black and white photo of a girl holding two toddlers at arms length on the end of a leash as they try to escape in opposite directions taken by New Zealand based documentary family photographer in Australia

Lianna - photographer

Life brought me twins... and they changed everything. Your life is worth photographing, even when it's so far from perfect you wonder if you'll all make it through. In a very short time, the everyday moments that feel so overwhelming now will just be memories. Or worse - YOU WON'T REMEMBER. This is what I've lived, and I know.

Photo of a family of four standing on the wet sand on Paraparaumu beach with a dramatic sky, with the two boys playing in the sand and Mum and Dad cuddling

David

These photos are amazing. We absolutely loved the slideshow, in fact it was surprisingly emotional! It feels like you’ve managed to perfectly capture who we are as a family, which is about as much of a compliment as I think we can give 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦, there are so many photos from the slideshow that will evoke so much happiness and joy in years to come❤️ thank you so much for doing such a fabulous job!

Photo of a family of three on the front doorstep, with the toddler falling down the stairs and Dad jumping up to rescue her, and Mum laughing - to the side is a cat running away while looking back at the falling child - taken by kapiti family photographer Black Sand Studio

Dacia

Life as a parent (especially of young children) feels like a rolling clip of tiny moments. Some you want to hold onto forever and some you might rather forget. It can be hard to step back and see the bigger story of your family and the love, laughter, tears, and bond that you share. Lianna gave us the best gift anyone could ever give us by capturing those moments and making them into a tangible thing that I can hold in my hands and sit with however long I want to. She told our story for us in such a beautiful way – making every tiny moment beautiful (even the ones that feel dreadful in the moment).

Black and white family photo of a baby in the bath with his Mum in Waikanae, Kapiti

Elise

When Lianna showed me this video I couldn't help but hold back my tears. "It's us", I said, our life right now as we know it, with a new born in the house & now we have this memory forever… there was no staging, no having to pose, just us Nius going about our day & Lianna capturing it. These will be memories we will have forever because Mama's know that this time just goes too fast & before you know it, the kids have grown up.
I will forever cherish these times & having them documented I will now have these memories to look back on always. 🧡🙏

Photo of a Mum breastfeeding twins in golden light by the Waikanae River in Kapiti

Jude

As a family we’d never really had any ‘decent’, professionally done pics (in 20 years). We took our time choosing our photographer – we wanted to get it right. We were not disappointed. Lianna was everything we could’ve hoped for and more. Super friendly, incredibly obliging with epic amounts of talent. We have 2 sons with special needs plus we wanted to include their grandparents. Lianna took it all in her stride. She encouraged us to make the whole experience about more that just taking photos. It was about capturing us as a family and our journey thus far, and the end result certainly did that. We couldn’t be happier.

Junet & Chris

I have a beautiful little family and I’ve always enjoyed capturing every little moment. I love photos, I keep them in frames on the walls to show everyone, and print them for albums. However… I’m never in them. If I can even have one photo of me and my family to capture the true love we have for each other, I would be the luckiest, most blessed mum in the world.

Hannah & Tom

Our life is crazy and messy thanks to baby + puppy, but we have so much fun and wouldn't change anything (maybe just a little more sleep). We'd love to have a record of this time because the days go so fast, and the last few months are already a blur. It's the little everyday moments that I want to remember in 10 years, the smiles, the snuggles, the moments playing together....

Katrina

My family of two right now is just perfect. I can’t help but feel privileged that I get my bubs to myself. As much as I can, I document his life via my phone in the hope that one day he will look back and see how much we did together. Not only the physical photo, but also the emotional, spiritual and mental elements of our story of growth being captured would be a dream come true.
Mauri Ora.

Abbie & Si

Oh! I want to remember it all! I have a tendency to rush through my days, physically present... but I still feel like I'm missing it. I love the idea of capturing the beauty in the (often) mundane. I want my kids to remember just normal life, not just big holidays or special events, I want to document us as we are day to day.

Rebecca & Julian

It's a crazy wonderful chaotic mess here. I'm forever running from one task and family member to the next. We spent loads of time outside in the garden, and the kids are into messy play big time. They often paint themselves from head to toe and the sand and water exploration is epic. I want to look back and remember how amazing our life really is!

Daya & Sam

We are a creative, crazy cool whanau who just love life and live each day like it could change in a moment… we lost our 2nd born Remy, but we keep his memory very alive in the family. In 10 years I just want my kids to still be super beautiful kids inside and out, happy in everything they do. And to make sure that Remy’s memory never fades.

Prue & Andy

Sometimes there is a time in life you need to pause. Take a breath with your family, and say… “wow, what a journey. We’ve come through. We are stronger.” …and celebrate the survival and the love. We want photos that highlight the celebration of sunshine after cloud.

Anika

When I look back on my treasured photos over the last 10 years, I love the images that were perfectly posed in coordinating outfits and a stunning location - they're beautiful. Yet the photos (mostly taken on my phone camera) that just show life at that moment in time are my favourites. Just real life. I'm also realising how important it is for me to be in these photos too. For both them and me.

Dacia & Quint

We are from the US, but our hearts and souls belong in NZ. We don't have any family here so it is difficult to get photo "evidence" of the fun we have, other than selfies from our phones. We hate traditional photo shoots as our ideals are around fun, spontaneity, mess, and being real. We want our daughter and future children to grow up with memories over stuff, and fun and messes over manners.

Capture what matters.

Meaningful photography of people.

Multi-award winning family photographer based on the Kapiti Coast/Wellington.

Also available for travel New Zealand wide and in Eastern Australia.

