Capturing intimacy
One of the lost pleasures in this digital age is the Polaroid print. Anyone else remember the joy of being able to take a photo and have the camera instantly develop it for you?!
Rangiora photographer Amanda Haynes grew up taking snaps with her pocket Polaroid and admits she’s never quite lost her love for that wondrous 1970s technology. “I still shoot instant Polaroids,” she says, proud to confess that she still gets a buzz from using technology that is now all but obsolete.
Ultimately, though, it was winning a Canon SLR in a camera shop competition as a teenager that propelled her towards a career in photography. “That camera really changed my world. All you could do with the Polaroid was ‘flash on or off’. But suddenly I found I could change lenses. There were things I could do like ‘depth of field’ and I could alter the shutter speeds. It was fascinating.”
At the time, Amanda was working for a firm of lawyers in Blenheim. “I used to get asked to take photos for friends and family…and enjoyed that more than my day job.”
Photography progressively grew into a more serious pursuit. “My next camera was another Canon, which my husband, Erick, bought for me in 1996. It was so much more advanced than the one I’d been using. I took frame after frame of our first child, Meghan, just trying out different techniques. The shutter was so fast; it was another big jump in terms of what the camera allowed you to do.”
As the couple’s family continued to grow, Amanda found herself growing in demand as a photographer of friends’ tummies, babies and children.
About five years ago, Amanda and Erick; also a photographer, were asked to shoot their first wedding. “We stayed for fourteen hours and loved every minute. By the end of it, we knew we had discovered our passion.”
Amanda describes her own photography style as elegant and clean, with a magazine feel, while Erick has more of a photojournalist’s eye; together they felt they had the perfect skill-set for weddings: elegant, edgy, with a touch of story-telling magic. Based in Auckland at the time, they found opportunities to work alongside established professionals, in order to get experience. “Eventually it reached a point where one of them said ‘you should go out on your own’. Our style was different, less old school. We were shooting real moments, prompted not posed portraits, and this was increasingly popular with the clients.”
Recently, the couple rebranded their business as ‘DUET’ (meaning “an inseparable twosome”) and their boutique studio is fully specialized in wedding photography. It also encompasses engagements, ‘Just Because’ sessions (wearing the dress after the day), bridals, bridal boudoir, as well as couples who have been together for awhile and want to celebrate the depth of their relationship.
Locations are as varied as the couples they work with, from beaches and heritage buildings, to farms, fields and offshore locations like Rarotonga.
“We take very few photos of couples looking at the camera. We want to show their intimate connection, not the relationship between them and the camera. When we photograph a wedding, we are shooting for an album that will have increasing meaning and value for generations to come, not just for the client on the day.
“We want to capture the beauty, joy, tears, laughter and family/friends connections….the story.”
Albums and digital negatives are supplied to all clients and a lot of items are custom-designed for particular clients, which is what makes Duet a boutique studio. “We often have ideas buzzing around in our heads, and we work with a graphic designer based in the States, in order to offer our clients unique pieces of display art, but art that has them in it.”
Amanda and Erick limit their wedding workload to clients they “click with”.
“When we all feel comfortable, then you know you’re going to get great results. It’s important to us that clients are relaxed, since we are asking them to show us an intimate part of their lives; their love for each other; expressing it with hugs, kisses, secret smiles, etc. When the client allows you to see that, then magic happens.”
Married for nearly 16 years, Amanda and Erick have four children aged 14, 13, 10 and 9 years.
DUET – Photography by Amanda and Erick Haynes, is located at 123A High Street, Rangiora (upstairs, next to Robe). Ph 3130005 or 021 514 518. Feel free to call in, say hi and view their work, or grab a coffee from downstairs, sit and browse the extensive collection of international bridal idea books. Duet is also about to launch a range of Christina Re wedding stationery and French parasols.
