Louise Sedgman is a professional portrait, pet, equine, and Santa photographer. Yes, you heard that right! One of the most impressive arms of her business is Drouin Santa Photos, where for the last few months of each year, Louise and her team transform her photography studio into an Australian bush Christmas location for young and old (but still young at heart!).
Located in the Shire of Baw Baw, Drouin is 90 kilometres East of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Louise goes above and beyond to support her local community. Over the years, Louise has refined, modernised, and mastered the art of capturing stunning and memorable Santa photos to the delight of countless families in the area. Listening to Louise detail her Santa photo workflow, it’s clear that while it’s a seasonal and fun opportunity, it runs like a well-oiled machine to produce the best moments and memories for families. She has even enlisted her husband's services to transform their driveway into a bush Christmas wonderland.
When talking with a guest, we always like to roll back the clock and get a little insight into the moments, people, and circumstances that inspired and motivated someone to become a photographer. In Louise’s case, that seed of creativity began at a very young age, where she would draw horses before she could even spell or write. Louise’s love of and fascination with horses continues to this day with one arm of her photography business - Louise Sedgman Equine Photography - specialising in horse photography (horsography?) with magical images celebrating the animals and the people who love them. To hear Louise talk of her love of horses is inspiring and more than a little goose-bump-inducing.
“I could draw horses before I could write my name, and I got my first pony at age 5, and I’ve had horses in my life ever since. Art and horses has been a passion all my life and I used to draw them in pastel before I picked up a camera. My mum bought my first SLR when I was in my early 20’s so I could take my own images to draw. Let’s just say I completely fell in LOVE with photography!”
Louise was a returning workshop instructor at this year's Bright Festival of Photography (BFOP). Her workshops included the highly popular Full Flight Equine Photography, which saw participants learning the skills, settings, and compositional values when photographing unbridled horses at play in the paddock. Projected Equine is her second workshop and involves projecting light and images onto a white horse. The experimental approach allows workshop attendees to attempt something they’ve never done before. As for Louise’s business, The Foto Creative is the educational arm aimed at supporting photographers at all levels. She loves to host and run photographic workshops and equine masterclasses, along with tutoring and mentoring opportunities for photographers looking to build their skills. Her workshops cover everything from beginner photography and photographing pets to editing workflows and framing your prints. Another key element of The Foto Creative is the photographic tours. Louise is currently planning her first overseas tour to Morocco in North Africa. Guests will benefit from Louise’s tuition while also embracing the experiences created by her trusted tour operator. Not only will it be her first overseas tour (and yes, there will be horses), it’s also her first time travelling abroad (both 2026 tours are sold out!)
“Photography has been my daily joy and passion for almost 30 years, along with my deep love of horses. I crave knowledge and have spent years learning, evolving and mastering my craft, and while I continue to do so, I love nothing more than sharing my knowledge with other photographers learning theirs.”
It was an absolute delight talking with Louise once again on The Camera Life podcast. As mentioned, she is a natural storyteller, and while we spent three hours in a live conversation, we could have easily committed to three more! Louise proudly wears so many hats as a busy mum, successful businesswoman, and multi-genre photographer with decades of experience. Like me, Louise began with analog film photography before progressing to a digital system. She has stuck with Nikon all these years due to their rock-solid performance and impressive lens offering for both DSLR and the Z mirrorless system. We love a little bit of gear talk! On that note, Louise has only just moved to Nikon Z mirrorless after entrusting her professional image making to pro-grade Nikon DSLRs and glass. At the time of our live podcast interview, Louise was still charging the battery before taking her first shots on the impressive and powerful Nikon Z8. It’s also Jim’s (VP Customer Experience) professional use mirrorless camera - he has two! Some people are just greedy!
“My favourite thing in the whole world is photographing horses! Their shape, contours, textures, sensual lines and the way they move completely captivate me. I also love to capture the connection horses have with their people with beautiful, emotional portraits that really capture the connection and relationship between horse and human.”
As many of you will know, a few weeks ago Justin (Lucky Straps Founder), Jim (Lucky Straps VP Of Customer Experience), and I (Greg, the bearded one!) travelled to the Victorian Alpine region and township of Bright for the Bright Festival of Photography (BFOP). And while BFOP is a wild and often crazy weekend jam-packed with creative opportunities (stay tuned for a future article), it’s the people that make the festival so incredibly special and memorable. Over the course of the weekend, I met and chatted with literally hundreds of like-minded image makers and creatives. Some we’ve already interviewed here on The Camera Life podcast. Others, I managed to rope in for future episodes. One of my most memorable interactions was chatting with Louise Sedgman at the BFOP After Party on Sunday evening. Louise is a warm, passionate, and incredibly talented photographer with an impressive resume, a keen mind for business, and a natural knack as a storyteller. We spoke of everything from parenting teens to supporting our creative community and more. Imagine my delight in continuing that conversation on this week’s episode of The Camera Life!
If you’re unfamiliar with The Camera Life Podcast, be sure to take a look at our YouTube channel for the latest episodes and, of course, our back catalogue of weekly shows. Our shows are also available on popular audio podcast platforms. If you like what you see, please give us a thumbs up, subscribe to The Camera Life, and click on the bell icon to receive notifications of upcoming shows. We host two shows weekly, the first being every Thursday at 9am AEDT (Australia), where we interview amazing guests. The second show, The Random Photography Show, airs every Monday at 7:30 pm AEDT. The Random Photography show is a little random, a little loose, and a lot of fun! Be sure to check them out.
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