Angela Higgins – Lifestyle Photographer » Lifestyle Photographer of kids, babies, families and weddings

Two thousand and nine.

I began this year with hope and peace in my heart at my decision to leave the corporate world behind me and pursue my passion. Photography was calling to me and as I look back over my years work I feel I made the right decision. It has been a hard journey, one that is often fraught with self-doubt but I remain sure that the images I am crafting are making the world, and my clients lives, just a little tiny bit more beautiful.

I am proud to now call myself an artist as I felt I was unable to before. I am finding my feet as a photographer and have gained the confidence to be more experimental in my approach to my work. I have learnt to follow my instincts and they will usually pay off. I see the world with an artists eye and am now documenting weddings and life honestly with this viewpoint. I can see how my work has evolved and how my journey to develop my own style is continuing to evolve with it as I follow my heart.

I set out this year with a goal of documenting 10 weddings. I have surpassed with a total of 12 wonderful clients that opened their hearts and welcomed me into their lives to document their declarations to each other. I am pleased to report that a few of these couples are expecting new additions to their family in 2010 which makes me so happy for them. There are also my portraiture clients (20 of you) who allowed me into their homes to document their lives and their relationships which I am so grateful.

2010 is looking to be just as beautiful, if not more than 2009. The next 6 months will see me document another 5 weddings, travel to Sydney for a photographers workshop, open my residential gallery to my clients and begin the planning stages of our own wedding we are scheduling for April 2011. I am developing a new found respect for my brides (and grooms!) and the effort and time they invest in crafting a wedding.

In the meantime, my resolution for 2010 is to make each day more beautiful than the one before. I have plans to refine my currently mediocre french, experiment more in the kitchen and enjoy the small moments that make life beautiful. I have a couple of other personal goals which I will wait just a little longer to share.

Happy new year!

The following four weddings were just this month and I will share them over the next few months. The last two were actually in the last 4 days so they are very hot off the press

Just a couple of favourites from Chantelle and Simon’s wedding last month at Aquinas College.

When Annika and I were finalising the details of her portrait session, I had to admit I was getting a little excited. She mentioned ballons, a picnic and an old wicker couch artfully swiped and adopted from a lonely curbside one night. I love it when my clients take control of their session and really invest some thought into incorporating props and really enjoying the process. It makes it so much more personable and will make their images mean even more to them.

I encourage all my wedding clients to have a portrait session before their wedding to allow us to get to know each other a little better, for them to get familiar with the camera and for them to have a collection of images just a little more relaxed and intimate than what will eventuate from their wedding collection. I love the serene and relaxed feel of Annika and Tom’s collection and the fact that they trusted me implicitly to do what I do without question. I am so looking forward to their wedding later this month.

Oh, and props to Annika for still doing their session even though she had a broken foot. You would never know.

I recently reviewed my product range and have decided on a new home for my clients collections to live. There are a number of reasons for this but I feel that these particular products are a great pairing with my style of photography and are something so elegant and timeless unlike anything else I have seen in the market. All of these new products, not just the albums, are bound to become heirlooms and treasured for many generations.

Kellie rang me on a Thursday in October. She rang me with a plea to see if I was available to a) photograph their wedding on that following Saturday and b) to travel to Geraldton for their wedding. I can still remember the almost defeated tone in her voice as she asked hopefully “Are you free?”.

Unfortunately, their planned photographer was unable to come due to travel issues beyond anyone’s control. As luck would have it, I was available and was beyond thrilled that I could help them out and let Kellie and James get back to celebrating their marriage with their family and friends.

A portrait of Lily taken last month on some very old film and a very old camera. I love it.

I’ve been experimenting with film a little more lately. I love that it pushes me to think about a shot before I click the shutter and that the results are not instantaneous. Digital while wonderful, can make me feel a little complacent sometimes. There is something intangible about waiting a few weeks for your film to be developed before knowing if your shot turned out.

I’m looking forward to trying out a new film camera of mine while in Queensland this week. We are off to Brisbane today and then onto Noosa to support Grant who is competing in the Noosa Triathlon this weekend. Its his first triathlon in a few years and has been training so hard, its going to be great to see him cross the finish line.

In the meantime, I will be accessing emails and phone messages periodically while we are away and I will be back on deck Thursday week.

Dress: Lisa Ho
Ceremony: Guildford Grammar Chapel
Reception: Matilda Bay Reserve
Flowers: Poppy’s Flowers
Cake Artist: Cake Box