An example of one of my wedding books

Like my christening books, the book cover can be leather, silk or buckram. In the cover below, the album cover is leather and has a debossed image.

Pages can contain one image that 'bleeds' (goes to the edge of the page) like this:

Or this:

Sometimes a large border suits the image:

When dealing with family shots, they can be a little repetitive so it makes sense to make a pattern out of the repetition:

When considering double spreads, it's a good idea to have the left page relating to the right page.

It's fun to have a large 'lead' photo with smaller detail shots on the left

Finally, toning can bring out the mood in the photo: on the page below, the toned image has been placed to signify the end of the formal portrait session - the next page introduces the reception.

An example of one of my christening books

An enquiry from a prospective client today made me to realise I should have images of books I have designed on my website. Whilst there is nothing like seeing one of my books to appreciate their quality, a photo is better than a description on the phone.


To the cover of one of my christening books, these can be leather, silk or in the photo below, buckram and I can also include a debossed photo on the front cover.

A good idea for the inside front page is to include the christening invitation.

Images on pages can fill the page to leave no border.

Or a single image can be laid out with a generous border

Two images can look terrific.

It can be fun having a 'lead' image with smaller images to the left.

Smaller images can also be placed to the right of the 'lead' image.

Or the smaller images can be below the 'lead' image.

In summary, when I design my books, I consider whether images 'belong' together, their significance and if there is sufficient difference between the pages to make them visually interesting to the viewer.

photographing dance classes

I was asked if I wanted to photograph a primary school dance class - well thirteen of them actually , to be photographed on a Saturday morning at a school in inner-city Sydney over 4.5 hours. I thought of all the boring photos that I had seen of ballet classes and thought why not give it a go- I decided to make the shoot exceptional by energising the kids and lighting them beautifully.

The kids were energised by one of the parents, Zoe, whose energy levels were contagious - she really sparked up the kids.

I provided the lighting - two Elinchrom remote controlled softboxes, lights large enough to allow the kids fairly large leeway as to where they wanted to stand. Since the lights were wirelessly triggered, it was safe for me, Zoe and the kids to move around. The lights were also 'fast' enough to freeze the kids in action.

The lights were bright enough to illuminate all the kids, not just those in front.

As for the individual shots, the kids choose what they wanted and that was fine because the lights were flexible - one girl wanted to do the splits on the floor, which meant the lights had to cover her - no problem - another girl wanted to leap into the air - again, the lights could easily deal with this.

Little fairies will always be little fairies!

Or rappers!

Or posed.

Or thoughtful!

In short, with today's lights, dance photography no longer has to remain stuck in the 1970's so if you want good dance photos, drop me a line.