Family photographs should be meaningful. Each one freezes a moment in time, preserving it forever. When you turn the pages of your family album, what will you see?

Maybe you know what your grandmother looked like as a little girl. Maybe you’ve giggled at your great grandfather’s little christening dress.

But have you ever wondered who they were?

Imagine if you had a photo telling the story of…

… your Nana learning to cook her first cake.
… Poppa dunking his sister in the pond.
… Grandma comforting your Dad, wiping away tears of her own over the first scratch in that perfect baby skin.
… Grandpa wiping away the sweat from his eyes as he bangs in the last rail of the fence, your Mum playing in the dirt nearby. That fence that circled paddocks now lying forgotten beneath layers of concrete.

Imagine if you had photographs telling the story of who you are!

…so one day, your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can cuddle together on the couch, giggle, sigh, and know who you were. Who they were.

And who they are.

“These pictures represent our journey to motherhood, and celebrating the two of us. I soon forgot about the insecurity I had about seeing myself from different angles with different faces. All I saw was the strong connection we had, my beautiful precious daughter and me a genuine, imperfectly perfect doting mother. I have looked at the photos about 10 times now and shared it with my parents and will soon with my extended family. I especially like to look at them just before I sleep. Today we were having a particularly difficult day and it helped remind me of the bigger picture. Still every time I look at them it brings tears to my eyes of love, joy and adoration. Thank you, Lianna, for this experience, you have captured our connection and her little character perfectly.” – A Kāpiti Mum

Your family, your style

Real Life Sessions (Unscripted)

…authentically capturing the beauty in the ordinary, the sparkle in the mundane, the glory in the whirlwind, and the splendor in the messy, imperfect, wonderful REAL.

Ideal Life Sessions (Connection)

…beautifully capturing the quirky, hilarious, tender, mischievous and heartfelt relationships in your family – between parents, siblings, dogs, grandparents, guinea pigs and whoever else makes up your special whanau.

Unscripted Sessions

…authentically capturing the beauty in the ordinary, the sparkle in the mundane, the glory in the whirlwind, and the splendor in the messy, imperfect, wonderful REAL. Find out more!

Connection Sessions

Family of five running away from the waves on the beach at Queen Elizabeth Park in Kapiti at sunset

I am Lianna

Kapiti family photographer and her daughter on Paraparaumu beach

When you engage a photographer, you don’t just hire a fancy camera. You hire a person, first. Then a technician, a psychologist, and an artist. You choose someone to…

…listen. To actually hear your story. To see you and your family.

…trust. Someone you feel so comfortable with you can relax and be your truly authentic self with. The way you feel when the photographs are made is the way you’ll feel when you look at them later.

…see. To see the light. To see the composition, the lines, the patterns, the shadows, the angles. But most importantly, to see and capture the moment that tells a greater story.

…edit your story. To select, polish and enhance the photographs so when you look at them later, your eyes are happy and your heart is stirred.

…help you tell your story. To help you decide how your family’s story is best presented for the years and decades to follow. To create and present you with artwork that you look at again and again.

When the photograph-er and photograph-ee click…. That’s when magic happens.

I am Lianna. I tell family stories through photography, on the Kapiti Coast, Wellington, Auckland, and throughout New Zealand. Sometimes even in Australia. If you’d like to know more about me, head over to this page.

Photographer providing Kapiti family photography in a living room while a baby eats at a high chair

We genuinely had a fun time and the kids’ natural smiles in the photos are proof of this! Lianna was amazing in connecting with everyone and make us all feel at ease. Thank you SO much Lianna! This is what you were meant to be doing.

Marisa, Kapiti Coast, NZ

Wow you surely are one in a million. Amazing to see how you captured each personality & emotion. You make everyone feel completely at ease and enjoyable. Thanks to you making our family photo book. It’s so lovely to pick it up & enjoy looking through each page.

Sue, Rosewood, AUS

So. Freaking. Validating.
Lianna has captured us so perfectly. The beauty in the simple and ordinary. Do yourself a favour, head over and book a session with her ASAP! You won’t regret it. Just be yourself, what you and your family do for a morning is absolutely photo worthy and worth documenting. Enjoy!

Abbie, Auckland, NZ

Looking at these photos, I was soon in deep, forgetting about the insecurity I had about seeing myself. All I saw was the strong connection we had, my beautiful precious daughter and me a genuine imperfectly perfect doting mother. Thank you, Lianna, for this experience.

A Kāpiti Mum, Kāpiti, NZ

It was a smooth session, you connected well with the kids and made us feel comfortable, capturing natural moments. Can’t wait to have more pics done with you. Can’t wait to have more pics done with you .

Deb, Auckland, NZ

Thank you so so much for the beautiful photos you have done for us. We are absolutely stoked… we could not be happier.

Laetitia, Christchurch, NZ

When I look back on my treasured photos over the last 10 yrs… the photos that show an accurate representation of who my children are, or of life at that moment in time, are my favourite. I was horrified about you seeing [the mess]… but you completely saw past it. Thank you sooo much. You’re a beautiful person.

An Auckland Mum, Auckland, NZ

Have Lianna photograph your family. She sees all the fleeting moments that you want to remember forever, she captures the relationships and personalities in a way you never thought was possible in a photo. She puts her heart into her work and in shows.

Soren, Kapiti Coast, NZ

Lianna, you have done an amazing job! Really really love the pics – THANKS SO MUCH!!

Nerida, Darling Downs, AUS

Lianna is a real gem, lovely person who I want to be friends with forever! And bring with me on every family fun day!

Dacia, Auckland, NZ

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