• What areas of Perth do you shoot in?

• Where should I have the shoot?

• What should I wear?

• What about hair and make-up?

• What are you going to make me do in the session?

• What does it cost?

• How will I receive my images?

• A note about image editing

What areas of Perth do you shoot in?

I travel all across the Perth metro area to photograph my clients in their homes or chosen outdoor locations. From Joondalup to Fremantle, Floreat to Kalamunda, north or south of the river. I am also happy to provide quotes for traveling further afield than the greater Perth area (eg. Busselton, Margaret River). My usual fee would just be adjusted to cover transport and accomodation costs if required.

The first choice is outdoors or indoors. If we’re shooting outdoors, the shoot will be just before sunset, what photographers refer to as ‘golden hour’, and run for about an hour until just after sunset. This is when we can capture the most beautiful light and use it to our advantage to make some breathtaking images. If it’s at the beach, it will be about half an hour before sunset. If it’s at a park or other outdoor location we’ll go a bit earlier as we’ll lose the light earlier too. If there is a location that is particularly meaningful to your family, somewhere that you spend a lot of time together for example, that might be the perfect spot. Please don’t feel that your outdoor shoot has to be at the beach just because you’ve seen so many beach shoots online. Yes, the beach is beautiful but if you’re not a beach person, it doesn’t really make sense to have your session there. You want the images to reflect you. We can make beautiful photos anywhere, even just your local neighbourhood park. If you really have no preference, Kings Park is my go-to location as we can access lots of beautiful bush spots which are just magical at dusk.

If it’s indoors it can be at any time of day, so we have more flexibility with timing, and it would preferably be at your home. I want to capture you comfortably in your sanctuary, with all the little details that make your home unique. Usually newborn shoots are done at home so that everyone, particularly mum, can be as comfy as possible and we can control the environment more, keeping things quiet and calm for bub. But if you really want your newborn shoot outdoors, that’s totally fine with me, it’s up to you.

Typically we will shoot near windows, so bedrooms, loungerooms and bathrooms are the usual choices. When I arrive for the shoot I’ll take a look around and see where the best light is and let you know where I’m thinking of shooting. I’ll try and use at least 3 different spots in your home to give you some variety in the images. The most important thing to remember for a home shoot is that your house doesn’t need to look like a showroom. I’d really prefer it didn’t. It’s not a shiny magazine shoot, I want to capture your personality. If there’s a bit of mess around, it’s really not a big deal. Most of the time those details won’t even be in the frame, but if something is really going to ruin the shot, we can quickly move it out of the way if needed. So please don’t let the idea of having to spend hours cleaning your house, or not having an ‘insta-worthy’ home, put you off having a home shoot. I’m not photographing your greasy kitchen backsplash, I’m photographing you and your special people. Everything else will generally just blur into the background.

The short answer to this is, whatever you feel comfortable in - but it’s up to you how much effort you want to put into your outfit. In my opinion, it really is worth putting some thought into. If you feel like buying something new and special for the shoot, fantastic, but chances are that is completely not necessary and you will have the perfect thing tucked away in your wardrobe. My photographic aesthetic is quite natural, so don’t feel the need to get really dressed up. Things that can move and catch the wind look amazing in photos, so if we are going to be outdoors, long dresses or skirts are great. But if you’re not a dress person (I understand, I’m not!) then jeans and a top will look just as good. You just need to feel comfortable and like yourself. What is way more important is how everyone’s outfits work together. You want them to complement each other. This doesn’t mean they have to match or be the same colour, they just need to look good next to each other. Earthy colours like greens, browns, rusts, greys and even beige and white always look nice on everyone from babies to adults. If you really aren’t sure where to start just pick some plain, complementary colours and go from there. Or check out my gallery for some inspo, you’ll find some great examples there. Feel free to send me photos of what you are thinking of wearing before the shoot too if you would like another opinion.

