Personal Journey and Adventures of Nina

Luring people in with free portrait sessions has been around forever, the language has just changed. Now you will see "Families Wanted" or "Photographer Wants To Expand Portfolio" or "Looking for Mothers and Daughters" or "Kids and Pets shoot for charity". It's all just the same thing. Your Free Session Just Cost You $3,000 You have your free photo session. A week later you go in to the studio to view your photos and cannot resist your gorgeous children on the screen so you spend $3,000 to get 2 framed pics and a 5x7" for your mum. You walk away with an ache in the pit of your stomach. You finally get the framed photos hung onto your wall but every time you look at them you are reminded of the thousands you you racked up on your credit card to pay for them.   Buyers Remorse and Anxiety What you are feeling is feel buyers remorse . Not just because of the guilt you are feeling about the money spent but because you were tricked ...

Sharon is the owner of the highly successful maternity wear business, QueenBee . Based here in Sydney with over 10 staff, Australian Businesswomen's Network  (ABN) set out writing an article on her successes and needed a photo to go with it, so Sharon sought my services. Sharon opted for the Premium Business Shoot which included a makeup and hair artist, several clothing, hairstyle and background changes. Firstly, we shot inside the studio with my strobe lights where I opted for my double diffused Octabox. For the more casual requirement made by the ABN, we shot with window light in the studio's viewing area and then outside with diffused natural lighting. It was a terrific session and now Sharon has a great mix of images that will not only suit the requirements of the ABN but a wealth of images for her own websites, blogs and professional sites such as LinkedIn.

  Threatened by one of Sydney's ominous summer thunderstorms, we had to work hastily on this engagement shoot.  As it was overcast, the neutral coloured clothing was perfect for the natural tone look that I wanted for the beach shots and a terrific contrast for the greenery shots. Especially seeing that we didn't have time for clothing changes. The little beach was lovely and there was just enough light to catch a sparkle in the eyes. When it started to drizzle, the forest provided us with protection as well as a gorgeous backdrop! You can view the entire short shoot on my website .

Pretty decent. My husband said, "Hey, can you do that for me?" I replied, "write something interesting!" There really isn't a secret. I'm no SEO genius. Actually far from it. There are a couple of things that I did learn at college.  Use headlines with your top keywords, which you have already figured from Google Adwords  .  I'm a visual person so of course my posts have interesting photographs which have been loaded with keywords. Make sure you write more than 100 interesting words in your post because Google gives you priority. Include lots of links in your post. Label your post with loads of relevant keywords. Share your posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus...etc. I have links to social media on my website. It's kind of like a big circle. Each venue takes you to the next one! Include links to all of your social media venues. Post regularly. I think that's about it! Happy posting...

We didn't have long for this shoot.  Jo was to fly out the next morning for Auckland where she was to represent Australia in the ITU World Championship Triathlon .   In addition to being a world class athlete, Jo is also  the mother of four young children. So as well as packing up her bike, gear and suits, we had to juggle swim practice, squads and dinner preparations.  No remote beach or mountainous location for us. We shot by by the pool during swim practice with my daughter on the Speedlite and softbox modifier and Jo's daughter on the reflector. My challenges included shooting into the full sun. I was worried the Speedlite and reflector couldn't handle the blazing Australian sun but they were perfect and I ended up using it as a lovely back and rim light. I had to drop out the background because cars and buses kept passing or parking behind Jo but this also served to highlight her so I was happy. And lastly, we were shooti...

Russell Investments , money management professionals were totally amazing to shoot. Each executive was completely natural in front of the camera so we got some wonderful shots and because we were able to setup the studio on location in the King Street offices, the shoot went seamlessly with minimal interruption to their busy day.

What did you say? Working with children and pets is a nightmare. Not quite, but very challenging. Usually one or the other is ok but put the two together and you will definitely be in need of a calming cup of tea afterwards! 

Professional portraits for your high school dance or dinner? I wish they had thought of this when I went to high school! Although I remember it vividly, I do not have one image of my year 10 formal. What a fabulous idea! 20 years from now, these kids will love showing these happy snaps to their kids. They will reminisce about what they wore, how great they looked, who their friends were and how much fun they had! I had a wonderful time and all the kids were amazing! They just fell into their poses for the formal shots, each guy and girl looking as though they had stepped out of a magazine! Sometimes the formal consists of a dinner but tonight we are dancing away at Home Nightclub at Darling Harbour, downtown Sydney.

When I stepped onto George Street from Wynyard Station for the first time in 15 years, I was astounded at how much downtown Sydney had changed. I was heading to a function so in a hurry but I promise to spend more time wandering the streets and offering you a glimpse into my favourite city in the world! Bird Cages in Angel Place... A little European Flavour...