Meet the Fairy Meadow mum finding direction behind the camera

Thinking about changing careers to pursue your passion? Fairy Meadow photographer Jennifer Brown says “just go for it".

While on maternity leave, the mum of two was made redundant from her job in fitness education, but welcomed the chance to spend more time at home with her young children.

Jennifer began snapping their big and little moments – from day-to-day activities to family milestones – and rediscovered an interest in photography she’d had as a teen.

Eventually – after she did a short online course in photography – her photoshoots expanded to cover friends and the odd wedding and baptism. Jennifer’s subjects confirmed she had a knack for camerawork.

“It was just something that intrigued me,” Jennifer said.

“I always loved borrowing my parents' SLR cameras when we would travel overseas and go to London, and being able to take those really cool images of the big cathedrals and castles and so forth up in Scotland, and just having an interest, wondering how can I get that shot in? Or can I get a detailed shot of the brickwork or how that particular stairwell goes?

“I had done an online course, an unaccredited one, and that was back in probably 2017… and it was just for the fun of it. It was more focused on taking photos of my family and documenting my children's lives … then as the years went on and I was doing more photography and I was taking images and doing shoots… people were reinforcing the fact that I should be getting paid for this stuff.

“But I never really knew how to take a composed photo, and that's where this TAFE course has really aligned with where I'm at.”

In February this year, Jennifer began her studies in a Certificate IV in Photography and Digital Imaging at Wollongong TAFE, all while working nights at a supermarket and still finding time to spend with her family.

“I know that there's pockets in my knowledge that I'm missing, and so that's been a really huge benefit for me to do the course,” she said.

Jennifer hasn’t graduated yet – the course ends in December – but is already having huge success with her photography business, Your Habitat Photography.

It was founded in late 2019, just before the pandemic began.

“That was impeccably bad timing to start a small business,” Jennifer said. “I remember it vividly, because I had an opening-style photoshoot, like a 'Let's set up the business and let's do like a little mini photoshoot, you can come with your family and whatnot'. And by the time I'd actually rolled it out, we went into lockdown, so not ideal.

Jennifer chose the name Your Habitat Photography because “as a client, it's all about you and your photography needs”.

She applies the same principle to shooting a business owner or a mother of a new baby. “I'm coming to you in your habitat – where you are, what's happening in your world.”

While her photoshoots for family and friends haven’t stopped, Jennifer has found a passion for commercial branding through her studies and has already worked for local clients, such as Mai Lien Co. bags and BJP Physical Culture.

“I really get a lot of joy from doing products and creating something from nothing, almost, in the sense that I have might have a client who comes to me with their storyboards and their mood boards and say, ‘This is my brand kit, and these are the things that I have existing. This is where I want my business to go, and these are the visions that I have, but I don't know how to get the imagery to align with the brand’,” Jennifer said.

“I'm almost that stepping stone, and that's what I love. I love the creative side of it, but also then putting my skillset into action.”

Jennifer has grand plans for the business and hopes to one day exhibit a passion project – portraits of Illawarra tradespeople and professionals that reveal the contrasts in their lives outside of work.

Jennifer hopes her success can inspire others – particularly mums – to follow their passion.

“Pursue the fire that's in your belly, because as a mum we lose ourselves because we're so focused on everyone else … it's really nice to find something that I enjoy pursuing that's for me, and I alone can enjoy that,” she said.