Award-winning Melville family portrait photographer Lisa Ivandich.
Camera IconAward-winning Melville family portrait photographer Lisa Ivandich. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Melville snapper named WA Professional Family Photographer of the Year again

Headshot of Josh Zimmerman
Josh ZimmermanMelville Gazette

LISA Ivandich has carved out a career capturing treasured memories and her candid family portraits have again been recognised as the best in WA.

The Melville resident may need to invest in extra cabinet space after claiming a fourth consecutive WA Professional Family Photographer of the Year award.

At 24, Mrs Ivandich realised how few of her own family photos she had after her mother died unexpectedly, sparking an interest in family portraiture.

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“One of us was always taking the photo,” she said.

“I can’t tell you what I would give to change that, she says.

“Now, I hand the camera to someone else at times; I’ve become a master of the ‘long arm stretch’ to get into photos and most importantly, I book regular sessions with a professional photographer.”

In her own sessions, Mrs Ivandich has noticed a trend towards more informal, fun photo shoots, which is reflected in her winning entries to this year’s Australian Institute of Professional Photography Awards.

One of the photographs depicts a father and his sons working on restoring cars in the family garage while another, presented as a mirror image, juxtaposes a more traditional style family portrait with the chaos that often goes on behind the scenes.

“That was a newborn shoot and was just a crack up of a session,” Mrs Ivandich said.

“The two girls in the family (were) very strong willed and full of character and the top photo pretty much epitomizes what the whole shoot was like.

“For the vast majority there was no cooperation and mum and dad were pissing themselves laughing at the hilarity of the circus and it just struck me as being what real life is like.”

Mrs Ivandich has also runs an online education resource to help parents improve their own home photography and is currently offering photo shoots raising money for sudden infant death syndrome charity Red Nose.

Visit www.lilypadphotography.com.au for more information.

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