Behind the lens: Capturing creative women in business
This photographer knows the reality of balancing life, creativity, business, and all its mess. And it’s these real, imperfect moments that she brings to life through the lens.
Meet Kristen Turner MacDonald.
Tell me about your creative journey. How did you get started as a photographer?
I was the kid in primary school borrowing a video camera and asking all of my friends to act in my movies. They were quirky, silly narratives and a fair bit of coercion of the neighbourhood kids took place to make them happen. I have early memories of being at a neighbour’s house (because she had a computer with editing software), feeling really giddy with excitement and deep in my flow state putting together the clips and adding music. It was the first time I’d really experienced ‘flow state’, and coming out of it to realise I’d forgotten to go home for dinner was a moment that made me feel very alive! Kind of like an adrenaline hit for really adventurous people, but in a nerdy ‘in my editing cave’ kind of way. In high school, I spent hours in the darkroom learning film photography and like many others I came to love feeling the magic of your images appearing on the page. At uni I studied Film Studies and Languages, but uni wasn’t a period of creative productivity for me. I liked it, but it was just analysis essay after essay. In hindsight, I wish I had taken a more creative course that let me experiment with different media forms (and just play, really). After my Masters, I taught Media and French in Melbourne, and more recently in Canada. I love sharing the passion, spirit of curiosity and creativity with young people, and I’m still teaching part-time today.
But my big jump into really learning photography was on my honeymoon. My husband and I decided to ditch the engagement ring idea and instead put the money into three months backpacking around South America with a new (second-hand, full frame) camera and a couple of decent lenses in hand. We flicked the dial to manual mode and forced ourselves to really learn to read the light. We went to some pretty backcountry places and spent hours sitting and watching sunsets and learning to adjust settings accordingly. I then did a two-year deep dive into Adobe Lightroom to get good at editing. I’m definitely a recovering perfectionist, so when I learn something I like to get really, really good – and this was a fun challenge for me. We did a travel project called The Great Unwashed for a few years, photographing epic backcountry landscapes while we hiked and camped our way around South and North America.
In 2018, I started my photography business on Vancouver Island, Canada. I’ve recently re-branded as Bobby Dazzler Photography (now that I’m living back in my home town of Torquay, Australia, on the beautiful lands and sea of the Wadawurrung people). This has been a dream a long time in the making and as hard as re-establishing yourself in a totally new market has been, I’m very, very excited to see this lil biz grow.
An outdoor brand photography shoot with @juliamasudart on Vancouver Island.
“I like to swoop in and take care of both of those things for them in a way that isn’t posey or too polished. It’s down-to-earth, real, and bloody good fun.”
Do you have a favourite subject/genre that you like to photograph?
While I will always love a vast, minimalist landscape, I specialise in two distinct genres that have a common ideal client at the heart. I love working with creative women who are mothers building their dream businesses all at the same time. I take brand photos for their websites and socials, as well as documenting their messy, real family life and their cute little farty babies. As a mum attempting (poorly) to juggle a teaching job, a business and being present for my family, I have a solid dose of empathy with these women. They don’t want to go back to their pre-kids 9-5 job. They are lit up with creativity. They love using their brains and the social interaction that comes from working with clients that they get along well with. And they love spending time with their kids. But what they don’t have is time. They have zero time to create regular content so they can constantly show up on social media. And on the home front, they are hardly ever in their own family photos. So I like to swoop in and take care of both of those things for them in a way that isn’t posey or too polished. It’s down-to-earth, real, and bloody good fun.
Brand photoshoot for @millerandcopottery
“I love working with creative women who are mothers building their dream businesses all at the same time.”
I understand you shoot in both digital and film. What do you like about each and how do the results vary?
I do! I offer film as an add-on to my family and brand sessions. I’ve learned many lessons from film. It has taught me to slow down, to unclutter my compositions, to think about the story being told before I hit the shutter. When I shoot digital, I’m becoming less of a scatterbomb shooter as a result of this. Being more intentional with the images I create has been good for my art. But also letting go of an expectation of perfection in my images – often a film scan will be right at the moment someone closed their eyes, and if that was digital I’d just delete it. But on film? Those can be real keepers. Digital feels like the curated collection of ‘good shots’. Film feels like a messy collection of ‘real moments’.
What is the process in capturing those 'special moments'?
In the family photography realm, I have enormous respect for photographers who are gurus at posing. I’m not. Honestly, I don’t like feeling too posey in a photo and most of my clients are the kinds of people who might chuck on real pants and a bit of makeup because I’m coming to take photos, but have no expectations of us creating a semblance of the ‘ideal’. They favour real over perfect, every time. So rather than creating ‘special moments’ through poses and prompts, I find a pocket of good light, encourage an activity there and then watch, watch, watch. I watch for that look, or that interaction. The special moments come out when parents just play with their kids, because it’s hard to be self-conscious around a camera when you’re playing with your kid.
Brand photography is a really different kettle of fish. It’s all about good planning and communication beforehand. I meet my clients for coffee and we dream up all the ideas together. I pride myself on being able to get inside clients’ heads to really visualise what they want. And when it comes to our session, I try to help women feel confident and relaxed. I’ll help them with some posing, but more often I’ll encourage them to make their art – to actually paint at the easel, or get to work on the pottery wheel. You can see them dipping into their flow state and it shows in someone’s face and body language. Once she’s there, we make great art together. Those are always the best shots.
“I pride myself on being able to get inside clients’ heads to really visualise what they want. And when it comes to our session, I try to help women feel confident and relaxed.”
Capturing @pennybyrneart in her Torquay home studio.
@pennybyrneart
How do you know when you’ve got the ‘right shot’?
Great question. I wish I had a great answer! I don’t really look at the back of my camera much. I think I’ve been doing it for long enough that it’s become intuitive. A lot of photography is a mix of the technical and the intuitive for me.
What does the average day as a photographer look like for you?
@erinreinbothart
Most of my days are spent teaching or parenting my one and three-year-old kiddos. Honestly, for years I have been craving space in my schedule to really throw myself into this business. I can feel it wanting to grow, and I have so many ideas, but I don’t really ever get whole working days (or even half days) to throw myself into them. One day. But in terms of when I do have time, I probably spend most of the time setting up my systems and workflows, getting print products organised, communicating with clients, photographing clients, snazzing up my new website, editing galleries and making marketing materials on Canva, as well as boring-but-necessary things like working on my SEO, bookkeeping and contracts.
What do you love most about what you do?
There is no other feeling like creating something beautiful and then putting that in the hands of someone who loves it – who will appreciate seeing their kids’ faces on their walls, have albums to look back on decades from now, or because the photographs will help to grow a business and bring in more of the most dream clients imaginable. The teacher in me wants to cheer and encourage everyone on in a very real way and this is a tangible way for me to do this.
Wadawurrung Country, Torquay, Australia
