Kia ora my name is Sarah Watkins, nice to meet you! I am Lucalia Photography. I am based in sunny Marlborough, Aotearoa New Zealand. I photograph couples and families in Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough.

 

I get excited about exploring outdoors; hate having my photo taken and love documenting real life for local families. Real is so much more meaningful than staged or posed. Real is beautiful.

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Why am I a documentary photographer? I have very fond memories of my dad and growing up in the house my parents built in the Tasmanian bush. My dad passed away when I was a child and there are very few photos of him as he was the photographer. I want to give the gift of preserving real life right now, to other families.

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I started documenting the world around me when a school friend invited me to a photography class, aged 15. I was mesmerised: processing black and white film in the dark and magically watching an image emerge from a white piece of paper. I gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (graphic design and photography) and a Bachelor of Visual Communication (Honours). I have created photos professionally using digital technology since 2002.

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I'm so lucky to share life with my illustrator husband Ben and two beautiful boys. We love to adventure "together", mostly with Ben and Nicholas 20 metres ahead of Tommo and I as they walk super fast! We moved from Australia to New Zealand in 2018 in search of bigger mountains. Our son Nicholas was born in 2020 and Thomas in 2022.

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I am an Accredited Professional Photographer with the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers. I am also an Associate of Photography with NZIPP.

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Please do contact me if I sound like the photographer for you, I'd love to learn about you and your family.

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Photo credits: Rainer Mcalister, Courtz Ewington Photography, Fred & Hannah, Sarah Watkins, Jackie Lockyer