Hollies Karakiriki Shoot

It was a beautiful summer day as we met in the carpark at the start of the Karakariki Waterfall trail. I was there to shoot a Karakariki portrait video with Hollie. We headed into the bush for the 15-minute walk to the waterfall. It’s always a fairly quiet location so ideal for a secluded feeling while we filmed.

The video process.

The idea for the shoot was to record Hollie talking about beauty and confidence in relation to her work as a makeup artist (The Beauty Queen). Although these can be heavy subjects for some people, I wanted to just start the conversation with the video. After getting the interview in the bag, when we enjoyed some time exploring of the area to get footage for her Karakariki portrait video. How can you be at such a beautiful spot and not end up in the refreshing water… watch out for eels! Check out the resulting video below to see how we did.

… And some Karakariki portrait photos, surprise!

It seemed obvious we needed to grab some portrait photos too. Something classic in black and white to be a bit different from the video. Hollie had a few outfits so we were able to get variety. Because almost no one goes to the waterfall you can easily find a spot to change discreetly. I think some of the most beautiful photos are when you seem naturally happy so I might have to make some jokes to get that smile going. There is a lot of locations on the track in that you might want to use for photos too, for example, a couple of shots are on the farmland you cross just before entering the bush. Have a look at a few of the photos below.