Forum Member Interview | Lucy Jane Photography

I for one, am so excited introduce our incredibly talented forum member, Australia’s Lucy Jane of Lucy Jane Photography. She has been an active member of our forum for several years and it has been such an immense treat to watch the development of her art and point of view. Although we have never met in person, I can tell her sweet nature could put anyone at ease. We all know when it comes to being a photographer, that is one of the best tools in your box! No wonder Lucy’s swoon-worthy images are packed with the vibrant emotion of relaxed subjects.

And Lucy, whenever you are ready to come to the United States, I always have a spare room for you ;)

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a 21 year old student studying a bachelor of Early Childhood Education. First and foremost in life I am a sister to two incredibly cute troublemakers. Still living at home with my mum, and my dog, Alfie, while living two minutes away from my partner.

I happen to know you started your photography journey at a young age, what got you interested in taking pictures?

I think I started getting interested in photography when I was around seven years of age. My step mum loved photography, so I had a little film point and shoot and followed her around, at age 8 when they got married, there is a picture of me standing up near them photographing the wedding. My dad looks back on that and states that it was my first wedding photography gig! But truly, it wasn’t until my brother and sister came along when I was 10 and 11 and a half that my true passion for photography was unleashed. I loved capturing them, and everything they did, even if it was still with a film point and shoot. I was around 15 when I started using my mums cheap Fujifilm DSLR, and then for my graduation of high school, my parents bought me my first DSLR, a canon 40D, two months after that I had my first portfolio building session, and the rest is pretty much history!

Your images are just breathtaking and each new image you share just blows me away. I have been lucky enough to watch you grow over the past couple years, what have you done to keep yourself improving and growing?

Oh, thank you! I think keeping inspired helps a lot with the notion of improving and growing, but I also take time once a month, generally at the end of it, to go back to the same time last year, and see what type of images I am taking then, seeing those generally helps me grow further because I want to blow the last years images out of the water the next month.

What or who keeps you inspired?

Oh that is a hard question….Pinterest number one keeps me inspired. Then, the photographers that I kept going back to before I was in this business were Pinkle Toes Photography from Austin, Texas, and Kristen Cook Photography from Melbourne, Australia.

You live in Australia, what is the photography market like there?

The Photography market here is like a small sprinkle on a cupcake compared to the US…basically the US is the cupcake! Seniors are people aged 55 and over, not graduating from high school. If your school has a year book, they generally use your school photo for the year 12 graduating class…yeah you can say my picture wasn’t that great! Newborns are starting to boom more, but it’s still slower than I would like. I live in one of the capital cities in Australia, but one of the smaller ones. I have been tempted a few times to just pack my bags and move to the US. Just a question of who do I live with ;)

What do you wish you had done different when you were beginning this journey?

For my first session not charge $25 for a CD of images…..yup, twenty-five dollars…when I spent a lot of my (grade twelve final exam revision) time editing those babies. That is the one piece of advice I give to anyone who is starting out.

Where do you hope to see yourself in the next 5 years?

To graduate university…..*tear* I have 2 and a half more years of it to go, and this semester (the one that I am meant to be writing a major practical report for right now) has been the hardest of them all…. Hopefully to be married, hint hint to my partner ;) And for the businesses to be at the level where I could be on the verge of saying I don’t need teaching to keep us afloat… but maybe that will be in the 10 year plan. It’s a nice dream though!

I would love for you to share your favorite image you have taken and tell us why it’s a favorite.

This is probably the hardest question you could probably have asked me, as I always seem to have a new favourite at the end of each session! However, I have to come back to my muses. This image is a canvas on the wall opposite my bed, so I wake up to it every single morning. They look so calm, and so loving in this image, when the majority of the time they aren’t! I think that is why this is my favourite, makes me remember the little things that don’t happen to often!

What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends?

Weekends, what are weekends again? I love to play netball (I’m majoring in Physical Education at University), so that takes up a huge chunk of my Saturday’s and Sunday’s, and then I generally fit a session in on Saturday’s after netball, and some Sunday’s before netball! Saturday nights are strictly time for my partner and I to be together…because our lives are crazy with work, university, and sport to fit in.

Your favorite book you have read.

I’m a sucker for Twilight….but I read all the books before the movies came out, so I’m not following on the movie bandwagon….I haven’t yet read 50 Shades of Grey, that’s this holiday’s job, but I have a feeling I would like it! I do always love One Day by David Nicholls. I just don’t have that much time to read unless it’s holidays, which truly makes me sad!

Tell us something quirky about yourself.

I have no idea…I can touch my nose with my tongue….I talk when I get nervous, and I can write essays really really well when I am under pressure….Probably why I am procrastinating on this practical report right now, It’s due in 4 days, but I want it done so I can start revising for my exam which is in 5 days….*sigh*

Thanks so much Lucy for your beautiful interview. Be sure to check out more of Lucy’s incredible work below…
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