I was beside myself with excitement when I learned that Ana Brandt, international baby & maternity photographer, someone who I’ve admired and followed for years, was finally coming back to Australia to hold a one-day workshop in Brisbane.
What do I admire about Ana? Her layering, her angles, her work with texture, her ability to successfully shoot anything, the fact she has been in this business for almost twenty years……I could go on but you really just need to know she is amazing!
Also, the workshop was being held in Sandra Moffatt’s home studio. If you’re a fan of Shark Tank, you may have seen Sandra and her husband Brendon on there last year successfully pitching their StandInBaby, a newborn training mannequin with moveable joints now used for safety training with newborn photographers and medical professionals all over the world.
So last weekend I said goodbye to my wonderful family and jumped on a plane to Brisbane to expand my skills and do something for me.
On arriving for the workshop, I realised Sandra’s studio is every photographer’s dream – definitely mine anyway! I want! I want! Total studio goals.
As well as photographing and teaching, Ana also designs maternity gowns and her Australian distributor had a room FULL of tulle, sequins and pure gorgeousness that had us all swooning.
To sum it up, I was in heaven! There were nine of us that had travelled from all over Australia to learn from Ana, and one had even come from Bahrain! It was so hard not to fan-girl out on Ana when she emerged, introducing herself to us individually and we all gathered around her, wide-eyed and ready to absorb everything before our models arrived for the day.
First up we had two beautiful baby boys, one blonde, one dark and both with a full head of hair. Ana showed us how she wraps and layers before unwrapping and creating a variety of looks with each bub.
After lunch and chatting about newborn safety, such as positioning of the head so baby’s windpipe isn’t obstructed, we had two stunning pregnant mummas arrive and the gowns came out to play!
Shae was a stunning, curvy redhead who just radiated grace and personality and got to model a gown in a brand-new colour nobody had seen yet (the teal, sheer, figure-hugging gown). Sandra also decided that her dog and Shae has something in common – curly ginger hair. So out comes Grover, a big golden retriever x poodle that would do anything for cheese hahaha. He was just gorgeous, we all wanted to keep him, and all I could think was that my dog Bella would have pee’ed everywhere!
Then Larissa arrived, with her dark features and sexy Brazillian accent. Oh my goodness we were blessed with all of the day’s models! Larissa also got to model a new gown, a beautiful white gown that was very princess bride and she wore perfectly.
Then we moved on to material tossing. Those of you who have had me do this with you know that I put pressure on your partner to give me the perfect toss – this time it was our turn and I realised just how hard it was! So to all of my chief tossers, I thank you for your hard work xx
I was so sad when the day came to an end but boy, what a day! I was on a high, my head wanted to explode, plus I got a pic of me with Ana and Sandra (yep, more fan-girling lol). I cannot begin to tell you how much I learned or how inspired I was by both Ana and Sandra, as well as my fellow workshop photographers.
Ana and me 
Sandra and me
Although I’ve been photographing maternity and newborns for nine years now, you never stop learning, evolving or being inspired and this was a day that fulfilled my expectations. Plus, I’m now listed as an affiliate photographer on Ana Brandt’s website (squeal!!!!!!!!) and have a brand new gown in my collection as well as that gorgeous sheer teal gown on the way………..
This one day reminded me how much I love my job. I am blessed to be able to photograph a woman at such an exciting, exhausting and daunting time of their life. I am blessed when parents entrust me with their precious newborn baby and to create these memories for them for babies don’t stay little for long.
How can I help create memories for you?
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