Nobody likes you when you’re (20)23

(Yes all my yearly wrap up blogs are song title related now. Taking early suggestions for 2024!)

I know we’re a little ways into 2024 already, but I love making a more long-form wrap up of the year just gone — share and expand on some of my favourite shoots that Instagram carousels and captions don’t let me expand on as much as I’d like.

This is going to be long, so let’s get into it!

January

Featuring Bella’s 21st (that was 12 months ago but I still remember it was one of the hottest days of the summer! #sweaty) at Lux Foundry in Brunswick - SUCH a cool space for a function, highly recommend!

Friendly note that I’ve bumped into Bella and her family at another event further on in this blog that I snapped, and they are actually repeat customers, with their other daughter’s 21st on the books for later this year! I loooove my repeat customers and am so grateful - plus, the photos get better every time we see each other! So, big love to this fam!

And then, we have Nick and Nicola’s wedding, out at the beauuuutiful Ripplebrook Winery in Gippsland! Such a fun, chill day with these two and all their loved ones - gorgeous scenery, beautiful flowers, and.. THE FOOD.

I’m making it a thing that I need to ask my wedding couples now about their dietary preferences, because I got well into the reception at Ripplebrook this day before realising Nick, Nicola and ALL THE GLORIOUS FEAST (that I just assumed I couldn’t eat) was all vegan! Don’t worry, I made up for lost time after that. Learned a lesson that day - always ask!

February

February was Tiana’s bridal shower at the now-sadly-closed Posh Palais in Malvern - citrusy vibes, lots of cocktails, games and, er, figurines!

What a group! (Do I mean the gals or the figures, you’ll never know!)

And then mid-Feb (just after the Valentine’s Day madness that comes with also being a florist!) was Jess’ 30th, where everyone had to dress in Jess’ style - there was a lot of leopard print, tattoos, those great plastic chokers that all 90’s kids will remember, not to mention Jess’ MULTIPLE outfit changes. What a queen.

(I had a lot of mates at this party, including Jess herself, so it was just a super fun time all round. Highly recommend snapping your mates birthdays always!)

March

Headshot sesh with the player management legends at Kapital Sports Group in Kew! So fun! (even when the lads wanted to take their group photo like a footy team photo, we make it work!)

And then Nathan and Melissa’s engagement party - what a party! The folks at Concrete Boots Bar in Richmond can throw a party (and don’t mind joining in, haha!)

Such a cool venue with a big dance floor and a raised seating area which made for some excellent photography angles.

April

OKAY, the fun thing about the two shoots featured for April.. is that they were on the same day, haha! Back to back, aaand not nearby. And also not in the best weather, although you wouldn’t know, looking at the photos!

I started at this beautiful family session to celebrate Ted’s 80th birthday, down on the Bellarine Peninsula - which was VERY soggy that afternoon, so we had to make do outside under the balcony, and these legends all smashed it!

Special shout out to the organised ones in the family who had every family combo and shot they wanted written down ahead of the shoot which made it run SO much smoother - highly recommend pre-planning all your shots out too, especially if you’re on a strict time frame!

Legends! Even the family dog got involved.

Then hightailed it back up the freeway to Melbs (again in the pouring rain) for Jess and Danny’s engagement party! I grew up next door to Jess and her sister Kate, so seeing them and their family again was suuuper special for me, getting to know Danny and having a party and a boogie with them all. So lovely!

May

So, uh, to be honest. I didn’t pick up my camera in May.. woops! May is crazy for my florist business, Bitter Banksia - I was busy doing markets and getting prepped for Mother’s Day, and then shortly after that I had my business 1st birthday! Go me!

I’m a big believer that where you put your energy, you get the reward (or something like that but worded better). Usually I try keep it roughly 50/50 between businesses, but in May I was putting my energy much more into flowers this month and, as such, didn’t pick up any photo bookings! Not the end of the world at all, but interesting to note.

June

Oooh we’ve got another repeat customer bobbing up, yay! Tiana (whose bridal shower appeared in Feb) called me in to get some snaps for her new business, hiring bridal items out for a fraction of the cost of buying them! (Which is genius, because so many wedding-day bits and pieces are only used that one day and then never again!)

This was super fun - I don’t do a lot of product photography, but since they’re products being WORN, it’s just another kind of people shoot, really! I love the variety of shots we got that day, and Tiana was a BOSS model!

