FilmingLifer | Paige Gotts
Paige Gottsis a Melbourne-based family & newborn photographer & filmmaker and a FilmingLifer member here at FilmingLife®
Before starting her business Paige was a dance, music & movement teacher, and spent 8 years living in London with her husband before moving back to Australia in 2019.
Paige’s love of filmmaking grew from a childhood spent looking through photo albums and hearing the stories her parents would share, and 30 years later the films her Dad recorded of their family at home in the backyard mean more to her than anything else.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m originally a country girl and grew up in Horsham, Victoria.
I’m a family and newborn photographer and filmmaker now living in Melbourne with my favourite human (husband) Michael. I also run a dance and entertainment company based in London - The Gatsby Girls. We don’t have kids yet, but I have 3 nieces that I adore and would spend all my days with if I could.
Last year we moved back to Australia after a 8 year long stint in London. Moving back to Melbourne, I knew I wanted to shift focus to my photography business which had very much taken a back seat and been more of a hobby turned side hustle in London.
Tell us about the kind of photography & films you create
I’m a super nostalgic gal with a sentimental heart. I’ve spent hours of my life gushing over our home videos and old family photo albums full of what I can only describe as ‘the real life stuff’ ..they tell a part of my story that words could never describe. That’s what I want to give to others. Honest, raw, loved filled memories that tell a real part of their family story - the kind that make you feel and take you back to that moment and time in your life.
How did you first get started in photography?
I’ve always been a very passionate memory keeper! My dad died when I was 11 and I took over his role of photo taker. It’s only very recently that I realised that’s why I picked up a camera. I didn’t recognise at the time that I was stepping into his shoes in that way. It was nothing more than a passionate hobby for many years, but like him, I always had a camera close by.
I began to get more serious about photography when we first formed The Gatsby Girls in 2013. We needed promo pictures and I had an entry-level DSLR and liked taking pictures - so I became ‘resident photographer’. From there, people started asking me to take headshots and dance shots for them. I began learning photography in-depth online, upgraded my camera gear and started taking on performer clients. While I enjoyed taking these pictures for people, I didn’t feel like my heart was in it entirely.
I had always loved working with kids and I’d been a dance teacher to preschool-age children for many years. So I thought that I’d give photographing kids a go. At the time I thought that people only wanted posed portrait style photos.. so that's what I did. It just wasn’t for me!
It wasn’t until I came across Kirsten Lewis on Creative Live that my eyes were opened up to a whole new world. I didn’t have to pose people! I could take story-driven photographs. I knew from that moment that I wanted to be a newborn and family photographer capturing a part of peoples family story in a similar way to how my dad had captured our story. This is after all, what made me fall in love with photography all those years ago.
What made you decide to learn video? What was your motivation?
My dad used to bring home a camcorder from school on school holidays (he was a teacher) and make home videos of us kids. To say I loved those videos is an understatement. When we were kids we loved watching ourselves, now that we are adults I can’t take my eyes off my parents! Particularly, having dad's voice recorded like this is a priceless gift.
In my adult life I played around in iMovie cutting together travel footage and dance showreels for my business at the time. It’s something I enjoyed immensely but nothing more than that.
When we got married in 2018, our photographer also did our wedding video. I thought she was a superwoman for being able to take pics and footage. Though I liked the idea, I never thought it would be something I’d be able to do… ever!
At the start of 2019 when I was visiting Australia, a photographer friend told me that I needed to watch films by Courtney Holmes. I was jet-lagged at the time and stayed up all night watching every film I could find, then watching them again! So much of what I loved about our family films growing up oozed out of Courtney’s work and I was so incredibly enthralled. The sun came up, I signed up to FLA and I knew this was exactly what I was meant to do.
What was your biggest challenge when you first started learning video and how did you overcome it?
Oh, that’s easy - self-doubt. Doubt that I could do it and doubt that I would ever be good enough. Overcoming this is tricky and I know a lot of people feel the same. I try to focus on the value I provide and not on perfection and I challenge myself on a weekly basis not to let fear sabotage me. But above all, I remind myself that I am on my own journey (pick your own adventure style) and not to compare myself to others.
The other thing that catches me out is getting hooked up on technical floors.
It’s often not until I watch a film back months later that I feel really proud. As time passes, the value of that moment in time becomes so much greater than the stress of the camera shake or not nailing focus on that one shot.
Did you find it a challenge to educate clients on the value of films, how were they first received by clients?
This is work in progress. It’s easy to forget that your clients don’t often know about family films when you are immersed in them daily.
Offering film to clients is relatively new for me. I’ve found the FLA podcast “It Takes Time“ really helpful and reassuring, so if you’re struggling with this, you should definitely have a listen.
Tell us about your favourite film and why it's special to you
Ooo tough one.
This was my second film (below) and the first time I attempted to record audio. Anna was a friend from work and I wanted to put into practise some of the techniques I’d been learning in the academy. I didn’t even know if I’d make a film from the footage.
There are many technical imperfections but I watch this and it just warms my heart. What I love about this film is the simplicity. Nothing was prompted or forced, it was simply a mum and her babe, doing their thing in the park they visited often. Anna cried happy tears when I gave it to her and I know her and Luna watch it often.
When I made this film I realised that the journey I was on was the start of something really magical. So I guess this was the beginning for me and it will always have a really special place in my heart for that reason.
What is your best piece of advice for those just getting started with films?
Don’t be crippled by the imperfections. We are such visual people as creatives and it’s frustrating when the footage we take when starting out doesn't line up with how our photos look and feel. Learning a new skill is hard and takes time. Stick with FLA - they take you through one step at a time and make filmmaking so achievable. The course material blows my mind and the support in the network is priceless.
Be patient, spend time learning your camera in this new way and keep making films.
See more of Paige’s work via her website - www.paigegotts.com - and social media - IG: @paigegottsphotography
