A proper introduction
Hi, I’m Naomi & that’s me on the left, just in case that wasn’t obvious enough….
I thought a proper introduction would be a good way to start our rapport, so here you go. This is my story.
I was born in 1997, raised in Brisbane and since the ripe age of 5 (yes, 5 lol), I’ve always been involved or worked in creative industries. It was the year 2009 that my family decided to move to Jakarta, Indonesia & this is where I experienced being a full-time musician, performing, recording, touring and spending most of the time posing in front of the camera. During my early adolescence I started hanging out with a lot of photographers and it absolutely intrigued me! You mean it’s not just pressing a button?! There’s more to this? Hehe.
The desire started kicking in, I really wanted to learn, and this caught my mum’s attention, so in 2012 my parents bought me my first DSLR - Canon Rebel, such a trusty camera. I brought my Rebel everywhere, along to my own gigs, on tour and every family trip. I always saw it as “just a hobby” kind of thing and never it being a career because I thought I would always be a musician, but life had its own plans for me.
In 2015 life was depressing living without my family - most of them had moved back to Australia at this point so I decided to move back home too. Coming back to Brisbane felt almost like a culture shock and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was a high school drop-out because I chose the music career instead and I had no other skills other than a hobbyist approach to photography. Over 5 years I was going between different jobs and during all this, I tried the music thing again (didn’t work out) and took on random photography gigs my mum would throw at me for her clients (she was a dress designer). I did a little Tafe course on photography basics but still didn’t have the confidence I needed to either further my education in photography or go out and do collabortations, I was very much in my head about things.
2020 came around and man oh man what a rollercoaster of a year that was, it changed pretty much everything for me. I lost my Hospo job like most of us and my mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Mum always encouraged me to pursue photography with a “give it a go, you can do it!” attitude. So, one of her last requests was for me to organise and capture our last family portrait with her there (RIP Mum) - in the back yard, all wearing white during sunset. I watched a couple YouTube vids because I had no idea how to take a family photo, but alas we got one - not my finest but it was my first.
Now you can imagine the loss & grief that comes with losing your Mum, so it took a while for me to get myself back up. Eventually in 2021 I decided that I’d try studying a diploma of counselling (I know, totally not what you expected) & only apply for jobs that entailed using a camera, I didn’t care if I was taking photos or being an assistant or a sales rep at a camera shop, I just wanted to try get into the industry somehow. I got my first job as a portrait photographer for a company that does school photos! I was extremely proud of myself, and I fell in love with the job, it was hard work, but it taught me so much. This company was one of the best in the industry and it’s because of that kick start & confident boost, I started pursuing more opportunities.
This is where I am now! 26 years young, still working as a casual photographer for different companies but all specialising in portraiture, I get to consistently learn the ways of the industry, travel interstate & I’m running my own photography business specialising in family portraits and events. I absolutely love what I do & I think that shows through my work. You can guarantee that I’m going to help you capture some raw, authentic, emotional moments that you will get to cherish and keep forever-ever because I for one know how special an image can be.
If you’ve made it to the end of this kinda long into, I truly appreciate it.
P.S I’ve put some pics below for those that need the visuals to the story Hehe.
Some kind words
“Thank you so much for the photos, we love them and just have to upgrade!”
“Naomi! Thank you so much for those photos, they look prefect! I appreciate all the effort you went through to get the photos done. Thank you so much”
“They gallery is beautiful! I love how you’ve left some of the silly photos in too, we love them”
“The last photoshoot and the event you took for us were beautiful. The colours and quality of the images were so good and aligns with our brand”
“Would 100% recommend Naomi & her work! My fiancé; Jordan & I recently had our engagement photos taken by Naomi. Needless to say I am in love with them! She was able to catch us in our own little bubble. The shoot was a lot of fun & she made us feel comfortable the whole way through. Naomi encouraged the goofiness & also guided us in poses & angles. There were no photos I didn’t love, they all turned out amazing.”