The sweet spot of photography

For local photographer Laura Van der Zee, photo shoots are more than capturing the perfect moment: they are about shining a spotlight on the person in front of the lens.

At its core, Laura-Jane Photography is focused on branding and bringing a business to life, all while having a good time behind the camera.

When Van der Zee has camera in her hand, making her client feel comfortable and confident becomes a large part of what she does.

“It’s really fun, they come in a bit nervous, and you know they are, we really try to get to know who they are so that I can take photos that really represent who they are and their business,” she said.

The photographer has discovered when people are comfortable around her, they also become comfortable in front of the camera and don’t have the stresses of posing or looking down a lens the entire time.

“I’d rather just put on songs from 2003, and we can just get down and take photos and have fun, it doesn’t have to be awkward, it doesn’t have to be a horrible experience,” she said.

“If I can chat to them during the shoot and you get a little laugh out of them, just makes them feel comfortable.”

 

Matching her client’s energy also plays a big part in making people feel comfortable, and for people who are a little bit more reserved, talking them through it and helping their confidence grow.

Getting to know someone is a really important part of the process for Van der Zee and generally starts by her following them on Instagram and gaining a deeper understanding of their brand.

“They might be a naturopath, but what is it that they’re focusing on, is it women’s health, is it skin irritation in children, so really trying to get to know what their brand is about and getting to know their personality,” she said.

“People go to specific people because they gel with them, it’s like me, they’re going to pick me because they gel with me.

“And there’s room for everyone, because everyone needs someone that they feel comfortable with when they take photos.”

The photographer believes being an open book and non-judgmental helps people gel with her, along with being a safe space for clients.

Photography has been a passion for the mum of two since her high school days, before she completed a teaching degree.

Once her son was born, she turned back to the camera, honing her craft and making it her career.

“I’ve just being doing that for eight years and I’ve done families and weddings, but I really love branding, branding is just the sweet spot,” she said.

 

“Branding is so important to people, it’s their little baby, people put a lot of money into their brand, and they should do that with visuals and things like that because that’s the first thing people see from a brand advertising perspective.”

Apart from some simple classes in high school, Van der Zee is completely self-taught in the skill, more than happy to do her own thing and if it looks good and she gets clients, then great.

“I just go with the flow if it looks good. I don’t care what anyone else does with their shutter speed, I don’t care what anyone else’s F stop is, I don’t care how they edit.”

Since starting photography, her style has changed and developed, while also adapting to what’s going on in her own life.

“I used to be a little bit more moody, I’d do lots of sunsets, but now I just love full sun, I love colour, I love honouring skin tone,” she said.

“Sunset was always a busy time in my house, it was dinner time for my kids, and I want to be at home during that time.”

While many people are scared of sun in photography, she says bring it on, guiding people on how to turn their body and face the light right to get the perfect shot.

With many moving parts in the photography process, Van der Zee finds it hard to pick the element she enjoys most, although delivering the photos is often a highlight.

 

“I just love every part of it, but I love sitting down and editing and just seeing it all come to life and see the people’s excitement,” she said.

“Every shoot has to be different because every business is different, no matter if you’re shooting for the same sort of businesses.

“Say naturopaths or psychologists, each one of these individual humans is different, so you want their business to shine with their personality in front.”

For years Van der Zee has had the idea of running bulk content workshops, bringing people in for a day of creation, an idea she turned into reality recently.

As part of the workshop, people were welcomed into the space where they were talked through how to show up online before shooting photos and videos and getting the chance to network together.

From around four hours of creating, people received six months of content along with connection and a sense of empowerment to use the content.

“It’s so high quality and they’ve had all of these cheerleaders on the day, they’re meeting people that are similar to them, they get to meet some business besties and support each other with all the posts afterwards.”

Through her workshops, Van der Zee’s goal remains the same, to support her clients’ business and deliver quality content for them to share.

For more information, head to laurajaneferguson.com/branding or follow @by_laurajane on Instagram.