This has been a year that has passed in record speed. I probably say that every year but that’s honestly how it feels.
In a business capacity one of my year’s highlights was photographing a 100-year old’s birthday celebration which was so amazing to see the generations that have been born from one couple’s long marriage. Dear old husband was long gone, but they have 8 children and the sweet old 100-year-old lady looked at me and asked if I was one of hers. Bless her socks.
I have photographed models, many families, formal students and their families, school photos, school formal evening, a Diwali party, a school prize giving, and lots of buses for the transit company I work for. I only got accosted by one random this year when out taking photos, so I count that as a win. He had an ankle monitor on and looked like he was doing drug deals outside the vape shop. Hence him being nervous with me and my big camera hanging around. He told me the Police were doing an investigation on him, and I probably looked like a not very undercover investigator or something. This was after he told me he could sue me for taking photos of him and have me up in court. I told him I didn’t want to take any photos of him but he just kept ranting.
For my hobby photography I have flown my drone in some cool places, did lots of street photography during the day and at night, which I really enjoy, being attracted to the bling and lighting, and attended some photography teaching evenings, having joined a camera club again this year.
On my birthday in April I was so excited to climb the Story Bridge. It’s one I have photographed many times. So we planned a city day and, in the afternoon, we got to climb it. The other climbers and guide sang happy birthday to me at the top. It was brilliant.
In early May I got to be a Keynote Speaker in Hervey Bay at the annual Photography Society of Queensland Convention which was so much fun. I road tripped there with a good friend and we had a great 4 days away seeing old friends and the sights of the town. Doing light painting in the pitch blackness, going out on a boat cruise, eating lots of good food and having some great conversations.
I photographed a lovely Gold Coast wedding mid-year for friends, and saw our last child married to her childhood friend in August.
I gave lots of talks at camera clubs all over Queensland and by Zoom which were mostly all invites from my talk in Hervey Bay. I did stacks of judgings for camera clubs too, and got to see and critique some great images that camera club members produce.
I continued my role as Judges Executive Chair Person and as Vice President of the Photography Society. I mentored some new judges to complete their training. We had some forums and events this year which are always great to be a part of, and see my friends from other areas of the state either in person or over Zoom.
I started networking with another local female photographer and doing jobs for her. I did the on the job shooting, and she did the editing which worked out well.
I replaced my main workhorse lens, the 24-70mm f2.8 with RF glass that is native to the mirrorless camera I use, rather than the EF glass which has an adapter, and bought a little clip-on mirror for my iPhone to do some creative photography.
I even entered my first International Photography competition since 2012, and got a few acceptances which is pretty good when competing on the world stage, and I started to do some aeroplane photography with a friend which was exciting and something different. I had no idea there was a whole community of plane spotters that meet up and chat while waiting for planes. They bring ladders and have rooftop platforms. Some livestream onto YouTube when a special plane comes in, and there’s even teenage boys into it. One 15 year old told me he was saving up to buy a new lens. Get into photography kids, so you don’t have money for drugs!
We had many great weekends away in our van, during which I always love to make Tiktok and Instagram reels. They are fun to film, easy to edit inside the Tiktok platform and is a good reminder of what I got up to in that location.
In my design business, I sold lots of items in my 3 online shops like leggings, tops, bags, dresses and jackets, with Shopify and Etsy, and if I wasn’t busy enough with photography, designing and sales, I started yet another new business doing Santa photography under my own name.
My two business partners I worked with at Christmas for 10 years retired this year. So I started a fresh new business called Santa Bay Photos. It was best for me to walk away from what we had created and host under my own website with no ties. As long as I’m still working as a photographer, I will keep doing this, as Santa is such a loved guy.
It was a fun and creative time thinking through the whole process of bringing the best Santa in the Redlands to the community again with a fresh look. Every prop, every process, right down to editing. I have had magnet signs made up and cards, designed my own logos, got colour coordinated lollies, started social media from scratch, bought and had t-shirts printed, recycled and made new props along with my clever husband who loves to make things out of wood and paint. We made a treasure chest box from scratch to put props in, and use as a set prop, as it doesn’t blow away on the beach. We re-did our surfboard into a double sided one, which the customers loved.
Once I opened bookings, I had 13 in the first 10 minutes alone which was exciting. I had so many customers thank me for taking it on and continuing their family tradition. We worked at a much quieter beach this year, and it cut down the amount of background people to edit out. That alone has saved me so much time, and it’s a great place for kids who need a quiet environment to meet Santa too. We saw lots of new families join us to start their traditions, and many returning families who were familiar to me. Seeing some of the kids now with grown up with partners and more children and dogs being added to families. The 4-week season was a lot of fun and I photographed over a hundred groups on my own, sometimes working with no assistant. Just me doing the work of two people along with Santa. It was wild at times.
When getting ready for the Christmas season, I spent a week revamping my whole website with a new theme and colour scheme. It’s amazing how a new template can just throw each and every page into chaos, so I took the time to think about what I wanted and didn’t want, and developed a whole new and fresh and much simpler look for my website.
Along the way this year, I learnt how to use AI to make a single photo into a dancing photo. I went a little crazy for a day or two, making videos of myself, my grand doggy, the cats and even the resident Curlews. My kids think I needed an intervention, but it’s just a bit of fun and something new to try. Seeing the cat dancing a Scottish jig was a ‘laugh out loud really hard in my lounge’ moment.
Among the unexpected captures this year, was filming the Curlews who live on our front lawn. I happened to catch the Muma Curlew we call Nigella (wife to Nigel) and her two baby chicks in our driveway. I started filming behind my door and then as I opened it, Nigella arked up and screamed at me with her wings outstretched, with the babies standing around her feet wondering what was going on. I put it on Tiktok and was amazed to see the likes, comments and views grow to over 250,000 at the time of writing this blog post. I didn’t know there were so many Curlew lovers and general bird haters in the world. Got a lot of followers out of it too and some people thought it was Robert Urwin’s Curlew called Emily. My daughter once told me to get off Tiktok and get a real job. I can now say I’m a Viral Tiktoker just to annoy her. It’s totally worth it. I will bring that story out over Christmas dinner for sure.
My business logo is a couple of Frangipani flowers, my favourite tropical flower and it says ‘est 2006’ which means next year is 20 years in business as a professional photographer. I have seen a lot in that time. I will write a separate blog post on that next year.
Meanwhile cheers to another fun filled, adventurous new year with lots of photographic and business opportunities. Seasons greetings to you all, and may the new year bring peace to the world.
