounting, insurances, backup protocol (for equipment and files) and liabilities. I’ve seen some incredible photographers go out of business in 2 years because they couldn’t handle the business side of it. When it counts, remember you’re a business owner first.

-What was the best career advice you were ever given?

I feel like I’ve learned more from the BAD career advice I’ve gotten! Haha! I think that social media tricks us in to thinking we’re not good enough, successful enough or loved enough. I feel like there’s constant pressure to ‘show up’ every single day – and sometimes you have to realise it’s ok to have a non-cultivated instagram feed, or to not be politically correct 24 hours a day. Just be the best self you can that day and the rest will fall in to place!