By Leon Gray-Lockhart
KRISTY Strachan has always loved photography, so turning her hobby into a successful business has been nothing but a pleasure for her.
Raised in Egmont Village, Kristy (nee Barron) moved to Inglewood when she was 10, attending Inglewood Primary School and then Inglewood High School.
Moving on to further study at Taranaki Polytechnic, Kristy completed a Certificate in Horticulture before working for a cut-flower grower in New Plymouth, where she undertook on-the-job training with a cadetship in Floriculture.
It was during her next appointment as one of New Plymouth District Council's park-scape team that she started to seriously contemplate taking her lifetime of interest in photography a little bit further.
"I'd always had a natural curiosity with photography and a creative urge to do more of it," she said.
With the ongoing support of her husband Jason and her two children Georgia and Cole, Kristy attended various night courses run by WITT, learning about things like darkroom developing and composition.
"It was all on film then, and so now we have boxes and boxes of Kristy's photos from her night courses mainly with our kids as the subjects," said Jason.
"I'd always liked to record people's special moments, capturing what others don't see," said Kristy.
Her first foray into wedding photographer came a few years ago when she was invited to photograph the wedding of her hairdresser.
"My work was very well-received, and just by word-of-mouth, the next two summers were really quite busy."
Although Kristy felt things were going really well, it was important to her to further develop her qualifications in photography and so she opted to do the one-year full-time photography course at WITT in 2006.
"When I first applied for the course with my portfolio, the tutors asked me why I wanted to do the course when clearly I was doing really well."
"I wanted to do the course just to keep up-to-date with my technical skills and to learn more in depth about things like composition. Also, the whole digital and software side was something I knew I could learn more about."
Doing full-time study whilst running a family and helping Jason out with sharemilking did present challenges to Kristy, but through organisation and dedication Kristy not only completed the course, but gained a prize for Most Outstanding Student.
"I think I did so well on the course because maybe I was a little older, a little more experienced and the course was something I really wanted to do. I knew I would have to work hard and I was really motivated, putting a lot of time into my exhibition."
The people at WITT must have really liked what they saw in Kristy's work because she now does all of their advertising photography.
As far as weddings go, Kristy thoroughly enjoys the entire experience of capturing the day.
"It's so special to be part of the day going through the entire experience with the bride and then making up the album, knowing it's going to be a treasured family heirloom."
"I enjoy doing what I do, because every wedding is different, and I'm always on the move. I get a real buzz and it doesn't feel like a job at all."
Running her own photography business is something that Kristy loves too, offering a lifestyle that she can take at her own pace.
"Business is constantly growing, but I still have time to help Jason out on the farm, milking and rearing calves. It fits in wicked with the kids and I can more or less select the hours I work."
"Work is good at the moment as I've got the time to make sure I'm producing professional work, which I know is of the highest quality."
Her professional peers are now also noticing the high quality of her work with Kristy receiving two awards at this year's New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography Awards in Tauranga.
"I received a bronze award in the wedding category and another bronze in the landcape category I was stoked."
As far as her future ambitions go, Kristy is quite happy to maintain her present level of success for the next little while, though is open to the idea of exhibiting her work more formally.
"I'd like to put together my own exhibition one day I just love still life and capturing the essence of things; picking up the camera and turning something simple into something special."
"But right now, I'm busy for what I need and I'm enjoying a good lifestyle."
"I really feel like I've found what I love doing, and I always knew I'd feel like than about photography."
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