Firstly, thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey this year! We’ve welcomed more wonderful clients into the fold, worked on some really inspiring & rewarding projects & warmed our souls by the fire of creativity. A new staff member also came on board in 2016 – Tom, who’s been producing some amazing moments of editing behind the scenes. From corporate headshots, commercial photography, promotional web videos, social justice films, creative arts projects, events, lifestyle and product photography – it’s been at times incredibly serious and at others a total hoot!
Here’s just the tip of the iceburg, in no particular order, for some of the stuff we’ve been up to this year. Perhaps I’m attempting to make up for the dismal effort I put into blogging this year (I’m much better at making the images than I am at writing about them!), but this is an uber blog, so there’s your warning. Make a cup of tea and enjoy. Speaking of tea (loose segway), there are changes brewing for 2017, exciting new plans & the release of Michelle’s first documentary film. Stay tuned…
Thanks to all the wonderful people & organisations we have worked with this year, it’s been a joy!
Department of Education & Training, County Court of Victoria, IBM, Haymes Paint, Bupa, Convertworx, Bank of Melbourne, Mark Ritson, Law Reform Victoria, Paige Duggan, Chillout Festival Daylesford, Taltarni Wines, Karden Disability Services, Karolina Artist, Creative Road, Women’s Health Grampians, Al Wunder, Naomi McLellan, Absolute Weddings, Westbury Antiques, David Hayes, Ballarat Group Practice, Kirsty Swift, School Psychology, Bank Australia, Billabong Retreat, Atticus Media, Thorn Group, Radio Rentals, Ballarat Construction Management, Westpac Bank, Jennifer McDougal, Pathway Asset Management, The Courier, Oticon, Steel Frame Solutions, Toyota, National Credit Management Limited, Leadership Ballarat & Western Region, Endorphin Wealth Management, Rubiix Accountants, PGG Wrightson, Flytographer, Tamara Downy, ANZ Bank, Commerce Ballarat, Australian Physiotherapy Association, Steve Moneghetti, Dimase Architects, Melbourne Body Corporate Management, Faye Hull, People at Work, Simon M Rock, SEAM Inc, Medical Observer, Passing Clouds, Grainger Legal, Federation University, Elizabeth Lacey, Department of Premier & Cabinet, Ballarat Grammar, Design Scope, Ballarat Ballet Centre, Boroka Downs Retreat, The Biennale of Australian Art (BOAA), Smart Home Deposit, PetStock, City of Ballarat, Grampians Pyrenees Primary Care Partnership, Superfriend, Greenfield Place, Department of Economic Development, Sustainable Development Australia, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Peppers Brand Managers, The Launch Box.
Plus all the schools & training organisations we worked with across Victoria during the Victorian Training Awards, the Victorian Early Years Awards and the Victorian Education Excellence Awards!
Also big thanks to all the couples you trusted me to share, celebrate & capture their wedding day. After 10 years, we are making some changes in this area & will report more soon!
PROMO FILM – BOAA, The Biennale of Australia Art.
We were like kids in a candy store for this project. It’s everything we love rolled into one and working with Julie at D&J Projects
was heaven. It’s so great when passion, trust & good intentions come together & thrive. If you are an artist, or know one, hit their website for the expressions of interest.
Convertworx CEO Inbal Steinberg making things happen in Melbourne CBD. I’ve worked with Inbal a few times now over the last few years & am always inspired by her drive & vision.
A magic morning with Farmer Noel Vincent from Mosquito Creek Pastoral. The light that can happen on a mid winter early morning makes you forget it’s mid winter and early morning. I came away from this shoot feeling in awe of our natural environment.
Sarah Houbolt – SNAP Disability Arts Festival Ballarat from MDP Photography & Video on Vimeo.
SNAP Arts & Disability Festival, presented by Karden Disability Services & Arthur Creative was one of my favourite projects of the year.
We filmed 4 promos for the artists of this festival, including local Ballarat Artists, Geelong’s Thomas Banks and Sydney’s Sarah Houbolt.
