Often as a photographer, you miss out on precious images of yourself with your family and friends because you are always behind the camera! Of course, there’s often plenty of ‘happy snaps’ taken on someone’s smartphone ( and these are awesome ;)  ), but I’m talking professional quality images that you plan to feature on the walls of your home or gift to grandparents. A few of my photographer friends and I recently vowed to swap services for each other and preserve some memories of ourselves with our families.

I met my friend Marta at the Centre for Creative Photography where we were both studying, during our first Darkroom class. We discovered a mutual passion for film photography, natural light, candid portraiture and a great many other shared interests outside of photography. She has a gentle, thoughtful personality and we meet as often as time allows to chat over coffee (and cheesecake frequently) discussing a multitude of subjects.

Establishing yourself in the photography industry is challenging, especially when you are possessed of the kind of personality that is not naturally inclined towards marketing yourself aggressively. It is highly competitive and a saturated market and for personalities such as ours, it is a slower build, but well worth it. We have supported each other through the first few years of business and all of the unique and unforeseen challenges. I cannot recommend highly enough, making friends within the industry and supporting, rather than competing with one another. It makes the whole process far less lonely, and you see that there are many ways to go about achieving your goals and dreams. Both of us have developed regular clientele by simply remaining true to ourselves, our style and valuing our clients’ experience.

Marta brought her two totally cute and very entertaining children along on the chosen date, and I brought Dee. Please enjoy a small collection of images from that afternoon :)