Oumaya and Jonathan's Intimate Burbury Wedding
We had a run of wild weather in November and early December this year. On the Friday of Oumaya's and Jonathan's wedding, it absolutely bucketed down- we ended up getting rained out of our option A (A pergola at the Old Parliament House Rose Gardens), and also our option B (a small undercover area nearby), and had to come up with an option C real fast.
Luckily, our couple were quick-thinking and creative. We moved the wedding to their Burbury hotel room, and had the intimate ceremony with their 22 guests on their balcony. The girls laid out a flower petal aisle leading from the bedroom to the balcony, and Oumaya's beaming father walked her down to meet Jonathan on the balcony. It was one of sweetest, most touching ceremonies I've seen.
Sandra & Daniel: Fitters' Workshop Wedding Canberra
Sandra and Daniel got married at St Gregory's Church in Queanbeyan and then had their reception at The Fitters' Workshop in Kingston. I felt honoured to spend the day with them and their closest friends from the start of the day while they were getting ready, to the beautiful ceremony, exploring forests in Piallago with the bridal party, and then joining in the celebrations at the Fitters' Workshop.
Sarah and Kaya's National Gallery of Australia wedding
Sarah and Kaya had their beautiful wedding at the National Gallery of Australia, surrounded by 200 or so adoring family and friends. This is how I saw the day unfold...
Bonbon - An Editorial
I'm obsessed with pink walls, and every time I travel I gravitate towards them as predictably as a dog gravitates towards the nearest tree. So I've been eye-ing this dilapidated vacant apartment block with pink walls near my place in Braddon and dreaming of portraits I could shoot with it.
I couldn't think of anyone who would suit this shoot more than the talented Gem Chua (represented by Devojka Models). She fit the urban lolita vibe to a tee, and rocked a flower in her mouth like no one else could (except maybe Lana Del Rey), and we shot this almost completely impromptu in 45mins.
Film Luxe- A cool toned cinematic Lightroom and Photoshop ACR preset
The last few editorials I shot called for a more dramatic edit than my previous work, and one in particular ('Tonal', published in the September issue of Feroce Magazine) was all about greens and blues. This is where the inspiration for the colour palette of my new preset 'Film Luxe' came from- cool toned, striking greens and reds, clean whites, and with a touch of a cinematic feel. This preset is great for portraits in fashion / editorials, still life (think cool toned instagram feeds), and travel.
Film luxe is a complex, multifaceted preset- for high key images, it has a very clean 'Scandinavian' lifestyle type look, and for darker images it has a more filmic edgy feel.
There are three versions.
Film Luxe 1 - cleanest version, with the least amount of highlight and shadow fading.
Film Luxe 2 - increased highlight fade, more desaturated, has a 'dreamy' quality and a more obvious slate blue tinge to the shadows.
Film Luxe 3 - increased highlight and shadow fade, more contrast and crushed blacks, and more saturated greens than the others. This has more of an edgier, slightly polaroid film type feel.
Available for download at my Etsy store.
My DSLR to Instagram Workflow- the OCD photographer's guide
Let me preface this post by saying that I am by no means a whiz at Instagram- getting followers, engagement, etc etc.
This post is about my workflow for getting RAW images from my DSLR to Instagram in a way that is streamlined, works with the way I edit, and also allows me to be OCD about my how my grid looks.
I see my photography Instagram account @StraightNoChaserPix as a rolling portfolio. It's easier to show someone your work by opening Instagram than to load up your website. For this reason I like my grid to make sense and for the images to reflect my aesthetic.
Botanical Gardens Maternity Session: Avleen and Dev
Avleen and Dev are expecting their first child and I was honoured to be asked to document this precious time in their lives. Avleen wanted to explore the Botanical Gardens in Canberra, so we made our way there last weekend and walked around the gorgeous lush rainforest and spent the hour before sunset at the rock garden area of the Botanical Gardens.
My second shoot at the Rainforest in this month! Gorgeous spot.
