“The only way to do good work is to love what you do.”
- Steve Jobs
Is it wrong to admit that taking photos isn't the main reason I’m a photographer? What I love most (and why I will still have my camera in one hand and a walking stick in the other) is that I get to be part of the moments that matter most to people. As a wedding and commercial photographer here where I grew up in Hawke’s Bay, I get to contribute something small but important to the people I connect with.
The Backstory…
I’ve been a Hawke’s Bay photographer for 20 years now (gulp) but my career before that was actually on the other side of the lens, as a TV reporter for One News. Telling stories and working with people was always something I loved to do, but I soon realised I needed to be behind the camera rather than in front to do it.
That was 800 weddings, a million family sessions and about a billion corporate headshots ago. My career has taken me up and down New Zealand shooting commercial work, and even seen me hoofing it down the street chasing criminals as a freelance news photographer.
These days I focus (excuse the pun) on a handful of carefully chosen weddings with couples who share the same values around wedding photography as I do, and a wide range of commercial shoots across all industries, as well as growing my website design and content creation business, NATTER.
Phew. It’s a busy life, but I adore it.
My thoughts on wedding photography…
As part of my commitment to creating memories that will be family treasures for generations, I focus on creating candid connections between people and emotional images to remind you how it felt to get married not just be a beautiful record of how it looked. How do I do this? Well, mostly just by making you laugh, making you feel like what we’re doing is the most fun you’ve ever had with your clothes on and just by being chilled out in my approach to working with you.
I honour the future as well as the present by editing and shooting in a classic, timeless style without filters. Every image is a unique artwork in my editing process, and I believe the colours of nature and your own palette should inform my editing rather than relying on quick presets based on today’s trends.
My thoughts on commercial photography…
I’m not ‘just’ a photographer. I’m also a passionate owner of a small New Zealand business. I know how hard business owners work to develop their brand and business story and helping them illustrate that is a constantly evolving challenge and huge privilege.
While telling stories that centre around people is a big part of what I do as a commercial photographer in Hawke’s Bay, I also love the variety that can see me on a construction site one day, on a farm the next and wrapping up the week making a professional person look amazing and feel good about the often-daunting process of being photographed.
So do I have ANY life outside all this work stuff?
That is a question I’ve been asking myself for two decades and honestly up until very recently, it’s been a big, fat NO. But as my kids grow up (way too fast!) and I grow older (also way too fast!) my biggest job in life is making time for all the things I love to do outside work, which includes….
Cycling the awesome Hawke’s Bay pathways with Pearl Jam blasting on my headphones.
Propigating and planting coastal daisies at our beachside home in Napier.
Turning the ideas in my head into digital AI reality as my Instagram alter-ego: eva-left-the-building.
Making fudge for the kids on my Thermomix then eating the entire batch before they get home from school.
Walking my (fat) sausage dog, Pablo, while solving the problems of the world with a girlfriend.
Escaping reality and dropping anchor somewhere remote and beautiful with my three men….Edward (10), James (8) and Brad (forever 21).