Architectural & Portrait Travel Photography

As a busy commercial and photographer in Sydney it’s important to take some time off occasionally and explore our neighbouring countries. However I'm always a passionate photographer even on holidays as I’m still looking for that spontaneous moment or that striking architectural landscape.

I recently visited two amazing and different cities.  Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. I have been to Bangkok previously a number of years ago. It’s just as hectic as I remembered and you can still write you name in the air. Because of the air pollution you can actually get some lovely soft lighting, unlike the harsh Australian light. Kuala Lumper on the other hand was quite a surprise, very modern with just enough of Asia’s chaos to remind you you're actually not in a western city. The architecture of Kuala Lumpur is a blend of old colonial influences, Asian traditions, Malay Islamic inspirations, modern, and postmodern architecture mix. Being a relatively young city compared with other Southeast Asian capitals such as Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila, most of Kuala Lumpur's colonial buildings were built toward the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Petronas Towers once the world’s tallest buildings till 2004 are truly remarkable. They also built by Australia’s own Lend Lease. 

Commercial Photography Sydney

Northholm Grammar School is a co-educational day school with a maximum enrolment of 550 students from Years Three to Twelve. Their campus is located in a semi-rural environment in the Hornsby Shire of Sydney.

For the last five years Mackintosh Photography has been commissioned to create compelling and emotive images that represents the schools branding and ethos effectively. These commercial photography assignments along with the images I create are used for the school's prospectus, brochures, website and strategic plans. Including roadside advertising billboards and even on some Sydney buses. The photography brief for this most recent photo shoot was simply to create candid and relaxed portraits. We didn’t want too many formal portraits for this particular shoot. The children need to be engaged with each other, including their teachers and enjoying school life.

A private school is just like most businesses. They need to present a professional image and showing what the company or business can do for their potential clients. Every business big or small needs to create brand awareness so they can continue to grow and prosper. Professional photography and video and greatly help your business grow.

Call the studio today to see how Mackintosh Photography can help your business.

Professional Business Portraits - Sydney

In today's media savvy online marketing world. Having a professional headshot is very important. Your online portrait represents your image and brand. The portrait needs to look fresh, genuine and honest. It's photographer who makes you look great in photographs. Not Photoshop. It's the way I personally shoot and listen to what you're looking for in a portrait. And making you genuinely feel relaxed and comfortable with photography experience. Having your portrait taken is fun and enjoyable. Well it is with Mackintosh Photography.
BUT most importantly your beautiful photograph of yourself must really look like you! NOT an over retouched composite fake version of yourself!

I work often with small business owners, entrepreneurs and executives and I'm finding more often these clients are requiring more than just a headshot. They usually have different needs and roles that they perform in their career. So one image isn't enough to tell their personal story. 

DR SARAH JOY AITKEN | Senior Lecturer | Vascular Surgeon Concord Hospital | Medicine
Dr Aitken is another example of needing more than one image. She has recently won a significant grant to further research cardiovascular disease. So she will be doing more lectures, attending conferences and writing articles in medical journals. So simply having one portrait won't achieve the goals she is aiming for.

Marketing your business and servicers effectively is critical. Large corporate companies and small business all need to project a professional image to help attract new clients. Great photographs help you stay in front of your competitors.

Call the studio today to see how Mackintosh Photography can help grow your business.

Architectural Photography - Brigidine College

I love creative inspiring architecture and crafting images that showcase the architect's vision. Fulton Trotter Architects and Mackintosh Photography have been working together in Sydney photographing four of their recently completed educational projects. Brigidine College's new building comprises of three levels - Performing Arts building incorporating a 225 seat Theatre, 75 car Basement Car Park, Dance and Drama, Music and Practice classrooms, Amenities and Associated External Works. Science building incorporating Science labs and General Learning Areas.

Brigidine College operates as an independent Catholic girl’s high school located in St Ives, Sydney. The College in particular prides itself on being forward thinking and progressive especially in regard to women and women’s education, preparing young women for the future. Brigidine College opened a design competition to a selection of architects to design a masterplan concept for the school in order to continue to provide state of the art facilities and increase the range of courses offered to students.

