Even if you have eleventy billion pictures on your phone and you’re sure you're taking the photos that document what matters most to you, there are potentially valuable pieces of your everyday life that are missing from your camera roll.

 

How many times have you only later realised the significance of a moment? The nuances that make your family your family. The inside jokes, the glances you share, the countdown calendar to the opening date of the next Pixar movie. Pictures tell the story of your lives.

And you show up differently when you know that the moment matters.

But what about the things you might already remember, but want a deeper connection to? That’s my job. That’s what I do for you.

 
 

BASED IN Sydney
AVAILABLE — Australia & usa

 

Hi, I’m

Courtney

 

I DRAW FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE OF BEING A MUM TO CREATE VISUAL STORIES OF YOUR FAMILY LIFE THAT MATTER MOST TO YOU.

 
 
 

It was through the lack of sleep haze and trying to figure out just how to be a parent that I can now look back and realise the things I didn’t know I was missing.

The way my daughter would curl her finger around mine at every feed.

The way she would make picnics out of play food on our wood floor and make me taste every single piece while she played the harmonica for me.

The way my son would lie beside me on a blanket in the front yard to watch the stars come out after the sun went down,

dressed in last winter's Transformers pj's that were too small for him—reminding me how big he was getting.

Or the way he'd hold my hand as he walked into kindergarten and would squeeze three times for “I love you” before letting go.

I wish I’d documented those instances better. I wish I had photos and video of those experiences—with ME in them.

When you’re always the one taking the photos, you leave an empty space in your family album where you were supposed to be.

 

BETWEEN MY EXASPERATION OF DOING WHAT I THOUGHT I NEEDED TO DO AND TRYING TO INCORPORATE WHAT I WANTED TO DO, THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT LEFT ME EMPTY, WISHING I COULD GO BACK AND REVIST THEM. AND I WANT YOU TO HAVE FEWER OF THOSE THOUGHTS AS YOUR FAMILY GROWS AND CHANGES.

 

I promise you your daily routine is more significant than you think.

Your everyday moments matter.

YOU are the reason I do what I do.

YOU are the reason I get teary when I edit the films and images of your family—because you don’t know how exquisite you are until you see it. Until you feel it.

I had post-natal depression after my daughter was born, and the more mums I meet, the more I realise how much I undeniably understand how to create something meaningful that helps you feel seen and hopeful, especially when you might be feeling that life can just be really hard. I see you there. I’ll meet you there. And we’ll find a way into the light through what we create together.

 

LET’S talk

 

Being in your home helps me see who you really are, so I can create meaningful portraits and films full of personality, love, humour, and emotion.

 
 

Behind those favourite art pieces of yours, if your walls could talk, they might mention…

  • Early morning wake ups

    The regular before-6 am wake-up calls that you dread (and maybe with a mention of the middle-of-the-night tiny intruder who sneaks into your bed and cuddles with you which you secretly love), or

  • Night-time routines

    The way that “bedtime” is undoubtedly when your child will spring to life to ask you dozens of demanding and urgent questions like, “How many times does a dog blink in a day?”, or the night you and your partner talked about how you didn’t know love until you became a parent, and that’s because you finally understood how much you love sleep, or how your life flashes before your eyes when your son pours himself a cup of milk from the liter jug, or the stories that you have memorised because you’ve told them so many times (and how they won’t let you skip pages because they have them memorised, too)

  • Playtime

    How you came to understand that a perfectly quiet house was either blissful or terrifying, or the tea party where you felt like you were more of a hostage than a guest, or how you not-so-secretly laughed when your three-year-old tried to sit down on a Barbie chair,

  • Endless tantrums

    His temper tantrum because he wanted an orange that was a different colour, or her meltdown because she didn’t like that her tongue was pink

  • Or they might simply say that…

    Fantastic, funny, caring, maddening, loving, exquisite humans live here.

Places I love to shoot in

Hawkesbury, NSW

Kiama, NSW

Atlanta, GA

 

Brisbane, QLD

Nashville, TN

Sydney, NSW

Perth, WA

Melbourne, VIC

Dubbo, NSW

Hills District, NSW

Teaching & Speaking Events, Awards + Interviews:

 

2025

The Milky Way {online} Newborn Retreat - Teacher

2024

Unfiltered Retreat

2023

Australian Videography PrizeDirector

Unfiltered Retreat

 

11 Tips

for new

family

filmmakers

Featured Guide

Photographs can capture a moment in time but video gives you the ability to RE-LIVE that moment. The flipside is, it can be tricky to figure it all out on your own. So I’ve put together my top eleven tips for new family filmmakers, in the hopes that I can help make it easier for you. Join my email list below and I’ll send you the guide along with other tips + inspirations for family filmmakers.

For clients

When you book a family film or photo session with me, you are making sure that your memories aren’t lost forever in an old phone that you can’t turn on anymore, or deep in the cloud with hundreds of thousands of photos, videos, and screenshots that you’ve captured over the years.

EDUCATION
for photographers

If you’ve got questions, I’ve got answers. I’m a speaker, educator, and mentor to photographers all over the world who want to learn the art of family filmmaking over at FilmingLife® Academy. See you there!