Gerty Philosophy
This is what I know for sure:No-one gets to the end of their days and wishes they'd invested less time in their family.
Gerty Photography was created to help my clients fashion a visual expression of their family love.
I believe in service so friendly that every client feels like part of the Gerty family. I love meeting new people, and I know that it's an honour to be invited to be part of your family and life.
I want every client to feel like my favourite client.
Category Archives: Mondays
Monday Magenta – Episode 19: Little Friends Photo
I saw one of Seth Casteel’s “Ruff Water” shots through a link one of my friends posted on facebook. I followed it through to his blog and I’m hooked! Head to the Little Friends Photo blog to check out his amazing work. The most creative pet portraits I’ve ever seen!
Monday Magenta – Episode 18: In the Good Old Days…
I can’t believe I’m already old enough to say “Remember when…” or “When I was a kid…” It wasn’t that long ago that a phone was just a phone. Now it’s a phone, a camera, an internet browser, an instant messenger, a gaming machine, a weather channel, an alarm clock… the list goes on!
Here’s an early camera phone prototype 
Have a great Monday, see you next week. And don’t forget you can receive Gerty’s updates directly in your inbox by subscribing here.
Monday Magenta – Episode 17: The Emotion of Black and White
Maybe it’s a gross generalisation, but I feel fairly comfortable saying that most people love the simplicity and purity of black and white images. I once read a quote that said “When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes; when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls.” (Ted Grant)
I sometimes find images that seem too busy or overwhelming in colour look fantastic in black and white. Many times this is because all the distracting elements are taken away and you are drawn into the emotion rather than the content of the photo.
I adore this photo of my husband and son. I’m sure it’s more poignant for me because I know how much effort goes into getting in daddy’s pockets (with velcro and zippers in the way!), and they’re my family so I love them to bits. But the colour image just doesn’t have the same impact – his old blue work shirt, with a gold pillow, on a purple hammock with a green fence in the background… Colour clash and sensory overload! In black and white, all those distractions are removed.
But have you ever looked back at old family photos and wondered what they looked like in colour? Have a look at these amazing colourisations of historical figures and events. I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around how to achieve this, but love seeing them “brought to life”.
Have a great week, see you next Monday!
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Monday Magenta – Episode 16: Sisters
Last week was Will’s first birthday and I wrote about how much I value being a photographer and having the opportunity to create beautiful images of his childhood. I like to think my photography has come a long way, but this guy takes the cake for stunningly executed and creative family photos. The Sisters blog is a photo-journal of his two little girls – definitely worth checking out.
In the meantime, here’s a couple of Will on his first birthday!
Have a great week, see you next Monday!
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Monday Magenta – Episode 15: One Year
Today is our son’s first birthday. One year ago my husband and I had one of the hardest days of our lives, and were rewarded with our greatest treasure. It has been an amazing year – overwhelmingly positive, and unavoidably life-altering.
Thanks to a few post-delivery complications, Bruce did almost everything for Will for the first three days, and then stayed home with me for six weeks. As traumatic as it was, they had a wonderful opportunity for father-son bonding from the first moments of life. Watching them giggle and play together gives me so much joy.
I had my first “real” cuddle at five-hours-old.
Now our tiny bundle is celebrating a whole year of life, his very first birthday.
As this year has gone flying past, I’ve often felt that I am in the best job in the world for a parent – I have taken countless photos, trying to balance my desire to record all the important moments with the pleasure of leaving the camera behind and just enjoying the fun as it happens.
I hope you have a great Monday, I know we’re planning to!
Monday Magenta – Episode 14: Dear Photograph
On my recent Christmas road-trip down south I caught up with my cousins and their kids. It doesn’t seem like very long ago that we were the kids – the three girls in the top photo here (myself included – the youngest one) are now the mothers of the four little ones in the bottom photo!
