Marketing Photography to support Social Change

Every now and then, a project comes along that allows me into spaces that are really making a difference out there in our communities.
Last year I had the honour of working on several shoots for Te Hou Ora Whānau Services with For Purpose, a digital campaigning agency that helps communities and socially-led organisations create positive social change.
The goal was to create images to support THOWS in illustrating what they’re out there doing on the ground - Kaupapa Māori centred social work with young people and whānau here in Ōtepoti, Dunedin.
I had the opportunity to join a Wānanga and Noho Marae in Tautuku, The Catlins, and also shot onsite at THOWS premises and at an outdoor program in Waitati.
This gave us a huge amount of imagery that was used for Te Hou Ora’s beautiful website, funding applications, print media and annual reports.
(Really worth checking these links for examples of really well used photography and design!)

It was such a joy being a part of this project, and seeing my work used so, SO well in all the new collateral that For Purpose has created. I highly recommend checking out their work and business ethos - what a great model!
And a really big thanks to all our lovely models and staff at Te Hou Ora, who were the real stars of the show ♥️

Wildwood Flowers

Golden summer light… swathes of beautiful flowers… the loveliest florist in a tiny studio sitting atop a mountain…
what more could I want in a content shoot?!

Content imagery for small business is my absolute favourite thing to shoot. It’s like tying up all the years of hard work, passion, ideas and successes into a little box, and presenting it back to the client, where they finally see their business come to life in a visual story.
Content images give businesses such a boost - in these days of constant social media updates and self promotion, the importance of fresh imagery is higher than ever. Having a good variety of professional images is key - making sure you can tell a story to your clients and keep people interested is one of the best things you can do to ensure success.
For smaller businesses like Robyn’s beautiful Wildwood Flowers, a two hour shoot to cover all bases is all that’s needed - easy peasy!
Pop me a message if you want to invest in some beautiful content imagery - I have packages for all levels of business,
starting at $550 🌸

You can see more of my commercial work here!

Why Winter is the best time for Family Portraits in Dunedin

Winter is hands down my favourite time of year for family portraits.

Yes, it’s cold - but the beautiful golden light you get in the mornings and evenings is totally magical, and can lift a normal session to something wonderfully cinematic.

In Dunedin we have the luxury of being so far south, that the sun stays low enough to fit an entire session into the golden hour - it just keeps getting better and better. The other bonus is that the best light comes between 3 & 5.30pm
- perfect timing for little ones.
With so many of our outdoor locations being hilly, you can also get different light effects as the sun passes behind them.
Streaming sun rays, direct shadows, soft bluey tones - interesting qualities that give clients many different aesthetics
within the one session.
Obviously, wrapping up warm is key - this is not the time to photograph newborns!
But from toddlerhood onward, children can be bundled up snug, and just love to run wild outdoors. Textures of wool, corduroys and warm accessories just accentuate the photos.

Next time you’re booking a family portrait shoot, consider Winter for something different!
You might find you get the best family photos you’ve ever had.

The Messy Minimalists

Kate and I first met about 12-ish years ago during my time shooting advertising work for Otago Polytechnic, where she was part of the wonderful OG marketing team.

We quickly became great friends, being of similar age and stage, and over the years we’ve shared many a laugh, tear, and a drunken weekend away. She’s an absolute bestie, and I’ve been so grateful for her friendship, especially in the torturous years of early motherhood and OCD!

Although Kate has been a stand out model in many marketing campaigns we’ve shot, (think about whose hands you’ve seen using an iPad or computer, that person laughing at a cafe table, or the female builder hammering a nail on the ‘Women in Trades’ advert….) she’s never had any photos taken just for her!

Kate’s finally started up a website for her long standing passion, interior design - she’s one of those people whose house looks like it’s out of a magazine, and everytime I visit I’m asking “where’s this from? Who painted that?” etc etc…. - She just knows what looks good and how to put things together.

We got together recently to shoot some portrait content for her blog The Messy Minimalists - I highly recommend visiting if you’re into interior design and storage solutions!
Thank you Kate for such a fun and relaxing shoot 🌸

Diwali at Otago Museum

It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed photographing an event as much as I did for Diwali at Otago Museum!
Such a joyous, fun filled, loud and colourful celebration - full of community feels and learning. I really love how the Museum is putting on so many social events these days, it’s a great way of modernising an old institution and encouraging people to get out of their bubbles and learn new things.
For me, the most amazing part of the festival was the dancing - just incredible performances from a wide range of ages and stages. It was awesome to watch. I highly recommend attending next year - hopefully I’ll see you there!

Tartan Sari

Being able to stretch my creative side into design, styling and marketing is a really fun break from my normal ‘bread and butter’ work, and a chance to put some personality and emotion into a shoot is truly what keeps me loving my job day after day.

The brief for this Branding Package was to show Tartan Sari’s delicious curry paste and chutney products being used in different ways, to create a content library that fitted with their colour palette of ‘royal Indian colours’, and to lift this small Dunedin business’s profile online.

For this shoot, I teamed up with my favourite food stylist and friend, Hayley Dodd of Nadia Journal - and over a couple of meetings, we worked out a menu that would show lots of different uses for Danielle’s products, and brainstormed styling ideas and props to fit the feel of modern Indian cooking.

The day of the shoot was, as usual, a huge day of laughs, cooking, and a lot of eating!

It’s been an absolute joy seeing Tartan Sari using the images across all their platforms - thank you Danielle for choosing me to showcase your beautiful food!

You can find Tartan Sari products on their website, at Otago Farmer’s Market, and selected stores around Aotearoa.

Venture Forestry

One of the parts of my job I love the most, is getting out and experiencing things I wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to. It keeps me interested, fresh, and excited about work when I have jobs to shoot like this website project for Venture Forestry.

We headed up to a forestry block high above the Taiari Plains, and photographed the ins and outs of a general day in Forest Management. Super interesting, and such a fun day working with awesome people.

Autumn with the Richards Family

I love any excuse to get out into the beautiful golden light at this time of year, it’s my absolute favourite to work in (as with many photographers!).
I’d been planning a shoot with the Richards family for about a year, and we kept having to postpone due to covid, sickness and logistics - but we finally got there, and I’m so happy that they were keen to pop out to one of my favourite shooting spots near my home on the Otago Peninsula.
It’s full of long grass, beautiful light, and amazing views (unless the fog rolls in like it did halfway though our shoot…. which always adds to the challenge!).
Photographing the chaos of family life is pretty much my favourite thing to do - it’s no problem if your kids run wild and refuse to sit still - that all adds to the feels of the photos!
Sometimes, those crazy, cuddles or tears shots end up being the actual treasures.
Thank you, Tash and family for permission to share these beautiful memories ♥️

Yum! - By Nadia Lim

I’m absolutely thrilled to finally be able to share a project I’ve been working on for a long time!

Yum! By Nadia Lim, Annabel Inglis and Dietitians Jenny Douglas and Lisa Daniels.

It was a huge (and very nerve wracking!) privilege to be asked to photograph for this book, and I’m so glad to finally see it printed. It’s real!

Thank you Nadia for giving me this opportunity to learn from the pro herself, it was just such an honour.

This book is full of amazing recipes that suit the entire family - babies to adults. I ate a lot from this book while we were shooting and I can tell you that it’s most definitely Yum!

Yum! Is out in Bookstores nationwide from May 12th 2022