July

July was a complicated month for me in life away from photography (to be honest, really the whole second half of the year was a rollercoaster of a time) but we shan’t delve too much into all that..

I had a blast with Lou and Kim updating their headshots and starting up a bank of images with them that they can use on their business socials and websites to market themselves in the digital spaces they work in!

I also FINALLY got in front of the camera myself for a cute headshot swap with Jess from Carry Your Heart Photography.

I’m trying more and more to get in front of the camera and show up as much as I can, and this was a blast!

August

At the end of August I ventured out into the Yarra Valley to the newly refurbished Hubert Estate, for Amanda and Yoven’s wedding reception (plus Yoven’s 40th and their daughter Miel’s 3rd birthdays! Very efficient way of celebrating)

This was genuinely one of the highlights of my whole year - their setup in the art gallery (nestled into the hill), the heartfelt speeches, their two daughters and what they brought to the party, the epic dancefloor later that night, just the whole party!

I got so many beautiful images and it was just one of those little moments where I really loved what I do, y’know?

(Also huge points to Hubert for providing me with a vendor dinner that night and actually making an excellent vegan pizza! What a time to be alive)

September

Started September with headshots for the gorgeous ladies at Zing and Co Consulting in Canterbury - they made it so easy and fun!

Another September highlight was lovely Sarah and Nick’s engagement/going away party down in Mornington! These two have since moved to Canada to be around Sarah’s family there but before they did, they threw a biiiig party, all their Aussie friends came to have a goodbye drink and boogie (and Sarah’s Canadian sisters even flew in for the party!)

There were a lot of tears, but we made sure to get LOTS of photos with all their family and friends so they have them to look back on.

October

Bailee and Toby’s engagement party (and quick photo sesh immediately prior) was another big highlight of 2023! These two are LOVELY, organised, super fun and overflowing with kindness! (And Middleman, in Scoresby, is a super cool venue, with great spaces around it for lovely photos!)

Also had a gorgeous 3rd birthday for Eden’s 3rd birthday - all I can say is Nancy from Krafty Kidz Event Planning went ABOVE AND BEYOND for the race car theme of this party. Soooooo good, highly recommend tracking her down on Instagram and looking at all her themed work, so so cool!

November

November was one of my favourite months (and not just because it was my birthday!) - so many lovely shoots and great clients this month!

Started with a cute brunch-time family photo sesh for Henry’s 1st birthday. I won’t give away too much, but I’m obsessed with Georgie’s family’s garden - perfect for photo shoots!

Obsessed with cheeky Henry in his birthday crown, also!

And a lovely, relaxed afternoon tea at Mary Eats Cake in Montrose, to celebrate a loved ones life well lived - lots of laughts, memories, tea and scones!

And then I wrapped up November with the most beautiful time photographing a wedding. Sometimes you just vibe with people, and Hayley and Trysten are exactly those people!

I actually want to do a whole separate blog post on this wedding, so I won’t write too much here, but enjoy a decent stack of photos from the day. So much fun!

(And I also got to do flowers as well as photography, which makes my heart happy!)

December

December was as chaotic as you’d expect, running both a product-based biz and a service-based biz, and trying to get everything organised by Christmas to maybe actually be able to take a few days off around late December!

I take on a lot of Christmas party event work in December - including the lovely folks at Not A Trace, who had a fun, chilled out brewery session which was excellent to capture!

I also trialled doing some family sessions quite close to Christmas!

I was a bit doubtful if I wanted to work so close to Christmas when everyone was taking time off - but I know how tricky it is to get the extended family together on a normal day, and Christmas was a handy time when everyone makes time to see each other!

It was full on, fitting it all in around the rest of my work and my own Christmas adventures, but it was so, so worth it.

I had 5 lovely families, spread over 3 days (I initually just planned for only Dec 23rd, but I can’t say no! And spreading it out was probably better for my organising anyway!)

Again, I want to blog about this idea and these sessions separately in greater detail, so I won’t add too much here. But such a good time! So many good vibes.

And, that was 2023! What a ride. So many shoots, flowers, long drives, emails, galleries, hours spent at the desk (and on the couch with Netflix) editing away. Wouldn’t change it for anything.

Thank you all for being here, I appreciate it more than you can possibly know.

Onto even more, bigger and better things for 2024!

Amy xx