The reason I shared this photo today is that I found a site recently called Dear Photograph which shows reader-submitted photos within photos. People go back to the place where an old picture was taken, line it up and take a new one. There are some amazing memories that people have shared, and some thought provoking reminiscences to go with them.
Have a great week!
PS. You can receive Gerty’s updates via email… here.
Monday Magenta – Episode 13: 5 People, 1 Guitar
Well, things have been a little quiet on the blog over the Christmas and New Year period. I’ve been very blessed to have my hubby home for a few weeks to spend time as a family, and have enjoyed taking some personal images, as well as putting the camera away for a little while every now and again. Lots of images to share in the coming weeks.
To get your Monday morning started, check out this amazing video – five people playing one guitar, and one of my favourite songs at the moment. How do people come up with this stuff?
Have a great week! If you haven’t already, why not subscribe and get a bit of Monday morning sunshine delivered to your inbox?
Monday Magenta – Episode 12: Powerful
Happy New Year! It’s my first post of the year and I’m looking forward to an exciting and action-packed 2012.
I usually share funny, quirky or interesting things in my Monday morning episodes, but this morning I feel compelled to share something different.
We start the new year with lots of talk of resolutions, fresh starts and new opportunities. A few weeks ago I saw a link to a facebook page called My Wife’s Fight With Breast Cancer. It is a photo-journal of Angelo and Jen Merendino’s struggle with the disease, and shows such an intimate portrait of their lives and love. You can read a summary of their story and the reason for sharing it here.
Sadly, Jen passed away a couple of days before Christmas. Reading about their experience and taking a glimpse into their lives via photography has really put some things into perspective for me – particularly seeing their love and optimism in really tough circumstances.
You can see the collection of images on their website.
Wishing you a wonderful new year,
Jess
Monday Magenta – Episode 11: Street Art
Until I got involved in photography, I never considered myself to be an artist. Sometimes I still think photography is a bit of a poor cousin in the art world, but I suppose it’s just a different type of skill to the more traditional forms such as painting and drawing.
I love the creativity and skill involved in street art – British artist Joe Hill recently broke the Guinness World Record for the largest 3D painting in London.
Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters
You can see more amazing artworks in this gallery.
If you’re brave enough, enjoy the Boxing Day sales! See you next week.
And don’t forget to subscribe here.
Monday Magenta – Episode 10: Christmas Baking
I’ve been getting back into a bit of baking lately. My current favourite is Whoopie Pies, ’cause they’re easy and quick (and yummy!).
For every Christmas as long as I can remember, it’s been a tradition in our family to receive a Darrel Lea Christmas Pudding (the delicious nougat ones) in our stockings – it’s probably one of my favourite things about the Christmas season! So when I saw this recipe for mini puddings, I thought I’d have to give them a go.
While mine don’t look quite as glossy as those on the Women’s Weekly website, they taste delicious! (If I do say so myself…)
In the spirit of the Christmas season, here’s a few recipes that I think look pretty tasty and festive. My mum has passed on an affection for Women’s Weekly cookbooks, so these are all from their website. I can be a bit of a hit-and-miss baker/chef, and I’ve always found their recipes easy to follow.
Easy Gingerbread House - I’ve never tried a gingerbread house, but I think this one looks achievable.
Mini Christmas Tree Treats - My brother and sister-in-law are going to have a white Christmas in Canada this year, and these little trees made me think of them and how different Christmas looks in the Northern Hemisphere.
Hazelnut Christmas Tree - I couldn’t find the recipe that mum and I have used to make our fig and chocolate Christmas tree, but this one looks pretty good too. This is a great one to take to Christmas parties for everyone to break off a ‘branch’ to much on.
Merry Christmas everyone!
PS. Yes, I have changed the title of my Monday episodes to ‘Monday Magenta’. If you’d like to flip through previous episodes, you can still find them under the Mondays category.
PPS. If you’d like to receive your Monday goodness, and other Gerty posts, directly in your inbox – subscribe here. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a cooking blog from today’s post, but I promise it’s usually much more photography related!
