Custom photography

What I do, has a name.

Thanks to this site http://www.professionalchildphotographer.com I have learnt a little more about what I do as a photographer. I like taking all kinds of photos, but find the natural, less posed and unsual shots more appealing than the sit still and smile kind. Unless the sit still and smile kind has something extra thrown in. Or at least not taken in a studio because I look back now at the portaits of my girls and think how horrible I was to dress them up as an eggplant...When will they ever look back and think that that was who they were as a child?

What I want from my photography is to help people share memories of themselves and their family, as they were at that time. As themselves. To capture their personality, their emotions, and the environment that forms a part of the place they call home.

I imagine one day looking back at studio portraits and not knowing which shopping centre or studio the photo was taken in, then looking at some of my own photos and know for certain - that one was at Grandma's house, that one was at the weir (you were grumpy that day!) and that one was at the Botanic Gardens.

There is nothing wrong with studio portraits if you're after a nice photo of the children or whole family together. They remind us of how we looked and show us how we've changed, but I agree with the sentiment expressed on the aforementioned website that "Custom photography is based on being unique to you".

I can offer my 'clients' a choice of locations to suit them, time of day, time of year. I ask them if there is anything in particular they want from their shoot, and if so, I get those shots amongst the first so they aren't bored or tired of having photos taken. After that, especially with the children, it is easiest to observe and shoot as I see fit, capturing moments of play in between poses. With adults we can muck around and try all kinds of poses and simply have fun. All of this results in hundreds of photos...


It isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I do worry when I show clients the more artistic shots that I love that they may hate them...not that anyone has said anything so far!!