After a successful competition entry, Fulton Trotter Architects were appointed to develop the masterplan and the initial stages of the project. The masterplan takes inspiration from the school motto fortiter et suaviter “Strength and Gentleness.” When walking around the existing College grounds, particularly in the College Green and around the Chapel one experiences a feeling of serenity and peacefulness. This feeling comes from the soft landscaping and gardens, a key feature of the College. The buildings themselves display a strong, edge to the exterior of the college, and open up to a serene and flowing interior with gentle curves, verandahs and covered break out spaces - creating flexible and diverse learning spaces. Their design principles drew on these existing influences achieved with strong perimeter buildings opening up to the gentleness and connectivity of a softer interior edge.

Marketing your business effectively is critical. Large corporate companies and small business need to project a professional image to help attract new clients. Whether you're an architect, a construction company or a professional service provider, great photographs help you stay in front of your competitors.

Call the studio today to see how Mackintosh Photography can help grow your business.

Outdoor Family Portraits - Sydney

Here's a wonderful family portrait shoot I photographed in beautiful Birchgrove overlooking Sydney Harbour. 

This young family was a local family from Balmain in Sydney. I like to tailor my photography portrait sessions to the individual families likes. This outdoor location was selected because they love relaxing there on weekends and the family dog Banjo loves the beach. So do the kids, the beach is always great fun. 

Like many Australian families, they are sometimes hesitant in having a family portrait session. We are too modest! I tell them prior to the shoot that, it will be very relaxed and we allow time for mum, dad, grandparents and the children to ease into the photography shoot.  I'm a relaxed kind of person and have had the pleasure of photographing families over the last 10 years. I promise the experience is one that you will love and enjoy.  I joke with them " that it's not like going to dentist" and always after the photo shoot, everyone says how much fun they had. 

With spring fast approaching, it's the perfect time to update the family portrait on the wall. And dare I say they make for awesome and unique Christmas gifts for family relatives.  

Corporate Headshots Sydney - Circular Quay

As a professional photographer who has been photographing people for over 12 years, I love to inspire my clients to push the boundaries of what a professional corporate portrait or headshot can be. Yes I do photograph professionals in my Sydney studio in Rozelle with various backgrounds and studio lighting. But what I love the most is photographing corporate portraits on location and often outside. These days your business profile portrait for LinkedIn and social media doesn't just have to be a really close shot of just your head. I can photograph you in a various photo locations and styles to create a portfolio of images with different looks and styles. The reason for this is to give you a creative mix of images which you can uses for different professional purposes.

Another very important difference between Mackintosh Photography and other photography studios is that your portrait absolutely has to look like who you really are! Not an over photoshopped and retouched plastic version of yourself. People need to see the real you to build trust in your personal image and company branding and ethos. Having said that I do retouch my clients' business portraits, however naturally and subtly. But most importantly I don't change who you are. 

The images below are from a photography portrait shoot from last week. The client was Laurel Grey from Happily Organised. Laurel was the perfect client; we happily collaborated together on the looks and styles of portraits she required. Then it was up to me to photographically create images to match the looks and purposes of the images she needed.

Laural even gave the studio a testimonial our FaceBook Page. Justin gives personal and professional service - I needed some new corporate shots and he innately knew the right spot at Circular Quay. We got great shots in under 40 minutes - easy and painless! Thank you!

Industrial Photography - White Bay Power Station Rozelle

The White Bay Power station is a magnificent heritage listed industrial building in Rozelle Sydney, right on the studios doorstep. The building is a photographic delight. Full of fantastic textures, colours and off course those two massive chimneystacks. In 2011 my daughter and I were lucky enough to go on a guided tour of the of this iconic Sydney building. The tour was with the Historic House Trust, now called Sydney Living Museums. 

The coal power station is designed in the industrial federation architecture style. With its imposing height, sharp angles and flowing repartition in the design, it dominates the local area. It can be seen from across the harbour from Pyrmont, the Anzac Bridge and even from Barangaroo on the western side of the Sydney CBD. The building was commissioned, to satisfy the power requirements for the expansion of the Sydney tram and rail network, New South Wales Government Railways began the first phase of work on The White Bay Power Station in 1912. The building is a graphic reminder of Sydney's once industrial past. Its a shame not more of our Maritime and industrial heritage has been preserved.

The building is currently been preserved by Murphys Group Services