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Families, kids, couples and the year that was 2011

JD — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:15:19 +0000

I blog about weddings quite a bit and everyone knows the connection between the bride & groom and the objective of capturing the celebration and love of them on their wedding day. Portraits are a different story – people tend to get their family or kids portraits done to document a time in their life to look back on. This year we have tried to change this with our portraits and try shooting them more like a wedding. This might sounds strange but I have been spending more time with portrait clients before the shoot and on the shoot to get a real connection between the family or the subject and the camera. In doing this I am getting some really strong, stirring and emotional images that aren’t just a documentation of a person or family but a window into their personalities and connection as a family.

This has created some of the most beautiful portraits and I love the thought of these images clients are purchasing owning pride of place in their houses for years to come. The fact that they aren’t your typical boring family or kids portraits makes them timeless and artistic and because of the emotional connection even more valuable to the family.

2012 we are going to explore this style of photography and invest more time in making it even better. I think if you aren’t growing and evolving as a person and an artist you are going backwards so it is important to keep evolving my style and moving the business into new directions.

2012 is going to be an exciting time for JD Digital Photography, we are going to be taking less wedding bookings to make way for more boutique portrait sessions. As far as weddings go we are almost 90% booked out for next year and the portraits have also started booking up quickly early next year so if you are thinking of booking either in don’t leave it too late.

I know this post is primarily about our portraits but I have photographed over 40 amazing weddings this year and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every one of them. I will hopefully get time to do another blog post on the weddings before the years out to showcase some more images of these amazing couples.

Here is a few images from some recent shoots we have completed over the past couple of months.

Lola – model in the making or photographer?

JD — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 02:30:04 +0000

I have been slack in taking photos of my daughter Lola lately so on the weekend I spent a few minutes playing with her and trying to get a few nice images. What I found is that because she has been photographed so much and is that little bit older it is a much harder task now – as soon as I bring the camera out and fire off one frame she runs towards me to check out the back of the camera!

To get around this I gave her my holga to play with while I took a few snaps

and this is what I came up with – technically not the best photo but I love it and is one of my favourite images of her – maybe she will take after her dad!

Below is an example of what it is like to photograph her now – the first image is a quick one I snapped when she was playing on my camera bag and I didn’t think she was paying attention. The second image is just after this when she realises that I am shooting, notice the cheeky smile just before she runs over to check out my handy work on the back of the camera.

Hawaii – Part 1

JD — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:01:34 +0000

Well after an amazing 12days abroad I am back in the studio and into the swing of business life trying to catch up on all my email and phone calls etc. I thought that I would do a quick update on how Hawaii was and a couple of images to wet the appetite before posting the pre wedding and wedding images from Kara & Cliff’s Wedding.

Things I learn’t from Hawaii

Traveling with a baby is a lot different than traveling as a couple

I love the ABC stores (convenience store) 12 coronas for $12 can’t go wrong

Shaved ice is the best!

An ocean view room doesn’t always mean a view of the ocean!

Hawaiians are very laid back

The hula is much harder to do than it looks

The yard house is my utopia – 120 beers on tap served in half yard glasses – can someone say messy!

The nappies in Australia are the best, they were so thin in Hawaii that we had to put two on Lola at once overnight.

overseas weddings rock

The weather was perfect everyday and we had such a good time exploring the island, shooting the wedding, meeting all Kara & Cliff’s wonderful family & friends and enjoying our first holiday as a family. I didn’t get as many shots of Lola as I had hoped but below are a few to check out – we found a mini hula outfit and couldn’t resist taking some photos of her in it.

Keep your eyes on the blog for the wedding image to come!

The Year that was 2010

JD — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 03:49:16 +0000

As you can see from the state of my diary in the picture below 2010 was a very busy year! I am still trying to convert over to an online diary but can’t quite let go of the old way so my new years resolution is to fully convert over next year!

We photographed so many fantastic couples and families this year and had an absolute ball capturing their memories so I would like to thank all our loyal customers and friends a wish you all a merry Christmas and happy New Year.

We have already booked most of next year out in regards to weddings and the first two month of next year are filling up with portraits so if you have anyone wanting to book in tell them to get in quick.

This year saw a big change and update in our website that was really well received and next year the blog is getting a major overhaul to step into line with the website. It will be more user friendly and funky so keep you eyes out for it!

Below is an image of the Christmas cards we sent out to our family and friends of our babies!

See you all in 2011

Lola update

JD — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 02:57:11 +0000

I have been getting asked to blog some updated pictures of Lola from family and clients so here is a few pics I snapped at home last week. Those of you who are fans of the JD Digital Photography page on facebook will have already seen these photos.

Now that I have started to settle into life as a dad it is becoming more apparent that it has changed my outlook on life as I was told it would. I treasure my time away from work more, I now get why dad’s get so emotional at their daughters wedding, I now see first hand what an amazing job mums do and the sacrifices they make and most importantly I see how something so small can totally change your life (for the better if you were wondering!) and outlook on everything.

I started to appreciate the job I have as a wedding photographer more so after my own wedding and I am finding the same thing now with portrait photography. I get paid to take beautiful snapshots of a family or childs life that will become a memory hanging on their wall that will make them smile each time they walk past it and that is a great feeling.

We don’t have much more wall space to put these photos of Lola up so they might just have to go into the album!

If you want to become a fan of our Facebook page just search for JD Digital Photography

Artistic beach images

JD — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:59:13 +0000

I was recently approached to do some artistic beach themed images to be hung on the walls of an upmarked bayside seafood restaurant. They were after something a little different than just landscape images of the beach so I decided to do these images with a bellows lens. For those of you who aren’t familiar with these lenses you can move the lens left, right, up and down to distort the picture and the focus which gives them that dreamy look.

The images below are a selection of what I have taken around the Brighton, St Kilda, Beaumaris and Black Rock area in the last few weeks. They will also be available to buy as limited edition prints on canvas so if you are keen please email me through your interest to johl@jddigitalphotog.com

Brighton beach boxes

Melbourne city skyline

St Kilda sea baths