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 and 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).

Well it's almost the end of November and you are probably already sick of trawling the shops looking for meaningful gifts for your loved ones.  In my (albeit biased opinion) there is nothing better, or more personal than photos.  And they don't have to be taken professionally - there is a lot you can do at home too.  Here are some of my favourite photo gifts and ideas....

1.  The Calendar


Each year I make a calendar for my family.  I usually wait until they go on special at Snapfish (great service, excellent prices and good quality for calendars and the like) and order about 12 of them.  I add in families birthday's and photo's of us throughout the year.  I never realised how much my family liked them until one year I didn't do them and ended up having to order them all on Boxing Day with the amount of complaints I got...  ;-)

2.  A story staring you


I make these all the time for my kids.  We have a long running series - "The Adventures of Fairy Angel Bottom" where we will go out and take photo's during the day and then at night I will turn them into a story which I will get printed as a story book through Snapfish.  We have had all sorts of adventures - a girl who lost her giggle, the day the giants attacked Christchurch - let your imagination run wild.  The best thing I find - take the photo's without a story in mind and let the images guide the story at the end (I once wrote a story on a plane this way flying back from Christchurch and it is amazing the weird and wonderful stories photo's can tell).  Again, a really cost efficient and a great way to bring photos to life..

3.  Show that you listen


You know those times when someone points something out that they love - a favourite flower that only grows in Spring, a favourite song, a favourite colour, a drink.  Make a note of it, photograph it and then turn it into a canvas that they can hang in their house and always know that you listened, you cared enough to find it and to make sure it was there for them always.

4.  Make taking the photo the fun part


My favourite way to engage kids with photography is shutter speed.  This gets a bit technical in terms of the camera set up and I am not great at explaining it but her goes....  Get a dark room.  Turn the camera on to manual, wind the ISO down as far as you can (try for 100 if you can) and the aperture up as high (numerically as you can - try for 20 or higher) and the shutter speed as long as you can (5-10 seconds) and have fun with motion blur.  My favourites are setting the camera up on a tipod (or bench if you don't have one) and letting the kids run around and see their "ghosts".  Or, if you can find some glow sticks, turn off all the lights and increase the shutter speed to 30 seconds and let them play with painting with light.  It's loads of fun!!