Why people book luxury portrait sessions: The 50th Birthday

Posted in: BIG kids | couture | families | mother and child

Meet Sanchia.

She had seen some photos I had taken of a friend of hers and decided that if she was ever to get what she really wanted for her 50th birthday, then she should probably stop waiting for her husband to read her mind and just take matters into her own hands. So she called me and booked a shoot for herself and her family.

Here’s what she had to say about the experience:

“Sharing one of Jen’s photoshoots with my family was such great day.  Jen made us feel so welcome and comfortable. She was in touch with us frequently before our shoot, helping us decide what clothes to bring and letting us know what to expect every step of the way, so we felt confident that we were in very professional hands. Having our hair and makeup done by Eloise and Helen was a treat, and we felt like models. When I first saw our images from the shoot I thought, “Wow!” and I now have our beautiful folio box in our lounge room, and I select different photos to display on the little matching easel. The day spent with Jen doing the photo shoot is not just about the beautiful photos you have for ever but also the memory of a truly special day spent with the friends or family you are having the photos with.  Jen makes this a very special day.”

Want to share a day like this with your family? Click here to get in touch.

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How to make a cup of tea.

Posted in: how to | my own | You've gotta laugh

I’ve been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work here at vividity land. One job has been to revise my workflow for the different kinds of shoots I do….. which got me thinking about workflow in other areas of my life.

Here’s my typical cup of tea workflow:

Put kettle on.
Sit at desk and work.
Hear kettle boil. Ignore kettle until finished the work you were doing.
Turn off kettle and prepare cup and teabag.
Burn hand on handle of kettle.
Get tea brewing.
Return to work.
Work for half an hour or so.
Think, “I’d like a cup of tea”.
Go to put the kettle on and notice the tea already brewing.
Touch cup to see whether still hot. Think it is still hot because any tiny bit of warmth feels hot on a burnt hand.
Add milk.
Attempt to drink tea.
Miss mouth.
Clean up mess.
Repeat.

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Yes, but do you shoot products?

Posted in: commercial | product spotlight | styled shoot

A few people have asked me lately whether I shoot products.  Well…. it depends.

I used to annoy the crap out of my university students by answering all their questions with, “Well, it depends.” And I’m going to do that here, too.

Do I shoot products?

Yes.

And no.

It depends.

If your product is a piece of clothing or an accessory of some kind, then I am more than happy to incorporate it into a portrait session, or to hire a model and do a shoot specifically to show off that product. Here are some recent images from a test shoot with the gorgeous Grazielle Lima.

If you have small-ish products and you’d like some creative images that make your products look deliciously desirable, then yes, I can shoot that. Ideally I would also do personal branding portraits for you and your team as well. 😉 Here are some that I shot for Turramurra Drapery.

But do I do product shots for e-commerce sites? Hell no! If you ask me to take straight up and down plain Jane photos of your super-duper funky new fandangled widget-y thing from front, back, and side so that you can use it for your ‘add to cart’ pages, well…. let’s just say I’d rather not. Nor do I do ‘invisible mannequin’ style shots (usually called ‘ghosting’ in photography circles).

But I know people who do. And they do it well.

So if you’re looking for the kinds of photos you see above, then yes, I’ll happily talk with you about what you need. If you’re after ‘proper’ product photography, then I will happily help you find a photographer who can do what you’re looking for.

And then everyone’s happy!

Ready to talk about your photographic needs? Click here to get the ball rolling.

 

 

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What makes a good profile pic? » vividity blog - […] like in one of my previous posts (on product photography), I’m going to answer that by saying “It […]

Vintage. How very hip, very cool, very now.

Posted in: families | mother and child | my own

It seems everyone is into all things vintage these days, doesn’t it? So here I go jumping on that particular train, too. Have a look at this. Isn’t this an incredibly beautiful old image? And how about that hand colouring that was done back then? This scan simply doesn’t do the image justice.

 

The young lady in that photo above is my beautiful mum when she was about 21 years old. As I write I am wearing a top that she knitted for herself at about that age. It’s precious, but I love to wear it. Hopefully it will survive all the wearing and washing long enough for me to pass it down to my own daughter.

Here’s another photo of my mum. It’s much more recent, though I realise (with some disquiet, I might add!) that this, too, is now technically “vintage”.

 

 

It was taken by Kimberley Mann, the photographer for my wedding in 1993. And you know what? This photo is as precious to me as the hand painted one above, not because it was my wedding day, but because it’s about the only photo I have of us together. I was the last of four babies, and Mum was more likely to be in the kitchen or in the laundry than in photos!

And you know what makes this photo even more precious? Mum died in 1996 — just a few years after I married, and many years before I had children of my own.

And I still miss her.

It wasn’t until my own children were born that I really understood what Mum had given me — and by then it was too late to say thank you. Or sorry.

Perhaps that’s why I love mother & daughter shoots so much. There is a point in every shoot where Mum looks at Daughter and sees the incredible woman she is becoming, and another moment where Daughter looks at Mother and recognises in her the amazing and beautiful woman that she is. These two women — one younger, one older — both learn to appreciate one another more through the simple act of sharing a girly day together. And I know that one day the images we create in their mother and daughter shoot will be counted among that family’s most prized possessions.

 

 

So if you still have your mum, go give her a hug and tell her that you appreciate all that she does for you. And mums, go find your children and tell them how proud you are of all they are achieving. It’s a very hip, very cool thing to do. And please, do it now, because one day it will be too late.

Much love to you.
Jen

 

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The knitting that might just beat me.

Posted in: knitting | whine

 

I am four rows into a 44 row repeating knitting pattern and…..AAAGH!!! This pattern book should come with a warning:

I knit for pleasure. For relaxation. And I have done since I was about 6 years old. That’s a long time. But this? This is anything but relaxing or pleasurable!! It’s like knitting with 217 stitches of cobweb!

“You need this luxurious item in your life!” says the description in the pattern book.

No. No I don’t, actually.

“Knit one for your glamorous best friend too,” it says. My friends all just got a whole lot less glam.

All I can hope is that once there is enough fabric to stop the work twisting around the needles, and once the pattern is established, it will eventually become fun. Or at least tolerable. Relaxing is too much to hope for, I’m afraid.

 

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