Welcome to the Little Oak Studio, I am so glad you're here!

So, I guess you're wondering what the Little Oak Studio is all about?

Well first, a little bit about me - I'm Rachel, a wife and mother of 4 little people who go by the names of Ryan, Jake, Liam and Ella (all of which were intended 4-letter names and that sums up my OCD and perfectionist personality quite nicely). Yes, my life is chaos! And I have no idea how I do it all – but I wouldn't change it!

I have a background in Graphic Design and Printing, but it was only after I went on maternity leave with my eldest in 2010 that I realised just how much I loved taking photos of him. My first ever DSLR camera was purchased and then I practiced, attended workshops, invested in mentoring and the Little Oak Studio was created. It did however start off under my own name and I re-branded in 2015.

How did I come up with The Little Oak Studio, you ask? Well, the story behind the name has a beautiful meaning to me. My grandparents lived in Houghton and a lot of my childhood was spent in the hills, hiking, exploring and picking up pinecones around these gorgeous big oak trees. Funnily enough I had settled on “Three Oak Studio” initially – after our 3 boys, memories of my late Nanny and my dream to eventually have my own studio space. Then not long after, we surprisingly discovered we would be expecting our only little girl and that wiped the 3 out of the name – hence the Little Oak Studio was my new re-brand in the end!

Fast forward some years, after leasing a commercial studio space, the stress and uncertainty of Covid lockdowns and restrictions, a self-published book, selling and buying a house over a busy Christmas/New Year period, hubby and I worked incredibly hard to pull off moving into our forever home and building my very own purpose-built-home-studio among the gumtrees in Tea Tree Gully. I’m so proud to say we’ve created such an incredible, safe and welcoming space where families can come to and have their story heard and captured.

I have been photographing and helping capture families since 2011 and it's been an amazing journey. I strive to capture real emotion and connections between my clients. Families are just so important, and these photographs are our legacy. They are ultimately what we leave behind for our children and grandchildren. This is not just a job to me, it's my passion and it brings me joy spending time with families, helping them tell their stories, capturing memories and creating beautiful family heirlooms. If you want cheap, digital files unfortunately I'm not the right photographer for you but I can work with you to produce gorgeous pieces of art that you can proudly hang on your walls!

Once you’ve decided you’d like to have your family memories captured by The Little Oak Studio it’s a very simple process and in just a few steps you’ll have beautiful photographs to cherish for a lifetime.

Here’s how our process works;

Step One - firstly you can make your booking online via our website; book now. (here you will select your booking date and make your session fee payment. This will secure your booking in our calendar. For newborn sessions we ask you select a date around two weeks after your due date and then let us know once bubs is here so we can confirm your session (generally our Newborn Sessions are held when baby is around two weeks old).

Step Two - Yay, it’s time for your session! But don’t stress because we’ve planned for this. In the lead up to your session date you’ll be sent information on how to prepare and plan for the best outcome - beautiful photographs! We’ll work out how you’d like to display your photographs, what’s most important to you and what you want from your experience with The Little Oak Studio.

Step Three - After your session we’ll book your image selection appointment. This is where you’ll be able to come into the studio to view your gallery and select your favourite images over a cuppa! Feel free to touch and explore all the gorgeous samples we have to offer.

Step Four - Allow 4-6 weeks for your final prints/products to be ready for collection from the studio. And finally, it’s now it’s time for you and your family to enjoy your beautiful photographs!

Remember, photographs are a way for you to remember precious moments that have already passed or people that are no longer with you today. They can also be the most prized possession that you can pass to your children, so they’ll be able to pass them to their future children as well. That’s why it’s so important to find a photographer that can help you tell your story in the most perfect way.

Thanks for getting to know me a little more, hopefully we'll cross paths and I'll get to know you and your family too.