Happy Easter!

April 13, 2020 Emily McDonald

We just want to take a moment to say Happy Easter! We hope everyone has been enjoying a safe and relaxing long weekend.

2019 // Year in Review

January 1, 2020 Emily McDonald

Happy New Year! We wanted to celebrate by sharing some of our favourite images from 2019. We're looking forward to comparing our posts in the coming years. (You can see 2018 here.) <3

Open Day at Sharla Park Country Weddings & Events <3

Meet Makeup Artist, Tyneale!

December 9, 2019 Emily McDonald

Today you will meet Tyneale Hahn Makeup Artist, a makeup artist servicing Ipswich, Brisbane, Lockyer Valley, Toowoomba, Darling Downs Region, Somerset Region, Warwick - and anywhere in between. We have worked with Tyneale previously and highly recommend her warm, beautiful personality & professional, flawless work (makeup artists can either make our job seamless or give us more work to do during editing so you can be sure that high recommendations from us are well-earned!). We want to mention that from a fellow vendor perspective, Tyneale is outstanding to work alongside and goes above and beyond. At a recent shoot with Tyneale, she worked tirelessly & unobtrusively behind-the-scenes & later followed up with publication submissions and all the liaising that is associated with that (expert communication skills). A true team player who is memorable for all the right reasons. It is our pleasure to feature Tyneale today. You will find her on our recommended vendor page. <3

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Hi from Tyneale!

Hi World! I’m Tyneale - or TJ, for short. I’m a Professional Makeup Artist of 11.5 years and still love my job like I did on day one. In that time, I have learnt so much and perfected my style. For the past 9 years, I have worked for myself as a Freelance Artist - this gives me freedom. Freedom to make the best product and service choices to always better care for my clients. I am a Wedding & Event Specialist, Commercial, TV/Film & Corporate Artist.

Why Makeup Artistry?

I have always been a creative; I love to use things for their non-intended purpose (you should see inside my house!) and I take a very ‘out of the box’ approach to almost everything. It was during my time while managing a beauty salon that I was able to complete my makeup study and I’ve never looked back. After my first son was months old, I left the salon environment and commenced working for myself (to enable a better family/work life balance). And here I am... 3 little boys later and I’m still doing what I love and being Mum at the same time.

Being a makeup artist is so much more than applying makeup - it’s emails, social media, websites, cleaning and maintaining your kit and brushes, being contactable anytime, keeping up with trends, continued education, keeping up-to-date with products, early starts, very early starts!... late finishes. It’s full body listening to your client (yep, not all the cues are verbal!) and creating to best suit your individual client and supporting them in every situation.

It is one of the best jobs ever and it gives me the opportunity to support my local community through events, fundraising and awareness as well.

What Makes Your Service Unique?

Me! Every artist and their approach is different. I personally have a very real approach to makeup: to enhance the beautiful features you already have and truly listen to what YOU want. I love to support my clients at every occasion, in every moment (stories about my children always get a laugh and lessen the nerves!) and I gift mini touch-up products to my clients (so when I can’t be there, I can still save you!). In my location, I am known for ‘rescuing’ Brides (or referring someone that can), there is ALWAYS a way!

I stepped out of my comfort zone this year and, despite being eclectic and outgoing, I took a leap and shared ‘Me’ with the business world. I was a Finalist in the Lockyer Valley Business Awards - Professional Services, Health & Wellness Category and Customer Service Award Winner at the Ipswich Women in Business Awards.

Where can I Find You and Your work?

I have social media accounts so you can keep up with my every day:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tynealehahnmua/

Instagram: @tynealehahnmakeupartist

I also have an updated website coming soon (but the address will redirect you to my temporary one for the moment):

Web: https://www.tynealehahnmakeupartist.com/

I only share images of my own work across any of these platforms. I am also published on many Wedding Blogs (Queensland Brides, Ideal Bride, The Wedding Playbook and Bridal Bible Weddings, most recently) and Fashion Magazines Australia-wide and Internationally.

What’s in Your Kit?

This has to be one of my most asked questions and I think it is certainly an important one. Your Kit is what can set you apart - professional or hobbyist. I choose to use only professional, film and high-end quality products to achieve the best and long-lasting results for my clients. I also need to be VERY mindful of allergies and skin sensitivities; I have SPF-free, gluten-free, vegan, cruelty-free, latex-free and fragrance-free options all within my Kit. Building your Kit can be fun but so much thought must go into it as well!

So what’s Next?

2020 is going to be a huge year for weddings and I’m super excited to share in so many special moments and perfect days! I also have some collaboration projects in planning - I love collaborating & working alongside other vendors to create magic! 2020 is the year I relaunch Makeup Lessons with my own real-life twist. I will continue to offer One-on-One sessions but you will see the introduction of Look & Learn Group Sessions, Mum & Me Group Sessions and Dance Makeup Tips & Tricks. These sessions cover ALL ages and are about giving YOU the knowledge to create and the confidence to shop for your own preference of cosmetics without feeling intimidated by sales people or your own self doubt. (Follow along on my social media to keep up to date when these launch!)