A note about pregnancy shoots… It’s completely up to you whether you feel comfortable getting your bump out or not. Some people can’t wait to get their kit off and show off their beautiful belly, others are not so keen. Personally, I love to photograph naked bumps and as it’s possibly the only time you’ll get to document this amazing feat of your body, it might be worth considering getting out of your comfort zone and getting that belly out. There are lots of options - bikini or underwear, a long top or dress that unbuttons down the front, a long skirt with a crop top - you can expose as much or as little skin as you are comfortable with. If you want to remain fully clothed that is of course perfectly fine!

I’m all about capturing you in your natural state, so there’s no pressure to look ‘made up’, unless that is your normal style. Just do whatever you’d do on a normal day - if that’s just a little bit of make-up and a quick hair brush, perfect. Hate make-up? Great, me too. Just skip it. Full face of make-up every day? Awesome! Go for it! Just be yourself. Just one request re hair though - if we are shooting outdoors, I would love you to wear your hair out. It doesn’t need to be styled, just able to be thrown around by the wind a little to create some natural movement in your photos. Unless, you guessed it, you absolutely hate wearing your hair out. As with clothing choices, you should feel comfortable. You want your photos to reflect your true self.

Fear not, my shoots are fun and casual. You don’t need to practice your best poses. It’s just you hanging out with your fam and me hopping about around you. I’m not into smiley, posed family portraits. In fact, I probably won’t even ask you to smile at all. You will do that naturally, as you interact with those you love the most. In my sessions there is lots of shooting from behind, from the side, and not so much from front on. You can probably see from my gallery that I love a back of head shot! Don’t worry, I will capture plenty of your beautiful faces as well, but you’ll have lots of other perspectives too. I might ask you to look this way or that, to reach for each other, to kiss his head, to take a walk. Only occasionally will I ask you to look at the camera. All I’m looking for is connection. If you bring that in abundance, I’ll just move around you capturing your unique magic as you go. If the mood takes us I might suggest something a bit more out there that I think will look awesome. That’s the beauty of a session, it can go anywhere depending on the energy and attitude you bring to the shoot!

My sessions run for approximately one hour, are held in one location of your choice and are $650 (updated March 2023). This includes an online gallery with a minimum of 75 high resolution images for download. A 50% deposit is payable on booking and the remaining 50% is billed on delivery of your gallery (more info below about gallery delivery).

Within a week of your session I will send you some sneak peeks (usually around 10 images). Within two weeks I will send you the whole gallery online, accessed via a link which I will email to you. To ensure your privacy and security it is a password protected gallery with a download code which you can share with family and friends at your own discretion. The gallery will contain a minimum of 75 high resolution images, a mix of colour and black and white options, which you can download straight to your computer or phone. You can download the whole gallery, or just your favourites. You keep all the images, there are no additional charges or purchases depending on how many you download. If you wish to print any of your images you can take the files directly to a printer and arrange this yourself, however I’m happy to make recommendations.

Hopefully you are hiring me to take your portraits because you’ve seen my work and you like my style and the aesthetic of my images. As such I reserve the right to edit the images as I see fit and I don’t offer any additional editing after the gallery has been delivered. I spend a lot of timing editing my images, and make many decisions during the process that ultimately lead me to deliver you a gallery I am proud of and I hope you will love. Please don’t ask me to send you any other images I may have from the session. Please trust I’ve given you all of the best images. I have not given you images that I felt did not work, or were not the best representation of you as the client or myself as the photographer, and I reserve that right also.

I don’t do any photoshopping, so please don’t ask me to make your bum look smaller or remove the mole on your face, that’s not my jam. The only time I’ll consider doing any editing of this kind is if, for example, your toddler fell over the day before the shoot and has a huge bruise on his forehead that is very visible and drawing too much attention in the images. Fair enough, that’s just really bad timing (and poor little guy!). I will sort that out for you in editing. But if you want to look totally airbrushed you might need to consider finding another photographer.