Ash & Josh: Canberra Botanical Gardens Engagement Session
It was a freezing winter's morning when we ventured out for Ashleigh and Josh's engagement shoot in the Canberra Botanical Gardens a few weeks ago. These two cuties kept each other warm with plenty of snuggling and we all had a blast despite the famous Canberra morning chill.
I love shooting in the rainforest area of the Botanical gardens. Even when it's busy, the ferns somehow muffles the noises of the outside world and you feel like you're in a whole other place very far from Canberra.
Only Forward / Open Fields - An Editorial for Big Ink Magazine
We shot this editorial for Big Ink magazine at the end of the summer. I keep coming back to the Virgin Suicides aesthetic in my inspiration boards, and I wanted to take advantage of Canberra's endless open fields before the cold weather started to set in.
Model // Alexandra Rayne
Hair and makeup // Stephanie Church
Styling // Jessica Di Scipio
Concept and photography // Jenny Wu
Soundtrack // Lana Del Rey 'Born To Die' album
Published // Big Ink Magazine issue #19
Using Lightroom Preset Part 2: Customizing Contrast, Fading, and skin tones
Why customize?
Personal style. You might like to be able to control how much highlight or shadow fading there is in your images, amongst other things.
Consistency in varying shooting situations. Being able to tweak settings can help you achieve a similar look across both high contrast and low contrast scenes.
Skin tones. Sometimes skin tones can look a bit funky in certain lighting with certain presets. Tweak the settings to flatter skin.
In this post I go through how to customize your presets to suit a variety of situations. I will be mostly using my own presets (you can find them at my preset store on Etsy), but I also include an example of customizing a Dawn Charles preset.
How to install and use Lightroom Presets: Part 1
BASIC FOUNDATION ADJUSTMENTS - START HERE
When your image comes out of the camera exactly as you expect it- it is editing heaven, especially when you want to do the one click preset magic thing. This post goes through what you need to do when that doesn't happen.
Authentic Design: An editorial
I loved being part of this editorial which explores authenticity of design and the journeys of four extremely talented furniture designers. It is truly inspiring to see the amount of talent in Canberra- what I would now consider a melting pot of creative energy and a (surprising?) shift from how things were even as recently as 5 years ago.
Models // Bronte Morgan and Alexandra Rubio (Haus Models)
Creative direction // Jessica Di Scipio and Stephanie Tallos
Words // Stephanie Tallos
Makeup // Steph Church
Published // Big Ink Magazine Issue 19
Furniture design // Chelsea Lemon, Nicholas Harper, Peter Bollington, Rolf Barfoed
Photography // Jenny Wu
CAMPUS - an editorial
Just a casual little editorial that we shot in an hour whilst wandering around ANU.
Model // Ashleigh Wilson from Devojka Models
Published // Leiden Magazine
Session edited with my Life//style Lightroom preset
Sarah and Kaya: Stromlo Observatory Engagement
A couple of weekends back Sarah, Kaya, and I explored Mount Stromlo for their engagement shoot. I could not have asked for a more beautiful Autumn day with clear skies and beautiful soft light at sunset. The old observatory and nearby buildings are some of my favourite places to visit and shoot, and we found a little forest a few hundred meters away just as the sun went down.
We also did some fun photos with their 2 dachshunds around a nearby park beforehand. Challenging to get them both looking at the camera at the same time! Such frenetic energy!
Can't wait for their wedding later in the year.
Session edited with my Life//style Lightroom preset
Black and White Preset Lightroom Bundle NEW
My black and white editing has evolved since I released the last collection, so I've discontinued that one and replaced it with a new updated one! This preset pack includes:
- Clean Fade: smooth silky dreamy B&W
- Clean Fade HC (high contrast)
- Filmic Fade : B&W with characteristics of film
- Filmic Fade + : increased grain and fade
- Filmic Fade ++ : even more dramatic version of the above.
- High Contrast : Contrast contrast contrast
- Signature : a beautiful all rounder, great for portraits.
Download the pack here.