Each artist touched, challenged and inspired us, while at the same time giving us a rich group of stories to work with & share with the world.
Paige Duggan released her first Jazz album this year & it was so great to once again be able to work with an amazing independent Australian musician. I always listen to an artist or bands music first when I’m trying to come up with an idea for a shoot & this is the image that came to me for Paige’s album, titled “Indigo”.
I want to celebrate & thank Deb Milera, Jon Kanoa & Nikki Foy – it was such a privilege and honour to be able to work with you on this film
created for Leadership Ballarat and Western Region around reconciliation.
Listening to you tell your stories simultaneously broke my heart, inspired me and gave me hope for our future. Australia and the world
needs to hear more stories like yours. Thank you.
It’s not often I get to photograph people that are comfortable in front of the camera, but Mark Ritson made this shoot so easy. Marketing wizz, columnist & adjunct professor at Melbourne Business School, Mark’s a fascinating one to spend a few hours with!
What a fun, outside the square initiative Bank of Melbourne’s Social Feeds was in 2016. Were you lucky enough to happen upon a food truck dishing out meals on the streets across Melbourne & Ballarat?
Greenfield Place from MDP Photography & Video on Vimeo.
We got to peer inside one of Ballarat’s newest & most vibing (is that a word?) Bnb’s this year as we created a little sneak peek into Greenfield Place.
What a little piece of heaven tucked away on historic Lydiard Street, fronted by one of my favourite cafe’s The Local.
Send your family & friends here when they’re coming to stay in Ballarat!
At times it felt like a year of photographing women in the Legal sector! It was so exciting to see so many women branching out, starting their own legal practices & backing themselves, like the women at Grainger Legal .
Warm Timelapse from MDP Photography & Video on Vimeo.
Give artists a topic that requires urgent attention and you get an ambitious project. And when it all comes together, everyone can stand
back after all the hard work & just go “wow”. SEAM’s WARM climate change project was just that. A massive endeavour that spanned the
globe, then culmiated in this time lapse we created with the help of Ben Cox at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. If you want to know more about
this project, click through to their website. It’s fascinating, inspiring and important.
Phillip at Endorphin Wealth Management got us in to create some vibrant, refreshing headshots of his team this year as the company grew. We chose the banks of the yarra running through Melbourne’s CBD for the shoot & loved the results!
Bupa launched in Ballarat this year with a bang & what I loved about being a fly on the wall during the event was the passion & enthusiasm the staff all had. The vibe was so great, I wanted a room. Then I realised I was jumping the gun a bit 😉
Speaking of Mental Health…roadshow from MDP Photography & Video on Vimeo.
What a relief it is to see more people and organisations speaking openly about mental health. Nic Newling has an immense capacity
to speak candidly about his experiences with mental health & leave you with so much to think about. If you get a chance to hear him
speak, do it. This film was created for the Grampians Pyrenees Primary Care Partnership.
Another year covering the Chillout Festival in Daylesford! It’s a huge weekend, racing from one loved filled event to the next, but it’s a weekend that makes me feel so proud to be part of this diverse & wonderful LGBTIQ community. This is Mojo Juju doing her thing on the opening night at Daylesford Town Hall.
It’s amazing how much I’m learning about Agriculture now that I’ve moved from city to country living. On this shoot for PGG Wrightson in Nanneella I learnt all about corn crops, taking risks as a farmer & the diversity of seeds.
The Medical Observer has a column that celebrates the lives of doctors outside of being a doctor. Dr Gerard Ingham has a fascinating life living off the grid and playing in his band (full of doctors / musicians) in his spare time. Needless to say I came away from this one inspired & excited. Thanks also to Gerard for being willing to climb up onto the roof with me. Great view!
Here’s cheers! The finalists in the Federation Business School Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards this year.
All I can say is if we had a world of compassionate, human rights driven lawyers like Naomi McClellan coming through the ranks, the world would be a better place.
