Lisa has been honing her photography skills for 11 years, but the decision to complete the NZDP Level 5 through SIT Online last year took her to the next level in developing her abilities. The Waikato mum of four (aged from 9 years to 9 months) juggled studies alongside family commitments with her other half, Warren, who’s a dairy farmer.
“The course pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I photographed things I wouldn’t normally photograph,” Lisa says. The diploma programme took her back to the basics where she covered essentials such as composition. “It’s been instrumental in helping me to grow… It just all came together seamlessly and resulted in award-winning images.”
Lisa recounts excitedly she received her first award from the very first competition she entered, winning a silver NZIPP Iris Award (New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers) last year with a black and white portrait of her father, Allan. “Dad couldn’t believe it. He’s been my biggest supporter. He says, ‘If you can dream it, you chase it, you’ll get it’”.
It was a meaningful moment for father and daughter. “We watched the live judging together. It was an incredible feeling that this hard work has paid off and been recognised.”
“My biggest highlight of the course was producing the portrait of my dad. It was an A mark - that was my best grade of any of my papers - and it just meant so much to me...”
In February, Lisa entered six images in the international Asia Pacific Photography Awards hosted by NZIPP and received eight awards: five Highly Commended (judges awards) and three People’s Choice (public vote). Three of the award-winning images were created while Lisa studied the NZDP.
Lisa says she screamed when she got the competition results. “It was a mixture of shock and happiness… I had to apologise to Warren; we were in the tractor cleaning up some trees down the back of the farm.”
“To know I’m getting these scores and awards, I know I’m on the right track and I’m getting these things right.”
Especially proud of winning three people’s choice awards, Lisa’s most high achieving image to date - a portrait of a horse, where the horse’s head emerges from a black background - won both a highly commended and a people’s choice award. “I learned how to do that in my course - the digital post-production paper - how to enhance the blacks in the shed and black out the background.”
Lisa entered the image along with a few others in the Waikato A&P show photography competition last year, and she was astonished by what happened next. The horse portrait won first place for adult portrait, then champion for the adult section, then supreme champion for the overall exhibit. “When they pulled out the supreme champion ribbon, I burst into tears,” she says.
With a consistent stream of SIT NZDP students and graduates performing well in photography awards, SIT Programme Operations Manager - Creative Media, Steve Woller, believes the key tool provided to ākonga (students) is opportunity. “The opportunity to study, sure, but also the opportunity to experiment,” he explains.
“We teach all the core elements of modern photography at introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels, but the part that we are really proud of is the opportunity we give to learners to experiment and try genres and techniques they might never otherwise have been exposed to.”
“I am always impressed by the quality of work … with Lisa, some of the work she experimented with is the same work winning awards,” Mr Woller states.
Lisa found the two biggest challenges during the NZDP were managing childcare and having ADHD. “My concentration span is like that of Dory, (the forgetful fish from the movie, Finding Nemo),” she explains. “But I told all my facilitators, and one came back saying ‘same as me! Don’t worry you’ll be fine’.” In the same breath she admits “It’s my superpower.”
While Lisa had planned to do the Level 6 diploma, having a baby last year has delayed this. “I’m taking it quieter this year.” Quieter for Lisa means she’s currently completing the New Zealand Certificate in Business (Small Business) (Level 4), the perfect accompaniment for upskilling to run her photography business, LJ Photography.
Lisa is well-known in equestrian circles for her photography at Waikato Equestrian Centre, but it’s mainly weekend work at this stage. “The goal is to get my head around all the financials; finish the small business certificate, so I can get the business up off the ground and running.”
In the meantime, she’s waiting for her wee ones to grow a little more before she reaches for her big dreams. “I’d like to photograph equine events in Australia. Maybe one day the Olympics...”
Lisa acknowledges she couldn’t have achieved anything without the amazing support of Warren, and her parents, Denise and Allan. Eldest daughter Mikayla also gets special mention.
“I take my hat off to Mikayla who’s been so tolerant; every time I pull out my camera, my Miss Mikayla lets me photograph her… She often tells me, ‘Mum you’re happy; you look like your cup is full’.” And Lisa agrees. “I’m just enjoying the ride,” she says cheerfully.
Check out Lisa’s award-winning images at Awards - LJ Photography - Multi Award Winning Waikato Photographer