Fast Five Facts

Favourite Colour? Yellow
Favourite Season? Spring
Favourite Food? Waffles, vanilla ice cream and caramel topping
Favourite Music? Birds of Tokyo, Korn and Foo Fighters
Describe yourself in 5 words? Creative, Dedicated, Alternative, Patient and Giving

Information :: What Makes an Image Important

June 17, 2019 Emily McDonald

Narrowing down the options when choosing a wedding photographer is typically multifaceted. You want to love the photographer's work. You want a personality that "gets" you as individuals and as a couple (put simply, you want someone relatable!). You need to be able to afford them. With this is mind, some of the most important reasons for why we blog regularly (fyi: we blog once a week and this is our 128th post) are:

to tangibly demonstrate how passionate we are about our role as wedding photographers
to show who we are and what this means to you as our client
to share tips and ideas

Essentially, the kind of information that we are hoping will be important during your decision-making process. Today, we are sharing a little more about us & some food for thought for our clients. A recent discussion about some of our most memorable & personal images to date was the catalyst.

We work really hard on perfecting our craft. We focus a lot of attention on people skills, composition, chasing the most ideal light, depth of field... have we lost you yet? ;) We decided to strip all that back during our discussions and we challenged each other to think of our personal favourite images (rule time: we could only pick a maximum of 2 images). Of course, we both gravitated to ones that have all three of us in them. However, we currently do not share images of our daughter, Chloe, online. So we started again. Naturally, our minds drifted to favourite shots of the two of us - mostly taken during travels. With that in mind (and as the exercise was beginning to feel too easy!), we narrowed the criteria down even further: Pete had to choose two images that featured only him and I had to choose two that only featured me.

{Try this for yourself! You might surprise yourself with what you end up choosing. Actually, why don’t you stop reading now and pick out your two all-time favourites. We’ll come back to yours in a moment.}

In the end, Pete settled on one image. He felt that this one summed up everything for him:

I chose two as they are from a similar time period (same year) but during very different experiences and I find the polarity striking:

Interestingly, all three are “okay” images (definitely not terrible). However, are they perfectly composed? Was the lighting nailed? Honestly, does it even matter? All three tell a story that is important to the subject. Pete chose his representative image for a range of reasons. Skydiving was a dream come true. He was proud of himself for taking the risk. Pete experienced freedom that comes with… well, jumping out of a plane with all risks carefully calculated. I chose my graduation image as I was (and am) so proud of this achievement. It is something that was the result of hard work & dedication. I chose the one from my first time experiencing snow. This moment features in one of the top 10 days of my life to date. Experiencing snowfall was (in my case, anyway) a magical moment. I don’t usually take selfies but this was a moment I wanted to freeze forever - literally.

When you selected your two images, did you think anything along these lines, “I really like x one but I can’t possibly keep it! If I took it again, I would make sure I was a little more off-centre. If it followed the rule of thirds, I think I would be more inclined to keep it”… “Hmmm, this is a good one but the shadows on my face are too pronounced. I think I will scrap it. Shame really as it always makes me feel happy when I look at it!”… “Oooops - the highlights are blown! Forget it! …

Correct me if I am wrong but I am guessing that you chose based on how looking at those images makes you feel?

Capturing an image in such a way that the subjects feel something for the rest of time is at the heart and soul of wedding photography.

In conclusion, we wanted to take this opportunity to re-frame the importance of capturing the moments that are important to you. Yes, we will strive for perfect composition, image processing, lighting, timing, & storytelling. However, we will not compromise storytelling & capturing raw emotion at the expense of perfection. We want the resulting images to tell your story; not be representative of our “brand” per se. We want you to love your wedding photography for a lifetime.

Happy Easter!

April 22, 2019 Emily McDonald

We just want to take a moment to say Happy Easter! We hope everyone has been enjoying a safe and relaxing long weekend.

Last year we made a prediction: “This is the first year that our little Chloe (21 months) has been cognizant enough to go for an Easter egg hunt around our home. We are very proud of the choices that she is already making in the food department. She had part of one egg and then handed it back asking for "ap-pel" and "bah-nah-nah" instead. We happily took one (? two) for the McDonald Family team and finished the eggs off for her. Next year will probably be a different story. ;-)”

Yep. Our Chloe loved her Easter egg hunt this year. :D Absolutely sure no apple or banana (or any other fruit, for that matter) was consumed during the course of yesterday. Good thing Chloe is a little fruit bat nearly every other day.

We hope everyone enjoyed a memorable Easter, too, with family &/or friends.