I'm not going to get on my high horse here and say that I never say these words.  I do.  I'm just like you and the first thing I look at is my double chin, my wrinkles, my fat tummy - you know, all those things we look for in photos.

But now days I do something different too.  I put away my pride and I look through the photos again and I look past the "bits" that aren't perfect to find the one that captures the emotion of the day.  The one that one day my kids are going to show their children and say that is my Mum, just how I remember her.  I know I'm also going to look back on that photo and realise how much younger I am and how great I really did look.

So don't through away your photos.  Embrace every imperfection because to someone else you are perfect just the way you are.

Like most photographers I shoot in RAW.  Basically this is a huge file (around 30MB per image) that contains heaps of information so that it can be manipulated afterwards.  Unlike jpegs the camera doesn't apply any automatic settings so when the photos come out on my screen they are stripped bare - raw - and need adjustments like colour, tone, exposure, sharpening etc.

To give you an example - yesterday I spent 4 hours photographing families and 10 hours editing those photos.


A lot of how long it takes to get the photo depends on what other jobs I have on at the time (and how good my children are being at the time).  I am pretty speedy at editing and I don't apply any cosmetic edits which does keep the time down also.

Usually I work to a week turnaround but a lot of the time it is quicker than that as I can't wait to get the photos back to you too!

I can never decide so I edit all of my photography packages in both colour and black and white.

There are certain images that lend themselves to black and white and there are so many processing techniques with black and white that we can create a range of moods with more than just a simple black and white conversion.  There is something so timeless about black and white and so vibrant about colour!

There will be many, many things that you look at when hiring a photographer for your event.  Be it a wedding, a party for a one year old or an 80 year old, a cake smash or an anniversary but for me there is one question that you need to ask your self above all else...  Is this a guest I want to invite to my event?

Your photographer will be a big part of your day (and if you have little ones their day too) and if you have someone who is awkward, imposes themselves or worst still makes you or your guests feel uncomfortable that will be part of your memories of the day.  With children especially rapport is everything and it can make or break a session.

At my own wedding my cousin fainted spectacularly and stopped breathing right in the middle of the photos.  It was a horrific half hour waiting for paramedics and waiting to hear that she was OK (she was totally fine in case you were wondering).  Luckily I had a great photographer who of course stopped while all of this was going on and was sympathetic to all the guests.  What I really respect about that photographer however was how he got us back on track - we did have photos to take and he needed to get us back in that wedding frame of mind.  When I look back on those photos I am eternally grateful that he helped us with this and I got the lovely photos that I wanted.  A good event photographer needs to be adaptable, sympathetic, relatable but at the end of the day he or she also needs to get the shots.

It has to be the beach!  There are so many great things to do at the beach and it is so much fun.  

Having said that the photo above with Dad and his two girls was taken in the most uninspired place and it is one of my all time favourite shots.  We had gone to the local park for our shoot but the sun was right above us and we were getting some gnarly shadows.  The only place that had shade was this little patch of long grass by the path - not great to look at!  But the pictures - divine!!

I have some tips on this on the website but basically what ever you feel most comfortable in.

I'm a bit in love with denim jeans and white t-shirts at the moment for family shots but that only works if you feel good in that too.

I'm pretty loud and a little bit silly (my children will attest to this).  I have silly things like noise makers and shutter buddies to put children at ease and I usually start by making friends with the children first.  

The other thing you will notice about me is that I talk a lot!  Pretty much the whole time I am taking photos!!  It helps me to get to know you and it helps break down some of those barriers and uncomfortableness that you feel when someone is taking your photo.

Most of all I try to have fun and not rush things!

That's a tricky one because I genuinely love photographing babies and children of all ages.

If I had to pick a favourite age it would be around 8 months to 15 months.

They are so full of wonder for the world around them that it is just impossible not to capture some amazing moments.  They are sitting or standing by themselves and their little personalities are just bursting through.

It's a strange one to lead with but I got asked this question about 3 times while photographing a naming ceremony last weekend.

The lens in question was a Canon 70-200 2.8 (for those of you into photography look it up - it truly is incredible).  It's not my regular lens, in fact I only hire it for special events.

And yes, it is a monster and really heavy so my arms do get sore!!

The great thing about this lens is it allows me to shoot from a distance - that means at an event like a naming ceremony I am not disrupting the view of the guests when I am getting my photo's.  It also creates beautiful bokeh (lights in trees and the like) and depth of field (nice blurred backgrounds).