As Leaf & Lace approaches its 3rd birthday, I have been reflecting on my journey as a photographer and as a business owner over the last 12 months. When I first started Leaf & Lace, I wasn’t sure where it was going. I didn’t even refer to it as a business or myself as a photographer (you can read about that terrible imposter syndrome right here). Leaf & Lace was just a little project I was dabbling in. Over the next couple of years, Leaf & Lace and the community behind it, continued to grow and expand. This time last year, I realised that it was time for me to get my big girl pants on and give Leaf & Lace the respect and dedication that it deserved. For the last 12 months, I have been hustlin’ hard – working more on establishing a stronger foundation for Leaf & Lace to continue to grow on.


Now that a whole 12 months have passed, it’s beautiful to be able to sit back and reflect on how my hard work has paid off. I wanted to take some time to humbly brag about some big things that have happened to Leaf & Lace in the last 12 months. I am so proud of Leaf & Lace and INCREDIBLY grateful for everyone who has continued to support me!

1. Eat, Sleep, Boudoir, Repeat.

My journey as a photographer hasn’t always been Boudoir focused. About 12 months before I started shooting Boudoir, I was also dabbling in family, new born and engagement photography. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t speak to my heart like Boudoir does. For a couple of years, I juggled the two (along with my full time job). But the more I booked Boudoir sessions, the less I wanted to photograph families. This decision could possibly be the best business decision I’ve ever made. I love shooting Boudoir and it makes me so happy to be able to empower every single person who I capture!


@createwjay

2. New Logo, Who Dis?

Okay, confession time - my last logo I made on paint in less than 5 minutes, with absolutely no thought into it. I then stuck with that dodgy look for OVER TWO YEARS!!! With a new found motivation and focus, I knew it was time to give Leaf & Lace a look that it deserved. I reached out to the beautiful Denni at Jellyfish Illustrations and over a coffee, we had come up with something fresh and exciting. I fell in love with Denni’s creation the moment I saw it and knew that it was exactly what Leaf & Lace needed!

3. New Logo, New Branding!

After I had my logo in my hot little hands, I was stumped on how to launch it. I didn’t want to JUST upload it - I was way too excited about it. That’s when my favourite two bishes came along. Around the same time that I was trying to figure out how to launch my new logo and branding, I won a giveaway for a Content Creation session with Bish School. I met with the beautiful Rylee and within a couple of hours, we had created a plan I was very excited about. During this session together, Rylee also took photos of me. Believe it or not – this was the first time someone else had taken Boudoir photos of ME! I left the session on a high and feeling extremely motivated. And that feeling hasn’t left me all year.

@bishschool

4. I'm Booked Out, Baby!

After the logo launch, I wasn’t the only one who was filled with motivation and excitement for what Leaf & Lace was becoming. Within a week of rebranding, my bookings quickly filled up. I went from being inconsistently booked out for maybe 1 month at a time to instantly being booked out for 6 months and it has stayed that way since. In the past 12 months, I have photographed more sessions than I have collectively in the previous past two years. With so many new clients, the little community that Leaf & Lace had created grew very quickly. I created a private group to create a space for this community to connect with each other and continue to bloom together on their Self Love Journeys.

@bishschool

5. The Body Love Project

With the growth of Leaf & Lace as a community, I realised that I wanted to support people who were consistently supporting me even though they weren’t ready to book a Boudoir shoot. I wanted to empower the Leaf & Lace community outside the realms of just my photography. So I created the Body Love Project. The Body Love Project is a monthly event that I host on my social media to focus on normalising normal bodies. It is raw and unfiltered. Each month has a different theme that is chosen by the Leaf & Lace community. Once the event starts, I welcome people to share images and their stories with me that match that month’s theme. I then share these images on their behalf to my story. And each month it continues to grow, leaving me consistently impressed with the amount of submissions.

6. Cheeky Podcasts and Boudie Talk

This year was full of couple of big firsts, and this one was definitely the biggest jump out of my comfort zone! Again, I had the luxury of spending the afternoon with my fave two bishes Rylee & Rhi but this time we were talking body love, among other cheeky topics, on their podcast Keepin up with the Bishes. You can listen to it here.


(and a little secret – I have been invited to speak on another podcast with another phenomenal lady so stay tuned).

7. Leaf & Lace is more than just Female Photography.

This year I recognised that body love shouldn’t just exclusively target females. So I expanded Leaf & Lace into photographing all genders. In the last 12 months, I have photographed males as well as couples! Another little secret – I’m working on something special for the male sessions hence why you haven’t seen these photos pop in my feed just yet – watch this space!!

8. Community over Competition

Leaf & Lace's growing community hasn’t just stopped at people I've photographed or who want to be photographed. This year, I also connected with multiple local photographers and other small business owners and it’s been incredible. It’s been beautiful to connect with people who have the same shared passion, creativity and motivation. As Leaf & Lace is a one woman show when it comes to running the business side of things, it’s so empowering to have a bunch of phenomenal humans in my corner!


Highly recommend you go and give some love to the following:

@wovenlightco, @creativelife.photography, @createwjay, @scrunchaalot, @sovereignandstone, @minxu.photography, @lashys_by_jenny, @tropicalplatters_, @madebytayau.

@createwjay

9. New camera!!

With such a successful year, I decided to treat myself and upgraded my equipment. So ya gal went out and purchased a very faaaaaancy camera. At this stage, I have only done a few sessions on this camera but holy moly is it a treat and a half!

10. New Locations

Cairns will always be the home of Leaf & Lace, but this year I started to expand my horizon and planned a few shoots in other cities. This year, Leaf & Lace has empowered women in Brisbane, Townsville and Newcastle, with future trips planned elsewhere (hehe stay tuned!). 

This year has gone above and beyond all my expectations. Leaf & Lace is expanding and so is my love for all things Boudoir! I am constantly grateful for all the support that Leaf & Lace receives and I cannot wait to see what the next 12 months brings the beautiful, growing community.


Stay Lovely,

Shelby xxx