Creative Road agency recently got us in to capture the installation & artworks by Jade Oakley at the new Bendigo Hospital. These beautiful works are suspended outside the windows of patients in the Mental Health wards & are perfectly engineered to move gently with the breeze. Talking to Jade about the concept, development & creation of these artworks was totally fascinating.
SuperSpanPromo from MDP Photography & Video on Vimeo.
We’ve been working with Superfriend Mental Health Foundation lots this year and it’s work that makes me feel proud to be able to get
these messages out into the world. We need to talk more about mental health, endeavour to understand each other & our life experiences
better and ensure whatever field we work in, we approach staff and colleagues with empathy. Thanks for allowing us to join you
on this Superfriend.
Oticon is a company that knows how to have a launch party! Held in the epic Bond nightclub in Melbourne, this launch had it all, from scientifically inspired cocktails to human light extravaganzas.
ANZ has this great program that rewards people for saving and includes education programs around learning about money. I’ve never understood why we don’t learn more about money in school, but it was great to hear this is happening!
Chaffey College in Mildura was just one stop on a huge list I travelled for the Department of Education’s Excellence Awards this year. They’ve been a finalist before, so it was great to revisit this school & reconnect with some familiar faces. I also always love being able to hear from passionate teachers who go above & beyond to engage with students & make the learning experience fun, inclusive and accessible.
Passing Clouds sexy labels for their signature edition released this year.
I’ve had the pleasure of photographing Steve Moneghetti a few times now, this time was for the Australian Physiotherapy Association with the backdrop of Lake Wendouree in Ballarat. Every time I make sure I pick his brain a little more for running tips and I often hear his words moving me forward when I’m trying to drag myself around the lake – thanks Steve!
I know there’s that saying – “never work with kids or animals”. Well it’s the furthest thing from the truth at Ballarat Grammar. These kids were awesome. So accommodating, articulate and easy to work with, if only every shoot was so easy!
Interior heaven. I’ve been inspired by the interiors of a number of places across Melbourne while photographing for Pathway Asset Management this year. It’s always a bonus when you get a moment to chat to the owners as well & get to know a little about the stories behind the place.
Geoffrey Williams & Stella Savvy came into the studio this year to create a promo image for their show with The Boite, performed at Hamer Hall. What a pair these two are. Each ridiculously talented, I have so much love for these two. We giggled lots during this shoot.
There was also lots of travel to beautiful locations this year. Here, we ventured to Billabong Retreat on the outskirts of Sydney to photograph for Bank Australia and also help out Atticus Media create a film on this awesome, environmentally conscious business.
Womens Health Grampians – Community of Practice #4 – Unconscious Bias from MDP Photography & Video on Vimeo.
Women’s Health Grampians have been running a series of workshops around the prevention of violence against women
and this topic is one I wish everyone had a chance to sit in on. There is SO much unconcious bias ingrained in us due to
the influences of society. But it doesn’t take much to notice & think differently once you have been made aware. I’ve been
thinking lots about this stuff, especially since joining CoRE (Communities of Respect and Equality – if your business is not a
member yet, join!) and we are doing our best as a creator of visual content to make sure we are not falling into the trap of
unconscious biases as we put images out into the world!
The Thorn Group have some great initiatives to help creatives finance their businesses and this is Paul from Arts Music, who makes the most amazing violins I’ve ever seen. Sometimes I just want to sit & talk to people… and then I remember to keep photographing!
Ballarat Construction Management threw a launch to remember this year. We photographed this incredibly designed building in 2015 just as it was finished and it was so great to capture the celebrations and see people enjoying what the building has to offer.
Westbury Antiques have been coming to us for images of their antiques for a few years now & I love catching up with them to see what interesting items they’ve collected from around the world & the stories they have to go with them.
There were literally hundreds of shots from this 3 day shoot I wanted to put up. The kangaroo outside the accommodation, The emus grazing in pairs near the water, the spa, the sun setting over the Grampians ridge… but this shot sums up how I felt, even while I was working. The peace, the reconnecting with nature, the spoils. And yes, we did enjoy the spread afterwards. Thanks Boroka Downs, this was the treat of the year. We’ll be back 🙂
